Hijacker on 9/11 was held by Clinton or Reagan, but released-Fiction!

The Pilot of One of the Hijacked 9/11 Airliners Was In Custody, but Released At President Reagan’s Or President Clinton’s Fiction!

Summary of eRumor:
The email says that in 1986, a pilot named Atta was captured and imprisoned in Israel for blowing up a bus.  As a part of the famous Oslo Accords, Israel was to release “political prisoners,” but was reluctant to let any prisoners go free who had “blood on their hands.”  One version says it was at the insistence of President Ragan and Secretary of State George Shultz, Atta was freed.  Another says it was insisted upon by Bill Clinton and Warren Christopher.

The Truth:
According to several news sources, including the Boston Globe, which was among those that originally published the story, this turned out to be a case of mistaken identity.  An article from 9/19/01 says that Second Circuit Court of Appeals records showed that the man arrested in connection with the bus attack in Israel used an alias that was the same as the name of the hijacker, Mahmoud Atta.  Even that suspect, however, was not in custody so where the story about Reagan the Oslo accords came from, we don’t know.  The Oslo accords were signed in 1993 and Ronald Reagan left office in 1989.  Additionally, we’ve not been able to find any provisions in the Oslo accords as described.  There were provisions for the release of a large number Palestinian prisoners.
The original version of the eRumor included the Reagan connection.  Someone along the way decided to pin the blame on Bill Clinton and a new, revised version started circulating with his and Warren Christopher’s names inserted.