h5>February 16, 2002Man Tied to Hijacker Is Convicted of Lying
By REUTERS
HOENIX, Feb. 15 — A Saudi Arabian who lives in Arizona has been convicted in federal court of lying to the F.B.I. about his link to a hijacker who flew an airliner into the Pentagon on Sept. 11.
The Saudi, Faisal al-Salmi, 34, was found guilty on Thursday of one count of making false statements in denying any knowledge of the hijacker, Hani Hanjour.
The jury in Federal District Court here took about 90 minutes to reach the verdict after a two-day trial. Mr. Salmi faces six months in prison when sentenced on March 14.
During the trial, prosecutors and witnesses said Mr. Salmi repeatedly changed his story about his ties to the hijacker during 10 hours of interviews that began on Sept. 18. They also said that both men had trained on a flight simulator at a Phoenix aviation school.