WikiLeaks cables reveals possible fifth team of 9/11 plot

A group of Qataris suspected of conducting surveillance on the targets of 9/11, and providing "support" to the plotters of the attacks, were to fly to Washington on the eve of the attacks, the Uk-based The Daily Telegraph revealed today.

Suspicions that the three men were preparing to be a fifth suicide team have been raised following some disclosures of contents of US diplomatic cables accessed by WikiLeaks. The group, however, changed its plans at the last minute and flew out of the US to Doha via London instead of taking a domestic flight for the US capital. 

According to revelations in secret documents, the men flew from London to New York on a British Airways flight three weeks ahead of the attacks. The trio then allegedly conducted surveillance at the World Trade Centre, the White House and in Virginia, the US state where the Pentagon and CIA headquarters are located.

Later flying out to Los Angeles, they stationed themselves in a hotel near the airport which, according to the FBI had been paid for by a ''convicted terrorist'', who also bought their airline tickets.

According to hotel staff, they saw pilot uniforms in their room along with computer print outs detailing pilot names, flight numbers and times, along with packages addressed to Syria, Afghanistan, Jerusalem and Jordan.

On 10 September they had been booked on an American Airlines flight from Los Angeles to Washington, but failed to board. Next day, the same Boeing 757 aircraft was hijacked by five terrorists and crashed into the Pentagon.