Mother of 9/11 attacker believes her son is alive, blames US

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The mother of Mohammed Atta -- one of the masterminds behind the 9/11 attacks -- believes that her son is alive and in Guantanamo, the local media reported on Sunday.

Bozaina Mohamed Mustafa Sheraqi said in an interview that her son, one of the suicide hijackers who destroyed the World Trade Center in September 11, 2001, was victimised under a planned US plot and had done nothing wrong, El mundo reported.

Bozaina is sure that her son "...is alive and is in Guantanamo" -- US military prison located at the naval base at the Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, established in January 2002 -- whose closure Barack Obama promised before leaving the White House.

"Son, I want to see you before dying. I am 74 and I live with the hope that you have survived. I have another son and I am tired. I know that you never did anything wrong and that you never could have do done what they say you did. I am waiting your return," she added.

"Everything is clear but the US is hiding the truth. They were the ones who designed the attack to propagate that Islam is terrorism," she claimed.

"They chose people with Arab passports and accuse our countries and divide us," El mundo quoted Bozaina as saying.

The Spanish daily said it was the first interview which Bozaina has granted since 9/11.

Mohamed Atta's family has long claimed that he was innocent and was alive.

According to reports, Atta was first identified as one of the 19 hijackers of 9/11, his late father -- a lawyer also named Mohammed who died in 2008 -- denied it, even claimed that his son had contacted him over phone from an undisclosed location the day after the attack.

--IANS

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