9/11 hijackers ‘were quizzed over visas’

SOME of the 19 September 11 hijackers were allowed into the country despite carrying fraudulent visas and being questioned by customs agents, an independent commission investigating the terrorist attacks said yesterday.

Hijacker Saeed al Ghamdi was referred to immigration inspection officials in June 2001 after he provided no address on his customs form and only had a one-way plane ticket and about $500. But Al Ghamdi was able to persuade the inspector that he was a tourist.

“Our government did not fully exploit al-Qaida’s travel vulnerabilities,” the commission said at the start of a two-day public hearing on border and aviation security.