The Strange Case Of Rayed Mohammed Abdullah Ali Continues

A Saudi Arabian general aviation pilot who showed up in New Zealand and took five one-hour instructional flights was doing so on a suspended FAA license -- and now, the FAA says his ticket has been revoked.

Rayed Mohammed Abdullah Ali is one of 13 foreign pilots whose tickets were revoked at the request of the Transportation Security Administration because of his association with one or more 9/11 hijackers.

In Aukland, the Sunday Star-Times reports Ali obtained his private ticket in 1998 at an Arizona flight school. He later roomed with Hani Hanjour, one of 19 terrorists thought to have piloted an American Airlines 767 into the Pentagon on 9/11.

The Star-Times reports the FBI notified authorities in New Zealand that Ali was trying to obtain a commercial ticket... and relayed information about his dealings with Hanjour.

As Aero-News reported last week, Ali's visa to New Zealand was abruptly canceled -- and he was summarily sent back to Saudi Arabia.

Flight instructor Captain Ravindra Singh, who took Ali on his five flights during the Saudi's month-long stay in Palmerston North, said he wants to keep an open mind -- and doesn't feel he was duped.

"It's a 50 percent chance that he probably had heard about it being suspended," said Singh. "My gut feeling is an innocent man has been sent to the gallows."

FMI: www.gpoaccess.gov/911/index.html, www.9-11commission.gov