http://www.jihadunspun.net/intheatre_internal.php?article=89518&list=/home.php& Al-Qaeda Suspect Identified As Canadian College Student
Jan 02, 2004
Source:NNI
Federal law-enforcement authorities have identified a Somali man arrested this week in Minneapolis on suspicion of associating with the al-Qaeda terrorist network as a Canadian citizen and college student.
Mohammed A. Warsame, who was taken into custody on Tuesday on a material witness warrant, also has been tied to Zacarias Moussaoui, the suspected al Qaeda member who faces trial in Virginia on conspiracy charges in the September 11 attacks in New York and Washington, authorities said.
Warsame, according to authorities, is believed to have knowledge of Moussaoui's activities in the Minneapolis area when the French Moroccan is suspected of seeking flying lessons prior to the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, The Washington Times reported.
The Minneapolis Star Tribune, which first reported the arrest, said it was unclear whether Mr. Warsame, 30, would be called as a witness in the pending Moussaoui trial.
Authorities also confirmed that Warsame is believed to have information on Moussaoui's activities in an al Qaeda training camp in Afghanistan. Moussaoui was arrested before the September 11 attacks by FBI agents and held on immigration charges.
Warsame's wife, Fartun Farah, 28, described her husband as a responsible man, telling the newspaper through a translator that "he is not a terrorist. He loves the United States just like his home country of Canada."
Authorities said Mr. Warsame has been a student at Minneapolis Community Technical College for the past two years, where he was pursuing a career in computer sciences.
Moussaoui, 35, is the only person directly charged in the September 11 attacks that killed about 3,000 people. Some law-enforcement officials have described him as the intended "20th hijacker" had he not been in custody for immigration violations at the time.
He has acknowledged belonging to al Qaeda, but has denied any involvement in the September 11 conspiracy.
His trial has been delayed indefinitely while the US 4th Circuit Court of Appeals in Richmond rules on his right to question three al-Qaeda operatives now being detained by the US military.
The government has refused to make the detainees available, saying Moussaoui's access to the prisoners posed a threat to national security.
He said Fartun Farah,hehehe.
Two suspects questioned by British investigators said that an aircraft leaving a London airport would be part of this new al-Qaeda operation intended to eclipse the death toll in the September 11 attacks. One of these men is understood to have said that the attack was planned for the Christmas and new year holidays.
The revelations came as government eavesdroppers began picking up e-mails from the Middle East referring to transatlantic flights.
Al-Qaeda is desperate to stage another terrorist outrage to prove that it is still capable of orchestrating such a sophisticated and deadly operation, despite recent arrests of some of its most valued organisers.
The suspicion passed to ministers was that terrorists were intending to blow up aircraft packed with passengers returning to America after the holidays over a major city. A British security source said last night: “Such an attack would result in catastrophic loss of life, cause mayhem among travellers and give al-Qaeda the publicity they crave.”
A team of anti-terrorist officers and MI5 agents was ordered last autumn to concentrate on tracking down details of an alleged plot involving aircraft. The team identified one Briton whom they believed was a pivotal figure in this operation. They secretly monitored his telephone calls for weeks, hoping that it would lead them to the mastermind behind the plot and reveal precise details of an attack.
One intercepted conversation mentioned a flight from London bound for America’s East Coast. New York and Washington were seen as obvious targets, though US officials stretched the alert to include other cities such as Los Angeles, Chicago and Miami.
Excerpt from this thread on FR
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1050605/posts