APTN interview with Mohamed Atta's father

(18 Sep 2001)
1. Various of the building where the Atta family lives
2. General street scene
3. SOUNDBITE: (Arabic) Mohammed Atta senior, father of hijacking suspect:
"The incident was well prepared and this can never be done by an organisation. This is intelligence work, and it is the Israeli Mossad. They have already done it before. They have previous experience. They were identical incidents."
4. Cutaway
5. SOUNDBITE: (Arabic) Mohammed Atta senior, father of hijacking suspect:
"I share the Americans' feelings. And I don't ever accept killing innocent people, no matter what are the reasons. We are Muslims and our Koran never accepts killing the innocent."
6. Wide of telephone being handed over
7. SOUNDBITE: (Arabic) Mohammed Atta senior, father of hijacking suspect:
"I heard the news and saw it on TV. My son called me 24 or 48 hours after the incident and probably his passport may have been stolen or he may have been kidnapped."
8. Mid shot of woman on a balcony
9. Wide of the apartment block
10. SOUNDBITE: (English) Neighbour:
"It looks like him, but I don't think it's him. Because when I saw him he was young - more than this one. Question: When did you last see him? Answer: I think two years ago. Question: Was he very religious. Answer: Just a Muslim, normal Muslim.
Question: Do you think he'd do something like this? Answer: No, I don't think so. Question: Why? Answer: Because his father and him are, as I told you, very polite person. Just live alone. (Unclear phrase). I don't think he did anything."
11. Various of Mohammed Atta junior's picture in a newspaper
STORYLINE:
The father of one of the men named as a suspect in the attacks in the United States says he spoke to his son a day or two days after the devastating assault.
Speaking at his home in the Egyptian capital Cairo, Mohammed Atta Senior, a 65-year-old lawyer, said they hadn't discussed the incident and he didn't know where his son was calling from.
Mr. Atta said he last saw his son a year and half ago.
Bursting with anger at the accusations, he blamed the Israeli secret service for the attacks.
His son, Mohammed Atta, 33, was said by the F-B-I to be on American Airlines Flight 11, the first plane to hit the World Trade Center.
He had begun work on a degree in urban planning at Hamburg's Technical University in 1992.

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