UPDATING post no. 42:
December 10, 2009
Note: The following text is a quote:
http://washingtondc.fbi.gov/pressrel/pressrel09/wfo121009.htm
Updated Statement Regarding Investigation of Missing Students
The FBI’s Washington Field Office issued the following statement:
Five missing individuals from the Washington, D.C. area have been located and are in the custody of Pakistani police. The five men were detained by Pakistani authorities on December 9, 2009 after they came to the attention of police.
The men were detained without incident and four were found to have U.S. Passports. The U.S. Embassy was contacted. An FBI special agent and two other U.S. government officials from the Embassy have spoken with some of the men. Although positive identification is still pending, the FBI believes they are the missing individuals.
The FBI was attempting to locate these individuals after learning of their disappearance. Discussions concerning their possible return to the United States are still underway.
http://www.investigativeproject.org/blog/2009/12/ny-times-dc-students-aimed-for-pakistani-tribal
“NY Times: D.C. Students Aimed for Pakistani Tribal Areas”
by IPT News • Dec 10, 2009 at 10:16 am
SNIPPET: “The Times reports the group communicated with terrorists linked to Al Qaeda through YouTube posts before leaving the U.S. nearly two weeks ago.
They were arrested in a home belonging to one of the missing men’s uncle, who is affiliated with the Jaish-e-Muhammad terrorist group. The father of Umar Farooq, one of the students, reportedly was arrested, too. The Times cites local Police Chief Usman Anwar:
“The five men bonded together in the jihadi cause, watching jihadi video clips on You Tube that showed attacks by the Taliban on allied forces in Afghanistan, he said. The group also maintained a common e-mail address, Mr. Anwar said. Employing a technique widely used among militants, they left their comments in the ‘draft’ box of the e-mail address so that they could all easily read the comments.”