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Internet Rumors  
A Case of Mistaken Identity: Mohammad Atta Not Linked to Bus Bombing
An Internet rumor claims that Mohammed Atta, the suspected mastermind of the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks against America, was involved in an earlier terrorist bombing of an Israeli bus in 1986.

In fact, the perpetrator of the April 1986 attack was a 33-year-old Jordanian and a naturalized U.S. citizen, who went by the name Mahmoud Atta. The Mohammed Atta behind the 9/11 attacks would have been 18 years old in 1986 (he was born in 1968) and was an Egyptian citizen. The Boston Globe, which was one of the few newspapers that printed this rumor, issued a correction a few days later and said their original report was "a case of mistaken identity."

On November 7, a spokesman for the Israeli Ministry of Justice stated: "It's not the same person. It's obviously two different men with similar names."

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