U.S. official: FBI detains man who lived with Sept. 11 hijackers

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Federal investigators have detained a man they say was a roommate of at least two of the Sept. 11 hijackers last summer, a U.S. official said Tuesday.

Rasmi Al-Shannaq, a Jordanian citizen, was taken into custody Monday for overstaying his visa, said the official, speaking on the condition of anonymity.

Early Monday, the State Department's diplomatic security service and the FBI raided a house in Baltimore looking for Al-Shannaq.

Al-Shannaq was questioned about what he knew of the hijackers and any possible plans they might have discussed.

The official would not say where Al-Shannaq was being held. The men he lived with in the Washington suburbs -- Hani Hanjour and Nawaq Al-Hazmi -- are suspected of hijacking American Airlines Flight 77 just before it was crashed into the Pentagon. Al-Shannaq acknowledged living with the hijackers, the official said.

The FBI is still searching for other men believed to have had close contact or lived with the hijackers, the official said.

The official said the government's interest in Al-Shannaq may never lead to charges, but investigators want to know if he might have heard something that would lead to other possible terrorist plans.

The government has argued that it may hold immigration violators without releasing information if their arrest is related to a terrorism investigation.

Earlier this month, the Justice Department said 73 people were being held in federal custody on criminal charges or violations related to the government's investigation of Sept. 11. In addition, 74 others were being held on immigration-related charges and were in the custody of the Immigration and Naturalization Service. Some of those held for immigration violations do not have lawyers.

To a murderer killing a convenience store clerk for the sake of 50 bucks, murder is 'trivial.' Overstaying a visa is only 'trivial' because years of lax immigration laws and total lack of enforcement has made it seem trivial, even when it should not be considered a small inconsequential thing. Overstaying a visa is the first step to simply disappearing, the next step is obtaining fake IDs, identity theft, and getting benefits via fraud. Legitimate visitors can take a little time to go and renew their visas- it won't kill them. The only people who don't bother to renew are people who don't give a rat's arse about anything but themselves, and they sure as heck don't respect the US- we have no use for them. Even fraud and perjury are now called 'trivial,' but they shouldn't be considered such. Reneging on contracts or visa requirements shouldn't be considered trivial, but hey, in modern America, even citizenship has lost its meaning, right along with other 'trivial' things like responsibility and integrity.

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