Terror Suspect Sought In Tampa***TAMPA FREEPERS ALERT**

Tampa Tribune ^ | 3/25/03 | KEITH MORELLI

[STARWISE]

Terror Suspect Sought In Tampa
By KEITH MORELLI kmorelli@tampatrib.com
Published: Mar 25, 2003

TAMPA - On the eve of President Bush's visit to MacDill Air Force Base, police are searching for a man suspected of being an al-Qaida terrorist who was spotted at a South Tampa sandwich shop.

The FBI last week issued a worldwide alert for Adnan G. El Shukrijumah, 27, a Saudi whose name surfaced after the capture in Pakistan of al-Qaida organizer Khalid Shaikh Mohammed. El Shukrijumah had lived in south Florida at the same time as Jose Padilla, a suspect in an alleged ``dirty bomb`` plot.

Tampa police spokeswoman Katie Hughes said police set up a perimeter in the area of South Dale Mabry Highway and Sevilla Street after a clerk and a customer in a Subway sandwich shop identified the man they saw as El Shukrijumah.

She said that around 5 p.m. a customer and clerk were inside the Subway at 3402 S. Dale Mabry Highway when a man who matched El Shukrijumah's description walked in and ordered a sandwich.

After the man left in a red, newer model Pontiac Grand Am, heading east on Sevilla Street, Tampa police Capt. Bob Guidara walked through the door and was told of the sighting.

With the city in a heightened sense of alert because of the president's visit Wednesday, police are swarming over south Tampa, looking for the Grand Am, Hughes said. Police are urging the man, if he is is a victim of mistaken identity, to contact them to clear up the matter.

Bush is scheduled to visit troops and families of servicemen and women at MacDill Wednesday morning under tight security. The base - home to U.S. Central Command, which is running the war in Iraq - is located at the south end of Dale Mabry Highway, just a few miles from where the suspected terrorist was reportedly spotted.

A poster showing the many faces of Adnan El Shukrijumah./ AP photo

El Shukrijumah was last seen in Broward County, FBI officials said last week.

FBI spokeswoman Sara Oates said Tuesday the Tampa regional office has received numerous calls from people who say they have seen El Shukrijumah, from Tampa to Orlando, and that agents are checking every call.

``We don't have him yet,'' she said.

She would only say agents are following up on all tips and calls.

``Every time we get information,'' she said, ``we corroborate the information.''

And the FBI is getting lots of calls from people, ``who are seeing him everywhere,'' she said.

[STARWISE]

EAGLES UP!!! THIS IS VERY SCARY!! ALL EYES ON DECK!!

[RandallFlagg]

What the heck is up with all these losers ending up in Florida??

[Illbay]

Gee, there's that "Saudi thing" again.

Must be just a coincidence, eh?

[PoisedWoman]

Bump

I hope they catch this creep. They should look as far south as Marco Island, where a nest of 911-celebrating muslims was working at a local hotel.

[md2576]

bump

[demnomo]

Exactly...right near Central Command. Has anyone heard anything on the major TV networks? Why hasn't there been an "America's Most Wanted" special on this guy?

[FairOpinion]

The FBI is very anxious to get this guy.

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/874572/posts

[Chad Fairbanks]

It's Florida... I mean, come on - ever read Tim Dorsey? ;0)

[dawn53]

This has been on my mind since I learned the creep was in Florida and that President Bush was going to Centcom in Tampa.

[RandallFlagg]

I wonder what ol' Rush will say about this tomorrow. He's right there.

[Thinkin' Gal]

Maybe he headed to Miami to meet a friend.

[Chad Fairbanks]

Tampa is an interesting town... Used to live there years ago. Sometimes, I even miss it... Who knows what Rush will say, but I'm sure it'll involve 'half his brain tied behind his back' and stuff ;0)

[Pilsner]

I was in Tampa two years, three months, and two weeks ago, with the Bush-Cheney Recount Team for Hillsborough County. Once it became clear who had won when the Supreme Court ruled the last evening, (we were gathered in the bar at the Holiday Inn, where we heard Dan Rather's erroneous report that Gore had won and the recount was back on) we had an impromptu celebration.

A few bottles of cheap champagne we purchased and I helped dole them out. There was a group of Arabs, apparently students in a local college, in the bar. They were the only patrons not part of the recount team, so I offered to share our hospitality with them.

"We are Democrats" their leader frostily told me as I approcahed.

"Aha" I said in my best Sienfeld Soup Nazi voice, "No champagne for you."

I got a kick out of it at the time, but reading all the news accounts of Arabs linked to terrorism in the Tampa area since 9-11 I wonder who the joke was on...

[STARWISE]

TERRORIST B-O-L BUMP, AND PASS IT ON TO OTHER TAMPA AND CENTRAL FLORIDA CONTACTS!!!

[STARWISE]

Yeah .. and it was either CNN or MSNBC who posted the
actual time of his arrival at MacDill!!

[STARWISE]

I'm sure they were part of Sami al-Arian's "think murder"
tank at USF. Wish you had a photographic memory.

[perfect stranger]

The joke IS on them.

[dawn53]

I hope if they think there's a chance of an imminent attack they'd cancel GW's trip to Centcom.

[Conservababe]

Perhaps we need an Amber Alert for terrorists?

Someone call Homeland Security and let them know that an activation and notification system is available?

[GOPJ]

Why did Sami al-Arian chose USF? Was he the first in Tampa, or did he come because there were others already here? If this sighting's real, it's spooky for Tampa.