Free Republic

A report commissioned in mid-1999 by Rep. Curt Weldon (R) looks into possible Chinese front companies in the US seeking technology for the Chinese military. Dr. Eileen Preisser and Michael Maloof are commissioned to make the report. Dr. Preisser, who runs the Information Dominance Center at the US Army's Land Information Warfare Activity (LIWA) and will later become closely tied to Able Danger, uses LIWA's data mining capabilities to search unclassified information. According to Maloof, their results show Chinese front companies in the US posing as US corporations that acquire technology from US defense contractors. When the study is completed...

PATERSON, N.J. (AP) - Secret evidence presented in a closed court session alleged that a man who sold fake IDs to two of the Sept. 11 hijackers had closer ties to terrorism than previously revealed, according to transcripts released Tuesday. In the end, authorities found no evidence to bring terrorism charges against Mohamad El-Atriss, and U.S. Attorney Christopher J. Christie said Tuesday that El-Atriss "is not considered a threat to national security by us." In a plea bargain, El-Atriss was sentenced in March to five years' probation and fined $15,000 for selling phony documents. El-Atriss and his lawyer on Tuesday...

Michael Tuohey sobbed with grief after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. He also felt guilt. A U.S. Airways ticket agent at the time, Tuohey had handed boarding passes to Mohamed Atta and Abdul Aziz Alomari that morning as they rushed to make their flight at Portland International Jetport. In the days after Atta and his fellow suicide hijackers killed close to 3,000 people at the World Trade Center, Tuohey held himself at least partly responsible. He was suspicious of them, he said, but did nothing. Later, as he watched news reports of the towers crumbling, of people jumping from...

NEWARK, New Jersey - A man accused of providing fake identification to two of the Sept. 11 hijackers was arrested at New York's Kennedy Airport after returning from Egypt, authorities said Tuesday. Mohamed el-Atriss was taken into custody by U.S. Customs agents when they noticed a warrant from Passaic County, said Michael Drewniak, a spokesman for the U.S. attorney's office in Newark. El-Atriss, a naturalized U.S. citizen from Egypt, arrived in New York either late Monday or early Tuesday and faces extradition to Passaic County, Drewniak said. Federal authorities have not charged el-Atriss, but "he remains of interest to us,"...

PATERSON, N.J., Jul 31, 2002 (AP Online via COMTEX) -- A man who authorities said sold fake identification to two of the Sept. 11 hijackers apparently left on a flight to Egypt hours before authorities raided his home and businesses Wednesday, officials said. Mohamad El Atriss operated businesses in Paterson and Elizabeth where he sold the IDs, said Passaic County Sheriff Jerry Speziale. Authorities raided his home and business Wednesday afternoon and were told Atriss had took a flight from Newark to Egypt earlier that morning, Speziale said. Atriss sold a fake identification card to Khalid Almihdhar, who was...