FBI Looking for Five Illegal Immigrants (five men of Arab ancestry entered illegally Dec. 24)

Associated Press

[RCW2001]

FBI Looking for Five Illegal Immigrants

The Associated Press
Sunday, December 29, 2002; 4:23 PM

WASHINGTON –– The FBI said Sunday it is looking for five men of Arab ancestry who may have entered the country illegally last week.

The agency said the five men are believed to have arrived in the United States on or before Christmas Eve.

The five men are: Abid Noraiz Ali, Iftikhar Khozmai Ali, Mustafa Khan Owasi, Adil Pervez and Akbar Jamal, all born between 1969 and 1983. The FBI warned that the names and birth dates may be false.

The FBI said it had no indication the men were linked to terrorist activities, but still wanted to question the five "based upon information developed in the course of ongoing investigations."

The FBI said it was working with the Customs, Immigration and Naturalization Service and the Transportation Security Agency to find the men.

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On the Net:

Photographs of the men: http://www.fbi.gov

[Dog]

Looking at the photos they could pass as Hispanic..

[ewing]

Agreed, I would have started leaking this last night with the Sunday papers to get the word out.

[Timesink]

Oh great. Now Fox is talking about black muslims being disinfranchized at the voting booths! *sigh* Only in America!

This can't possible be true. Don't you know that Faux (sic) News is nothing but John Birchers 24/7/365? </sarcasm>

[nwrep]

FOX NEWS: First names sound Pakistani per a journalist.

[Grampa Dave]

If you haven't gone to this link, please do. (FBI Islamokazi Martyr link) There is a very scary tag re suicide letter under one of the photos. On the video, I can't get mine to play past a few seconds. The first guy on looks like he has Hamas/Arafat head gear on and appears to be making a suicide statement on the video. Apparently the FBI got a copy of this video and knows who the potential Islamakazis (these 5) are.

[Friend of thunder]

Last time I crossed from Canada to Washington State all you needed was a driver’s license, which you can get in Washington State with out proof of citizenship. That was before 09/11/01. I do not know if this still true.

[spectre]

Fox is reporting that the lst, second and last names of each of the individuals was what made them suspicious..

Alias, lst name Iranian, second name Pakistanian, third name ?

sw

[OReilly]

This does seem fairly breathless, but with very little real clues, like where to look. Please excuse my skepticism, but it almost sounds like CYA.

If we have pictures, names, and DOBs, it sounds like someone didn't share this info with immigration (because of the almighty ongoing investigation) before they crossed the border. They probably signed their names as they crossed the border.

[DoctorMichael]

I'm stunned they didn't give details which State they entered into from Canada.

Agreed.

Are they headed to LA via Washington State?

(or)

Are they in a SAFE HOUSE right now in up-state New Yawk after having crossed from Montreal, ready to proceed to Times Square via safe houses in NJ?

[NetValue]

Why can't our FBI be stand-up guys and tell us who, when, where, and why? They say they want the public's help. Well guys, give us something to work with and we just might be able to help you!

[mewzilla]

Why aren't the feds providing a description of the car? Especially if the names are aliases, the car could be of more use. And the feebs can't seem to make up their minds, yes they were aware of these guys, no they weren't. I'm getting a very bad feeling about this....

[Grampa Dave]

Sunday's front page in most newspapers was probably done Friday night.

Quit your bitching and send the link of these photos to your email list. Or do you just prefer to bithc and moan?

[ewing]

Or CYA has failed internally and the Feds are now throwing the doors open to the public.

This will lead every newscast until News Years Eve..

[jimbo123]

What country issued the passports?

[csvset]

Looking at the photos they could pass as Hispanic..

Especially this guy. All he needs is a bandana wrapped around his head and he'd look like a cholo.

ABID NORAIZ ALI

[ErnBatavia]

Looks like they're all shaved down and ready to roll.

[badfreeper]

"Does a person need a passport picture to cross from Canada to the U.S.?"

A Canadian citizen can enter the US with proof of citizenship plus government issued photo ID. I usually use my birth certificate and driver's licence rather than carry my passport. A naturalized citizen would have a citizenship card which has a photo on it. Non-Canadians are subject to whatever rules apply to their country of citizenship.

I'm thinking that these guys probably crossed at multiple points of entry simultaneously or close to it, by land, maybe even by different methods. I'm thinking that most were probably on transit rather than in private cars because the INS officer must take into account that a prolonged search will hold up a bus or train full of people. Plus, I would hope that if they had cars that the details and licence plate numbers would be published. I think planes are unlikely because airlines must turn their passenger manifest over to security and they can run a check on everyone on the plane before it lands, when they bought their ticket, how they paid, etc. I don't think that is the case with bus or rail passengers.

As for the pics, the first one appears to be a school photo, the next two look like ID photos. The last two are sketches.

[ewing]

Good point, someone has got to have a description of the car. (even if it is almost a week old)

Perhaps it has been abandoned and someone will call in..

[spectre]

How do you know I didn't?

Geeze...take your meds, gramps.

sw

[jimbo123]

They're probably making their final preparations in an Al-Qaida safe house in Chappaqua, New York right now.