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Foreigners Cleared In Bus Scare (Tampa)
TBO ^ | 5-23-06 | Keith Morelli

Posted on 05/23/2006 11:24:56 PM PDT by STARWISE

TAMPA - Two Saudi men jailed last week after being accused of boarding a school bus and riding to a New Tampa high school could be released as early as today after federal and local authorities determined the pair are in this country legally and are not a security risk.

Mana Saleh Almanajam, 23, and Shaker Mohsen Alsidran, 20, were charged with trespassing on school property Friday. A day after their arrest, the $250 bail was revoked by a judge to give Immigration and Customs Enforcement time to investigate the two men.

Monday, ICE Special Agent in Charge Robert Weber said investigators found Almanajam and Alsidran are here legally on student visas and that immigration holds would not be imposed.

"In a nutshell," he said, "we determined what their status was and that it did not require any immigration detention. They are not here illegally."

The two University of South Florida students, enrolled in the English Language Institute, were held in isolation at Orient Road Jail, said sheriff's spokesman J.D. Callaway, "for everybody's safety."

He said detectives over the weekend concluded the men meant no harm when they boarded a school bus at Fletcher Avenue and 42nd Street early Friday morning.

"We determined that they were apparently just confused," Callaway said. "There is nothing else to lead us to file more criminal charges."

(Excerpt) Read more at tbo.com ...


TOPICS: Crime/Corruption; Extended News; Foreign Affairs; Government; Miscellaneous; News/Current Events; War on Terror
KEYWORDS: saudis; schoolbus; tampa; testingtesting; wot
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To: visualops

I bet they were scoping out the bus for a while and knew the driver was a substitute. It would make sense to let these ????s go and follow. It would be the smartest thing IMO!


21 posted on 05/24/2006 3:57:33 AM PDT by gr8eman (Everybody is a rocket scientist...until launch day!)
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To: LibWhacker
yeah makes it all good and wholesome cause someone punched their landing ticket
22 posted on 05/24/2006 4:10:13 AM PDT by Flavius (Qui desiderat pacem, praeparet bellum)
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To: STARWISE

The confused men retrieved their IED belts and throat slitting knives from the police property room and gave thanks to Allah for their release from the infidels. They plan a mass-murder jihad at the local McDonalds on Friday. All are welcome to attend!


23 posted on 05/24/2006 4:10:45 AM PDT by Doc Savage (Bueller?....Bueller?...Bueller?...Bueller?...Pelosi?...Pelosi?...Pelosi?...)
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To: gr8eman

I thought the same thing. I hope that is what is going on...


24 posted on 05/24/2006 4:34:52 AM PDT by Jonx6
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To: STARWISE

Does this mean that a school bus is now the newest form of public transportation?


25 posted on 05/24/2006 4:37:59 AM PDT by Just mythoughts
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To: Eroteme

One of these visitors had a FLORIDA driver license !The state of FL issued drivers licenses to the 9-11 crowd .
Why would someone here on a temporary basis need a FLA license !
Was that brought to the judges' attention and was it ignored.


26 posted on 05/24/2006 4:48:27 AM PDT by BurtSB
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To: visualops
"20+ year olds (I imagine with no books or bookbags) on a bus of HS students and they didn't look out of place????"

Nope, probably not. Have you LOOKED at HS students lately? I've got 12-year old Junior HS students who look late-teens. Many of the HS kids LOOK like they're adults. Dress and mannerisms are most of it. They don't do pigtails very often, anymore.
27 posted on 05/24/2006 4:50:32 AM PDT by Old Student (WRM, MSgt, USAF(Ret.))
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To: Springman

All we can hope for, I guess, is that these guys are marked and can no longer be of use in any actual plot.


28 posted on 05/24/2006 4:51:01 AM PDT by Bahbah (“KERRY LIED!! SCHOLARLY ATTRIBUTION DIED!!!”)
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To: BurtSB
One of these visitors had a FLORIDA driver license !

And yet neither of these men had any ID on them when taken into custody. I find that very curious. One of the men, maybe, could have run out of the apt forgetting ID...but both?

Another thing. It was 7 a.m when they boarded the bus at the stop--an approx. 1/2 mile hike from their respective apts. The defense attorney's claim that they were simply "bored" and were killing time is laughable.

29 posted on 05/24/2006 5:59:58 AM PDT by Eroteme
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To: Old Student

I've got one kid in 11th grade and one recently graduated, so yes I know just what they look like lol.
Some of them do look "older" but schoolkids tend to look like schoolkids. What they wear, their stuff, their demeanor. I would imagine 2 guys who supposedly thought they were on some sort of public bus would have stood out.


30 posted on 05/24/2006 7:38:50 AM PDT by visualops (If you build it... www.visualops.com ...they won't come. Build the fence!)
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To: malia

I do have nice legs, for a 40 something guy anyhow.

I have also been seen in a kilt from time to time, so nothing new here.

FYI, I'm self employed in a custom equipment fabrication business.


31 posted on 05/24/2006 9:19:20 PM PDT by 308MBR ( Somebody sold the GOP to the socialists, and the GOP wasn't theirs to sell.)
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To: Eroteme

I can't remember the name...but a few years back I heard some terrorism
expert on one of the Los Angeles AM stations talking about how vulnerable
most schools are to attacks.

Wouldn't be suprised if this wasn't a "let's see how easy it would be
to hijack a bus full of American (and Mexican!) schoolkids and hold them
while making demands on live-primetime TV".


32 posted on 05/24/2006 9:24:36 PM PDT by VOA
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