Posted on 08/17/2002 2:11:56 PM PDT by Wallaby
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Report: Suspect's Passport Found
Associated Press Online INTERNATIONAL NEWS August 17, 2002 Saturday 11:59 AM Eastern Time
BERLIN
The passport of a Syrian-born man suspected of recruiting some of the Hamburg-based Sept. 11 hijackers was found at the house of a top al-Qaida official in Afghanistan, according to a report Saturday.
The German passport of Mohammed Haydar Zammar was found in the ruins of the home of Mohammed Atef, bin Laden's top military commander, who was killed by a U.S. airstrike in Afghanistan in November, the Der Spiegel newsmagazine said, without identifying any sources. Federal prosecutors, who are leading the German investigation into the Hamburg terrorist cell, didn't return calls seeking comment Saturday.
Zammar was in Hamburg with hijackers Mohamed Atta, Marwan al-Shehhi and Ziad Jarrah.
The passport, issued in Hamburg, showed Zammar had taken numerous trips to Jordan, Syria and Pakistan, the report said.
German investigators say they questioned Zammar immediately after the Sept. 11 attacks but let him go for lack of evidence. He then left Germany and was arrested in Morocco under unclear circumstances.
A German intelligence official said earlier in June that the Moroccans later sent him to Syria, where he remains in custody.
Zammar was in Hamburg with hijackers Mohamed Atta, Marwan al-Shehhi and Ziad Jarrah. He is believed to have introduced Atta, the suspected leader of the Hamburg group, to senior al-Qaida figures in Afghanistan.
Zammar reportedly is being questioned with the knowledge of U.S. authorities.
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