Cousin of Flight 93 "Hijacker Pilot" Ziah Jarrah Outed as Israeli Spy

Ali al-Jarrah.

This is pretty interesting, though it's going to drive the faction of people who blame Israel for 9/11 CRAZY.*

He was finally arrested last July by Hezbollah, which now has perhaps the most powerful intelligence apparatus in this country. It handed him to the Lebanese military — along with his brother Yusuf, who is accused of helping him spy — and he awaits trial by a military court.

Several current and former military officials agreed to provide details about his case on condition of anonymity, saying they were not authorized to discuss it before the trial began. Their accounts tallied with details provided by Mr. Jarrah’s relatives and former colleagues.

It is not the family’s first brush with notoriety. One of Mr. Jarrah’s cousins, Ziad al-Jarrah, was among the 19 hijackers who carried out the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, though the men were 20 years apart in age and do not appear to have known each other well.

Mark Regev, a spokesman for Israel’s prime minister, Ehud Olmert, declined to discuss Mr. Jarrah’s situation, saying, “It is not our practice to publicly talk about any such allegations in this case or in any case.”

*To be sure, Israel was involved in 9/11-- but they likely played a subsidiary role, and also acted as a diversion. I do not think Israel was the primary motive force behind 9/11.