Atta's mysterious phone call

The French daily Liberation published in yesterday's edition a classified FBI report on the authors of the attacks in September 11, 2001. The document mentions the 19 hijackers' activities in the last 18 months before the attacks. According to the French journalists, the activities of Mohammed Atta, thought to be the brain behind the attacks, include extremely interesting details. A number registered in Romania was on his phone call list. Atta could have dialed it either to contact an accomplice or to get support for his terrorist action, Liberation mentions.
According to RFI Romania, the phone number used by terrorist Mohammed Atta, taken from the FBI report and mentioned by Liberation, is 04071899042, but it is not registered in Romania. RFI quoted sources who read the report said the exact number in the report was 04071899042 (the area code for Romania is 004) and it is present in several official documents, such as some belonging to the court in Virginia, US, or the National Bank of Cyprus. According to such documents, it was used by Ramzi Bin al-Shibh, a friend of Mohammed Atta. The respective number was registered in 2000 in Hamburg, Germany, and 040 is the area code for the latter city, the terrorists' operational base.
On the other hand, the figures after the respective area code have never belonged to a Romanian phone number of any kind. Sources from the National Authority for Communication and Information Technology in Romania told it the RFI.
The report does not present the outcome of investigations and it is therefore unknown to which end Atta could have dialed the number Liberation claims to be in Romania. But the terrorist used a different international number - 17 943 755 60 - , mentioned in the French daily, either to contact an accomplice or to get support for his terrorist action.
When the RFI Romanian asked about the Romanian phone number, one Liberation official mentioned the daily would publish a correction.
Ioan Talpes confirms it
On the other hand, Marius Bercaru, a spokesman for the SRI (Romanian Secret Service), said yesterday that there was no operative connection between the attacks in September 11, 2001 and the so-called phone number from Romania, included on Mohammed Atta's phone call list.
But Ioan Talpes, formerly a presidency adviser for security matters, said he could remember that in 2001 there was rumor that the leader of the hijackers had talked to a person having a Romanian phone number. Talpes added the SRI was the only institution entitled to explain what exactly had happened. (...)

Doru Dragomir
Ziua Miercuri 12 Septembrie 2007 http://www.ziua.net/english