Posted on 10/15/2001 1:35:43 PM PDT by CommiesOut
| Iraqis plead not guilty in U.S. hazmat license case | |
|
|
|
PITTSBURGH, Oct 15 (Reuters) - Two Iraqi men arrested in a
crackdown on hazardous material haulers after last month's
hijacked plane attacks pleaded not guilty Monday in U.S.
District court to charges of obtaining illegal commercial
drivers licenses.
The men, Kamel Albred, 33, and Haider Alshomary, 29, were
arrested in Texas Sept. 26 and have been held without bail on
charges of illegally obtaining the licenses through a middleman
who bribed a Pennsylvania Department of Transportation worker.
Albred and Alshomary were among 21 men of Middle Eastern
origins arrested when U.S. authorities tightened scrutiny of
hazardous material shipments after the Sept. 11 attacks in New
York, Washington and Pennsylvania. The licenses allow the
holders to transport hazardous materials.
The case was not tied to the attacks, which left more than
5,400 people dead, federal officials said. Alshomary and Albred
are Iraqi refugees who came to the U.S. after the 1991 Gulf
war, according to the Fort Worth Star-Telegram in Texas.
The Pennsylvania state worker, Robert Ferrari of Turtle
Creek, Pennsylvania, has been indicted on federal charges of
illegally providing commercial driver's licenses to 20 men, all
of whom have been indicted. The suspect's allegedly purchased
licenses from a Pittsburgh middleman identified as Elmeliani
Benmoumen.
All but three of the suspects are free on bond in their
home states of Washington, Pennsylvania, Illinois, Michigan,
Missouri, Tennessee and Texas, said Assistant U.S. Attorney
Bruce Teitelbaum. The other, he said, is Hussain Sudani, 33,
whom a federal magistrate ordered held without bail in Seattle
for making what she called "inflammatory" comments.
((New York Newsroom 646-223-6280))
15 OCT 2001 20:19:19You don't need a gypsy to tell you where this is going.
WHEN are we going to come to our senses and realize THIS IS WAR?
these guys are free on bond, when the president is saying that truck bombs of hazmat are the next likely attack method. What was their bond, and who was their bondsman, I wonder?...
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.