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http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/education/2002068764_center21m.html

"Details about Seattle school found in Iraq"

By Sanjay Bhatt
Seattle Times staff reporter

ARTICLE SNIPPET:

"The disk, which included such things as school names, floor layouts and building security diagrams, made national news Oct. 7. At that time, it was said to contain information about schools in six states — California, Florida, Georgia, Michigan, New Jersey and Oregon.

With memories still fresh of the terrorist attack on a school in Beslan, Russia, disclosure of the disk raised both fears and controversy. At the same time, the U.S. Department of Education urged schools to heighten security.

On Oct. 8, however, federal officials were insisting there was no terrorist connection to the disk. The FBI said it had contacted local officials out of an abundance of caution.

The unidentified Iraqi man who made the disk, The Associated Press reported, was doing research and had no connection to al-Qaida or Iraqi insurgents attacking U.S. soldiers. The man's links to the Baath Party weren't considered unusual, given that most government officials and community leaders in Saddam Hussein's Iraq had to pledge allegiance to the party."