Posted on 08/08/2006 11:24:51 AM PDT by mojito
The FBI has issued an urgent nationwide alert for 11 Egyptian students who entered the United States last week but failed to show up for their courses at Montana State University.
An FBI advisory says there are, at present, no known connections to any terrorist group but that the students are to be "approached with caution" and taken into custody. They "are here illegally and wanted for questioning," the advisory says.
The advisory comes just over a month before the five-year anniversary of the September 11 terror attacks on the United States.
"This is of very serious concern and is being closely tracked," said Rep. Peter King (R-NY), Chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee.
The FBI says the Egyptians arrived at John F. Kennedy Airport in New York on July 29 and disappeared. The advisory says the alert is nationwide but that there is specific concern the Egyptians may be on the Eastern Seaboard.
According to the advisory the 11 missing Egyptians are:
1. Ibrahim, El Sayed Ahmed Elsayed; DOB OF 4/29/1986.
2. El Dessouki, Eslam Ibrahim Mohamed; DOB OF 02/21/1985.
3. El Bahnasawi, Alaa Abd El Fattah Ali; DOB OF 04/02/1986.
4. Abd Alla, Mohamed Ragab Mohamed; DOB OF 02/15/1984.
5. El Laket, Ahmed Refaat Saad El Moghazi; DOB OF 09/01/1986.
6. El Ela, Ahmed Mohamed Mohamed Abou; DOB OF 02/02/1985.
7. El Moghazy, Mohamed Ibrahim Elsayed; DOB OF 08/08/1986.
8. Abdou, Ebrahim Mabrouk Moustafa; DOB OF 02/25/1984.
9. El Gafary, Moustafa Wagdy Moustafa; DOB OF 07/01/1988.
10.Maray, Mohamed Saleh Ahmed; DOB OF 09/12/1985.
11.El Shenawy, Mohamed Ibrahim Fouaad; DOB OF 08/12/1988.
If they did fly out of NY useing those visas, there has to be a record somewhere. I'm beginning to think that those ID's have been dumped somewhere along the Van Wyck Expwy.
Interesting theory. I have a question for you, and other FReepers. When someone arrives from another country with a visa, do they go through immigration/customs after getting off the plane in the U.S.? I know it sounds like a dumb question, but I've never traveled abroad.
I ask because of your theory. If the picture on their visa does not match the picture on their face (because you mentioned maybe the visas has been stolen from the real students), wouldn't they be prevented from entering the U.S.?
My theory is, they did go through customs in NYC and might have ditched their visas once they were allowed through.
De-plane first, then go to customs/immigration.
As to matching faces to visas/passports... altered photos, full beards....who knows.
As I posted to Big Sky Freeper, If they flew out of NY useing those IDs, there's a record. I'll bet money those papers are history.
I'm sure they snatch the I.D.'s and use them to get here. Pay the family a few bucks and they'll say anything they're told to say.
The 19 from 9-11 had many aliases. We spent days at FR looking for a pattern. The aliases were usually minor changes so the main name would be recognizable to someone in the know.
Remember that Atta was an Egytian.
I even detest thinking of him. For the first time in my life, I felt the pain of "hate".
Thank you both for the information. Why would they ditch their visas, unless of course, they aren't "students" and won't be needing them anymore. shudder
If that's the first time you felt hatred...you are blessed.
Perhaps I just lived in NYC too long.
That's what I was trying to get acrossed.
So does that add up to 19 of them?
So was the pilot of that Egypt Air flight who decided to commit suicide off our east coast before 9/11 - the one who took all the passengers down with him as he chanted "Allah is Great" or something similar.
"Student": I'm almost certain that Usama used the term in one of his ramblings praising the 19.
You've done great work on this, Chena. So the FBI web site has their photographs but not the media? Can't the media access the FBI website?
You did well. I was just slow in getting your point. :)
Thanks, Peach. I went to the FBI website and didn't find any mention of these "students" at all. Certainly no pictures. The only reason we know that the FBI has their photos, and other information, is from the news report on one of the articles I found. Apparently, the FBI has given those photos to law enforcement agencies, but not to the media.
I think that is the most curious thing about this entire matter. I've never heard of a BOLO without a picture.
As I said earlier, this is the only reason I can see for the Feds not releasing their photos. Of course, if I'm waaayyy off base with this, then the Feds may have really screwed the pooch on this one and are in total CYA mode.
I really hope that's not the case though.
Time will tell.
Ah yes, the definition of "student" takes on a whole new meaning when it comes to terrorists.
How's your head? Did food and TLC help?
Only 2 of the 17 boys cleared customs in time to take scheduled connecting flight. Most of them had to wait a couple of days to clear customs. It appears that they 'disappeared' after they left the airport. There has been no activity on their credit cards either.
Also, there were originally 20 applicants, but 3 were denied (I do not know if they were denied by the school or HLS).
I understand that this is not the first time for international student 'no show's'. But, I find it strange that 11 out of 17 students would play 'hoookie'. There may be 1 or 2 in a group, but 11 or 17? This is only a 1 month course, and it started over a week ago.
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