9/13/01: FBI Chases Suspects Of Terrorist Attacks

Afghanistan, Iran and Iraq May Have Assisted

WASHINGTON -- American and European officials believe that groups linked to one or more foreign governments were directly involved in facilitating Tuesday’s terrorist attacks, the Los Angeles Times is reporting.

The Times quotes a “top-ranking” U.S. law enforcement official as saying investigators are looking at the potential complicity of groups tied to the governments of Afghanistan, Iran and Iraq in planning and executing the bombings.

The paper also reports that investigators now believe that the terrorists involved in the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon belonged to isolated cells working in concert with Osama bin Laden and at least one foreign government.

Florida Suspects May Have Had Help

The five Florida men suspected of hijacking flights in Tuesday’s attacks may have received financial assistance and other support from at least seven other local associates, the Miami Herald reported Friday.

The paper reports that the hijackers lived a Spartan lifestyle and had little or no job history in South Florida, yet were able to afford flight instruction that cost as much as $25,000.

“Somebody other than these guys was paying the bills,” a U.S. Justice Department familiar with the probe told the Herald.

Report: Suspects Tried Second Wave Thursday

Ten people are in custody at New York's two major airports after officials discovered they had knives, false identification and flight tickets dated Sept. 11, ABC News reported.

The New York area's three major airports were shut down.

In addition, ABC News reported that three women and a man were detained at Miami International Airport after one of the women was caught changing from street clothes into a flight attendant uniform at the airport.

However, Miami television station WPLG later reported that authorties characterized the incident as a misunderstanding.

Between 4:15 and 5 p.m. EDT, four men were detained trying to board a United Airlines flight to Los Angeles at John F. Kennedy International Airport, officials said. They had open-dated tickets for Sept. 11, the date of Tuesday's attack.

A man who tried to use a false pilot's identification to get past security at JFK was arrested.

The arrested man had tried to fly to California on Tuesday morning and was carrying a certificate from a Florida flight training school, according to an Associated Press source familiar with the workings of the airline industry.

Officials said the suspects had multiple fake IDs, knives, and flight certificates from Flight Safety International in Vero Beach, Fla., one of the schools the suspected terrorists were allegedly trained.

Following the detention of the four men, a female was also detained for allegedly acting in a support role.

One witness, who had been aboard the flight preparing to depart JFK Airport for Los Angeles, told ABC News anchor Ted Koppel that as many as four men were removed from the jetliner by police and a SWAT team after brief resistance.

Hours later, at LaGuardia Airport, police detained five men who also had open flight tickets, knives, fake pilot licenses and identification. All 10 people are being questioned by authorities tonight.

Northwest Airlines also has canceled all passenger flights.

Philippine Hotel Raided

U.S. and Philippine authorities conducted a raid at a hotel in Manila in connection with the terrorist attacks in the United States, President Gloria Arroyo said late Thursday EDT.

Arroyo, speaking at a Tokyo news conference, said the "joint action" was taken at the Bayview Hotel, which is near the U.S. Embassy in Manila.

She did not elaborate.

Though officials with Arroyo initially said the raid occurred on Friday, they later said that it was carried out Wednesday, the day after the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center in New York and the Pentagon in Washington, D.C.

One senior official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the Philippines was cooperating with the United States in looking for links between the attacks and "suspects" in the hotel.

He said he did not know if anyone was detained in Wednesday's raid.

Philippine police had expressed suspicion that Tuesday's attacks came close to the anniversary of the Sept. 5, 1996, conviction of Ramzi Yousef, the alleged mastermind of the 1993 bombing at the World Trade Center.

Yousef's arrest in Pakistan came after his roommate had been arrested in Manila in January 1995 following a fire that broke out in an apartment the two shared.

A U.S. Congressional Research Service report dated Monday, the day before the latest terrorist attacks, identified the Philippines as one of 34 countries where followers of exiled Saudi millionaire Osama bin Laden have cells. Bin Laden has emerged as a prime suspect in the attacks.

Before leaving for her official visit to Japan, Arroyo said she considered canceling her trip because of the "fear that now afflicts humanity."

EU Leaders Promise Support

The 15 government leaders of the European Union vowed Friday in Brussels that they would help chase down the perpetrators of the attacks on the United States and hold accountable any country which provides shelter to terrorists.

A statement signed by EU leaders outlined an anti-terrorism policy and urged a common approach and better coordination between state security organizations.

"We will not, under any circumstances, allow those responsible to find refuge, wherever they may be," the statement said. "Those responsible for hiding, supporting or harboring the perpetrators, organizers and sponsors of these acts will be held accountable."

After pledging full solidarity with the United States, the EU nations said they would take measures against terrorism, such as establishing unified arrest warrants and extradition orders, and bolstering their common foreign and security policies.

FBI Led To Minnesota

The investigative trail of one man suspected to have ties to the network of terrorists who attacked New York City and Washington, D.C., on Tuesday has moved through St. Paul, Minn., where the brother of one of the men suspected to have flown one of Tuesday's suicide missions lived last year.

Wednesday, officers found a Minnesota identification card in a Vero Beach, Fla., home that was suspected to have been used by the terrorists, WCCO-TV in Minneapolis reported. The card listed a Berkeley Avenue address in St. Paul, the station reported.

The address led to a rented room used last year by Ali Saeed Alamri, a 28-year-old man from Saudi Arabia who is believed to be the brother of 38-year-old Abdul Saeed Alamri, a Saudi Arabian pilot who the FBI suspects was behind the controls of one of the doomed hijacked flights.

Agents have contacted at least one Twin Cities flight school and a flight simulator for jet airliners that operates in Eagan, Minn.

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Pakistan Pledges Support

Pakistan, a nation in the know about terrorist suspect Osama bin Laden, on Thursday promised unflagging cooperation with the United States to fight terrorism following the attacks on New York and Washington.

"I wish to assure President Bush and the U.S. government of our unstinted cooperation in the fight against terrorism," President Gen. Pervez Musharraf said in a statement after a late-night meeting Wednesday with his military in Islamabad. "The world must unite to fight terrorism."

The United States urged Pakistan Thursday to close its border with Afghanistan and to cut off funding for terrorist groups, a senior Bush administration official said in Washington.

The U.S. government also asked Pakistan for permission to fly over its territory in the event of military action, the official said on condition of anonymity.

The U.S. request came after Secretary of State Colin Powell had focused on Afghanistan and Pakistan during an appeal for support from world leaders -- Afghanistan for harboring bin Laden and Pakistan for its proximity the Saudi exile's operations and its own record of support for Afghanistan's ruling Taliban.

The request conveyed by the State Department was seen by the Foreign Ministry as an indication of possible U.S. military action against Afghanistan, a senior Pakistani Foreign Ministry official who spoke on condition of anonymity told The Associated Press. However, he said the specifics of Pakistan's potential assistance were not discussed.

If the United States pushes Pakistan for cooperation in a concrete action against the Taliban, Musharraf will face a stark choice.

Cooperating with the United States in an attack on Afghanistan could cause a backlash from militant Muslim groups in Pakistan, one of three countries that recognizes the Taliban government. The others are Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.

The Taliban are supported by militant Islamic groups in Pakistan. Followers of the Pakistani groups are well-armed and strongly anti-American.

Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence agency has been involved in Afghanistan since the 1970s, and is believed to have been the force behind the Taliban, which took control of most of Afghanistan in 1996. It is believed to have better intelligence information about Afghanistan and the Taliban than any other country.

Bush: U.S. Nears 'First War Of 21st Century'

Fighting back tears, President Bush vowed Thursday that America would "lead the world to victory" over terrorism in a struggle he termed the first war of the 21st century.

"I can't tell you how sad I am, and America is, for the people of New York City and the tri-state area," Bush said. He said he looked forward to personally thanking the people there who "made a huge display, for the world to see, of the compassion of America and the bravery of America."

He cautioned against expressing hatred toward Muslims and Arab-Americans. "We must be mindful that, as we seek to win the war, that we treat Arab-Americans and Muslims with the respect they deserve. . . . We should not hold one who is a Muslim responsible for an act of terror."

Bush declared Friday a "national day of prayer and remembrance" and asked Americans to spend their lunch breaks Friday taking part in services at their chosen places of worship, said White House spokesman Ari Fleischer.

One Detained In Germany; Another Suspect Sought

Police have detained a man in the northern German city of Hamburg -- in connection with the terrorist attacks in the United States. They said that they are now looking for a second man in connection with the attacks.

The man in custody was an employee at the Hamburg airport. The man was detained by Hamburg police acting on a tip from the FBI.

Germany is looking for a man described as being "of Arab background."

The chief federal prosecutor said three of the terrorists who died in the attacks were part of a suspected Islamic extremist group in Germany.

Authorities said there's no immediate evidence of a connection with suspected terror mastermind Osama bin Laden.

Bin Laden Prime Suspect

President Bush and Secretary of State Colin Powell said Osama bin Laden (pictured, below) is "directly involved" in the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, CNN reported.

Powell is the first senior administration official to say for the record that bin Laden is suspected of engineering the attacks.

Powell said he'll press the president of Pakistan for information on bin Laden's operations.

Powell described Pakistan as a friend of the United States, but also said the relationship has had its "ups and downs."

In Islamabad, Pakistan's leader has pledged "unstinted cooperation."

Bin Laden changed locations within Afghanistan just minutes after reports of the attacks, a Pakistani intelligence source said Thursday. Bin Laden would not tell anyone where he was moving, the source told The Associated Press on condition of anonymity.

Bin Laden Group Extensive

A congressional report says the terrorist organization headed by Osama bin Laden is an extensive one -- and represents "a global threat" to the United States.

The report -- dated the day before Tuesday's terrorist attacks -- says cells of the group are identified or suspected in 34 countries or territories -- including the United States.

The Congressional Research Service report says the coalition of radical Islamic groups is made up of different nationalities.

The groups' common goal is said to be the expulsion of "non-Muslim control or influence from Muslim-inhabited lands."

The organization is likely to include some 3,000 Islamic militants. The report, written by a Middle East specialist, says bin Laden is estimated to have $300 million in personal financial assets.

50 Infiltrators Suspected

About 40 infiltrators who allegedly supported or carried out the terrorist strikes have been accounted for, but 10 remain at large, according to an article in Thursday morning's Los Angeles Times.

A source told the newspaper that agents searching cars and apartments found suicide notes in New York that some of the hijackers apparently wrote for their parents.

The Times also reported that 27 of the 50 suspects received flight training, and that credit card receipts indicated that at least some of the infiltrators received that training in the United States.

Sources told the paper that the nation's airports were closed to commercial traffic for a second day on Wednesday partly to prevent the missing suspects from fleeing the country. Earlier Wednesday, sources said that investigators had gathered evidence linking the infiltrators to Osama bin Laden and other terrorist networks.

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