WASHINGTON, March 30 (UPI) -- A prisoner long suspected of sending money for the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on the United States has denied it, a transcript released in Washington said.
Mustafa Ahmed al-Hawsawi denied wiring money to the hijackers who carried out the attacks on the World Trade Center towers and the Pentagon, or of knowing details of their plan, said a transcript of Hawsawi's Combatant Status Review Tribunal hearing at the U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, the Los Angeles Times reported.
Hawsawi, a Saudi, acknowledged at the hearing that he knew Mohamed Atta and another hijacker, and that they had sent him close to $18,000 before the attacks. But he said he never sent any money back to them, and a summary of evidence didn't mention any instance of Hawsawi sending them money, the Times reported.
Hawsawi said he learned something was planned on Sept. 11 hours before the attacks when he was told to leave his home in the United Arab Emirates and go to Pakistan.
"In the beginning, I was surprised by the size of the operation. It was mostly a surprise to me," he said, the Times reported.
