The FBI Informant Who Lived With 9/11 Hijackers (Abdussattar Shaikh)

On May 14th 1994, Steven Butler, the FBI's Unit Chief of the San Diego field office, opened a Confidential Informant file (CI-01) on a Saudi who was quite known to the Islamic community in the city of Lemon Grove. His code name, "Stan". The FBI wanted to obtain information about a bombing that took place in the quiet city, "Stan" offered his services after a meeting took place between him and his handler, Butler, at the Islamic Center of San Diego at 7050 Eckstrom Ave. He told butler that he was a teacher at San Diego State as well as being the Vice President for International Projects at American Commonwealth University (ACU).

"Stan" lived in a 5 bedroom home and began renting out rooms for Muslims who just entered the country. Two men would end up renting a single room, they gave their names as Khalid al-Mihdhar and Nawaf al-Hazmi. They told "Stan" that they just moved from Los Angeles and wanted to take English and flying lessons. "Stan" told Butler about the two men, but only gave their first names to him. Butler pressured "Stan" to give him the surnames so he could run a background check, but "Stan" stalled. Ultimately al-Mihdhar left for Germany in early October, less than two weeks before the USS Cole Bombing and Al-Hazmi continued living with Shaikh until December. Butler would not hear about the two men anymore, but it wasn't the end.

After the September 11th 2001 terrorist attacks, it became known to the FBI that both men were involved with the hijacking of American Airlines Flight 77 which deliberately crashed into the Pentagon. Butler returned to "Stan", however nothing incriminating was found out about how his informant handled the situation. However, "Stan" was not who he claimed to be. His name was later revealed by the Joint House Inquiry report as, Abdussattar Shaikh. It was also later reported that Shaikh never worked as a teacher at San Diego State nor was he ever the Vice President for International Projects at American Commonwealth University. The question remains as follows. Why did the FBI not pressure "Stan" to give the surnames to his handler Butler?