Investigators Identify 4 to 5 Groups Linked to Bin Laden Operating in U.S.
No Connection Found Between 'Cell' Members and 19 Hijackers, Officials Say
Bob Woodward and Walter PincusWashington Post Staff Writers
September 23, 2001; Page A1
Section: A
Four to five al Qaeda groups have operated in the United States for the last several years, but investigators have not yet found any connection between them and any of the 19 hijackers responsible for the Sept. 11 attacks, according to government officials.
The groups, called "cells" by the FBI, are under intensive government surveillance. The FBI has not made any arrests because the group members entered the country legally in recent years and have not been involved
From the article in #58
http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn?pagename=article&node=&contentId=A10846-2001Sep22
At least two of the hijackers, Khalid Al-Midhar and Nawaq Alhazmi, were on a watch list generated by this CIA-FBI liaison a month before the attacks. Officials said that those names were not connected to any other known bin Laden associates in the United States, including the four or five operating cells.