Editing Bojinka plot (section)

==Planning==
[[File:Philippines (orthographic projection).svg|thumb|right|The Philippines, the operating base for Bojinka]]

As soon as Yousef arrived in Manila, along with other "Arab Afghans" who were creating cells in Manila, he began work making bombs. Yousef had shown up in [[Singapore]] with Shah earlier in the autumn of 1994.<!-- "Autumn" should be replaced with the specific month if possible --> The two got their Philippine [[Visa (document)|visas]] in [[Singapore]].{{Citation needed|date=January 2010}}

He left Manila for several days, but was met by Islamist emissaries upon his return to [[Metro Manila]]. They asked him to attack [[President of the United States|United States President]] [[Bill Clinton]], who was due to arrive in the [[Philippines]] on November 12, 1994, as part of a five-day tour of Asia. Although Yousef thought of several ways to kill the president, including placing [[nuclear bomb]]s on Clinton's motorcade route,{{citation needed|date=January 2022}}{{Dubious|date=August 2023}} firing a [[FIM-92 Stinger|Stinger missile]] at [[Air Force One]] or the presidential [[limousine]], launching [[Theatre&nbsp;ballistic&nbsp;missile|theater ballistic missile]]s at Manila, and killing him with [[phosgene]], a chemical weapon, he decided against this, reasoning the plan to be too difficult. However, he incorporated his plan to kill the then-incumbent [[Pope]] [[Pope John Paul II|John Paul II]] into the Bojinka plot.{{Citation needed|date=January 2010}}

In 1994, Yousef and Khalid Sheik Mohammed started testing airport security. Yousef booked a flight between [[Kai Tak International Airport]] in Hong Kong and [[Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport]] near [[Taipei]]. Mohammed booked a flight between [[Ninoy Aquino International Airport]] near [[Manila]] and [[Kimpo International Airport]] near [[Seoul]]. The two had already converted 14 bottles of contact lens solution into bottles containing [[nitroglycerin]], which was readily available in the Philippines. Yousef had taped a metal rod to the arch of his foot, which would serve as a detonator. The two wore jewelry and clothing with metal to confuse airport security. To support their claim that they were meeting women, they packed [[condom]]s in their bags.<ref name=":0">{{Cite news |last=Ressa |first=Maria |date=July 26, 2003 |title=Philippines: U.S. missed 9/11 clues years ago |url=http://edition.cnn.com/2003/WORLD/asiapcf/southeast/07/26/khalid.confession/index.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240721003650/http://edition.cnn.com/2003/WORLD/asiapcf/southeast/07/26/khalid.confession/index.html |archive-date=July 21, 2024 |access-date=July 30, 2024 |work=[[CNN]]}}</ref>

On December 8, Yousef moved into the Doña Josefa Apartments (later known simply as the Josefa Apartments and eventually converted to a hotel in 2019 under the name "Mannra Hotel") in the Malate district under the alias "Najy Awaita Haddad," using a fake [[Morocco|Moroccan]] identity. He booked Unit 603 in advance with a [[Philippine peso|₱]]80,000 deposit and an additional [[Philippine peso|₱]]40,000.{{Citation needed|date=July 2024}} Mohammed purported himself to be a [[Saudi Arabia|Saudi]] or [[Qatar]]i [[plywood]] exporter named "Abdul Majid." Upon settling in the unit, both men had already started planning Operation Bojinka.<ref name="cnn-convicted" />

Edith Guerrera, the manager, jokingly claimed with the receptionist after the two men asked for new registration forms, that "they have forgotten their names," adding that the first ones were torn up, but nevertheless gave in to their requests. Unknown to them, Yousef had accidentally put his actual name on the first form.<ref name="brzezinski-bombshell" />

The apartment was chosen because of its location; it was {{convert|200|m|sp=us}} away from the [[Apostolic Nunciature to the Philippines|Apostolic Nunciature]], the [[Holy See]]'s diplomatic mission in the Philippines, and {{convert|500|m|sp=us}} down the street from Manila Police Station No. 9 on [[Quirino Avenue]]. One of the windows of the unit looks down on the path that the papal motorcade was to take.<ref name="brzezinski-bombshell" /> A conspirator named [[Abdul Hakim Murad (terrorist)|Abdul Hakim Murad]] went to Manila with Yousef and stayed at the same apartment.

People were suspicious of the men in Unit 603, who were described as being very secretive. According to Guerrera, the men gave the impression that they were in the Philippines to study, adding that "they looked like students." She also revealed that they double-locked the door when they were inside or out and never asked for a cleaning crew to clear up the room, also adding that they "had chemical burns on their hands," carried boxes, and never hired other people to help them. Also unknown to them, the boxes contained chemicals bought from suppliers in [[Manila]] and [[Quezon City]] in [[Metro Manila]], which Yousef used to make his bombs.<ref name="cnn-convicted">{{Cite web |last=Jenkins |first=Brian |date=September 5, 1996 |title=Plane terror suspects convicted on all counts |url=http://edition.cnn.com/US/9609/05/terror.plot/index.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240114232018/http://edition.cnn.com/US/9609/05/terror.plot/index.html |archive-date=January 14, 2024 |access-date=2024-07-31 |website=CNN |agency=Reuters}}</ref>

According to [[Abdul Hakim Murad (terrorist)|Abdul Hakim Murad]], he gave Yousef an idea for crashing a plane into the [[CIA]]'s [[George Bush Center for Intelligence|headquarters]]; Yousef took this suggestion but did not draft plots for it at the moment, before heading off with Mohammed to [[Puerto Galera]] for scuba diving.