9/11 Working-level Employee

SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED

DEPARTMENT OF STATE
UNITED STATES INFORMATION AGENCY

Office of Inspector General

Memorandum of Conversation

Visas for the 9/11 Hijackers 2/11/03

Subject Office Date

Michele Truitt & John Clark

Official Inspector

1. For the record, please tell us your name, present rank and position.

2. Were you the officer who issued a nonimmigrant visa to Ziad Samir Jarrah on May
25,2000 at Berlin?

I do not remember issuing a visa to Ziad Samir Jarrah. I do not recognize the photo of
the person on the NTV Applicant Detail printout that you are showing me. This
adjudication datafilestates that I.| | adjudicated and approved an
application for Jarrah at Embassy Berlin on May 25, 2000.

3. Is this a copy of the application?

No. The application was destroyed. Berlin destroyed visa applications year by year
almost to the date, with rare exceptions. The move of our Embassy from Bonn to Berlin
in 1999 created space issues, and the FSNs consistently destroyed the old applications in
complying with our destruction schedule.

4. Does the computer record indicate whether the CLASS lookout system procedure was
followed in this case?

Yes. I was a big fan of the lookout system, and I always checked CLASS.

SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED

 SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED

5. What were the results of your check?

The case file printout shows there were no hits against Jarrah.

6. Did you interview Jarrah prior to issuing the visa?

I don't remember this person or if there was an interview.

7. If not, why not?

Again, we don't have the application. I don't remember this person.

8. What was the policy at post regarding personal appearance waivers?

There were standard written procedures. We had copies of these procedures. Berlin was
trying to cut down on interviews.

9. How were you informed of this policy? In writing? Orally? By whom.

Yes, I was informed of the policy. Germany has different levels of resident permits, so
you know a third country national's status from the permits, including if they could be
deported. I knew about these documents because I went through the process when I came
from Austria to Germany to work.

There were no sample documents at Berlin, but I arranged for some. The German police
were very helpful, and we exchanged good information. The best-trained people on
documents, however, were the FSNs. We had some anti-fraud training; some documents
were photocopies, not sample copies, so they had limited value.

10. Were'you personally given any instructions by your supervisors or superiors about
asking applicants to appear in person for an interview?

We were told to use the guidelines.

11. Did a travel agency submit the case?

In Berlin, there are visa services companies, but no travel agencies. I'm not sure a visa
service submitted this one. Foreign students and exchange students used these
companies, and they had copies of our guidelines and pre-screened applicants. They
knew if they sent non-qualifying applicants, their businesses would suffer.

If an applicant were a long time resident and a student in good standing, we would issue
the visa. If there were any travel entries in an individual passport, then the applicant was
called in for an interview. Many Lebanese have two passports, as we do, to travel in the
Middle East. We would see only the one for which the applicant was seeking a visa, so
we may have missed some travel information.

SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED

 SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED

21. Would any other elements have helped you make a different decision regarding the
applicant's eligibility for a visa, and why?

There was no entry, no CLASS hit. There are many Arab students in Germany and
Europe in general. Most students are sent by wealthy parents to get the children away
from the turmoil. Although some people may have used this as a cover, a student in good
standing was a good visa case.

Greece fingerprints its own citizens. We should be able to fingerprint visa applicants.

22. Did your superiors ever discuss the post's NIV refusal rates in general with you?

No.

23. Did your superiors ever counsel you to raise or lower your own refusal rate?

Not in Berlin. My superiors supported my decisions.

My refusal rate was 11%. Others who adjudicated a lot of exchange student applications
had lower refusal rates. We knew our refUsal rates because Berlin's daily, weekly, and
monthly reports provided that information.

24. Did you or anyone in the consular section conduct NTV return validation studies? If
not, why not?

I don't recall any validation studies in Berlin.

25. How well did you speak and Arabic?

I don't speak or read Arabic.

26. Did the Department train you in this language?

No.

27. Do you consider that the training you received in the Department to carry out your
visa adjudication responsibilities was adequate?

The training was great in the general sense, but there were limited post files at FSI.
Training at post was very useful and important. There were also some anti-fraud
sessions. One officer participated in a regional training session, but there was limited
feedback. Posts are busy, and so some things are overlooked.

28. If not, what additional training would have enabled you to do a better job?

SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED

9/11 Working-level Employee

SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED

You should be fluent in the language of the country where you are serving. Now in
Europe there are no borders, and so many languages are spoken. There are guest workers
everywhere from around the world. Some people come in with translators because they,
the applicants, cannot speak German or English. We did not have anyone who spoke
Arabic, but we had a Farsi speaker because we had a lot if Iranian applicants.

I wish I had had the tools to know that we did not want this person (Ziad Samir Jarrah). I
liked my position very much.] |and am proud to have done visa
work.

29. What other comments would you like to make at this time regarding this visa case?

The process can be improved for issuing visas and passports. If another officer is going
to issue a visa for reasons that are not clear, that officer should share those details with
colleagues. Consular officers need to work in their specialty. If you are a tenured
consular officer you should do more consular work, not just complete a single tour and
then take on non-consular jobs.

SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED