Posted on 09/12/2001 6:44:21 PM PDT by oxi-nato
A possible terrorist suspect who was caught snapping photos of security operations at four downtown federal buildings in New York City was let go by federal officials, the New York Post reported Wednesday.
A source at the Defense Intelligence Agency, which is investigating, described the incident as "a very intriguing and very important story right now," following the terrorist attack against the World Trade Center using two jetliners on Tuesday.
A third jetliner crashed into the Pentagon; a fourth, possibly enroute to the White House, crashed in western Pennsylvania. All airliners were hijacked, officials said. The DIA source told the Post that DIA agents are seeking the pictures the suspect snapped and the fake documents he provided to authorities.
The security lapse took place in June, soon after four henchmen of exiled Saudi terrorist leader Osama bin Laden were convicted in Manhattan federal court for the devastating August 1998 bombings of two U.S. embassies in Africa, the paper said. Federal Protective Services officers picked up the man, described has having Mideastern features, as he was taking picture. FPS officers are charged with protecting federal buildings. The man was taken to 26 Federal Plaza, where his film was confiscated, his visa and passport photocopied and his address noted. He was then handed over to an immigration agent to verify his status, the Post said.
Immigration officials, however, have no record of the incident, the paper said. Afterward, the suspect was brought to an FBI agent on duty at the time - but the FBI-NYPD Joint Terrorist Task Force was apparently not brought in. The duty agent released the suspect after deciding there was no legal reason to hold him.
But after the film was developed a few days later, the Post said, federal agents panicked. Photos revealed close-ups of security cameras, police posts, security checkpoints and exits and entrances at both the new and old Manhattan federal courthouses, 26 Federal Plaza and the federal building at 290 Broadway, the Post said.
After backtracking, federal officials realized the suspect's visa and passport were phony, and his address didn't exist.
The feds let a suspected terrorist slip through their hands last month after he was caught snapping reconnaissance photos of security operations at four federal buildings in lower Manhattan, The Post has learned...
http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,174639,00.html
It’s not yet clear whether the pilots were trained in the US, or in Saudi Arabia or both. Intelligence officials believe each team had four to five persons. Some team members, it is thought by US intelligence, crossed the Canadian border to get into the U.S. TIME has learned that within the past few months, the FBI placed two men associated with an Islamic Jihad terror group on a border watch list, but through a screwup, the pair got into the U.S. anyway. The two men appear to have been on American Airlines Flight 77, the plane that crashed into the Pentagon, TIME has learned. Boston appears to have been a central hub for the operation; U.S. intelligence believes a bin Laden cell in Florida was a support group helping with the aviation aspects of the attack.
If he returns from Australia, he should be arrested.
My point is if you're going to punch the giant's nose, would you then wait until he cleans up the blood before you throw the next punch?
I wouldn't.
I've seen some of these immigration officials - they behave like they passed "Rubber Stamping 101" with flying colors (i.e. no higher-level thinking going on). "No record"? How about INCOMPETANCY?
;^)
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