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Hijackers carried spiritual instructions guiding them to death


By Karen Gullo / Associated Press

FBI This is a page written in Arabic, one of four pages of a letter released by Atty. Gen. John Ashcroft Friday, that was found in Boston in a suitcase of one of the hijackers. Comment on this story Send this story to a friend Get Home Delivery

   WASHINGTON -- The Sept. 11 hijackers had step-by-step instructions to pray, smile and kill while earning a life in paradise for "a job which is loved by God," according to a document released Friday.
   Four handwritten pages of fervent prayer and directions for everything from what to wear (tight clothes) to the last words to utter ("There is no God but God") were found in the suitcase of one of the hijackers, Mohamed Atta, who boarded an American Airlines flight that smashed into the north tower of the World Trade Center.
   Photocopies of the document, written in Arabic, also were found in a car of one suspected hijacker on the fight that crashed into the Pentagon and in the wreckage of a United flight that crashed in Pennsylvania.
   Attorney General John Ashcroft called the writings on lined paper "a disturbing and shocking view into the mindset of these terrorists." He said the document also was clear evidence linking the hijackers.
   Officials said only preliminary translations have been completed and they were not prepared to release an English version.
   A rough translation by The Associated Press showed instructions divided into three sections for "the night before" the trip to the airport and the boarding of the plane each group of hijackers would eventually commandeer.
   The instructions ranged from the practical to the spiritual.
   Check your weapon and tidy up your clothes the night before, the document said.
   "Be happy, because the distance between this life and your joyful new life is short," said one passage.
   In the taxi to the airport, the document advised the hijackers, "don't be nervous. Look cheerful and satisfied."
   "You're doing a job which is loved by God, and you will end your day in heavens where you will join the virgins," it said.
   The document contains numerous prayers and poetic verses.
   Ashcroft said those references were "a stark reminder of how these hijackers grossly perverted the Islamic faith to justify their terroristic acts."
   Many passages seem to address the hijackers' fears and contain prayers of fortification and endurance. Over and over the hijackers are promised an afterlife in heaven.
   In the final section, instructions are given for the final moments:
   "Open your chest welcoming death in the path of God and utter your prayer seconds before you go to your target."
   "Let your last words be, There is no God but God and Mohammad is His messenger. Then, inshallah, you will be in heavens."
   Authorities said they do not know exactly when the document was written or who the author was.