Posted on 10/07/2001 3:09:01 PM PDT by Brian Mosely
FBI agents have been looking into whether associates of Osama bin Laden may traveled to Middle Tennessee this past summer in search of aircraft that could be used for training pilots, NewsChannel 5 has learned.
The name of one man who spent some time here has made it onto an official list of some 370 possible suspects.
That list was inadvertently released by Finnish banking authorities, who say they received it from American investigators as part of the effort to track down the terrorists' finances.
The list, which includes the names of the now infamous Mohammed Atta and other hijackers, also includes the name of Khalid Alzeedi (also known as Khalid Al-Zeedi and Khaleed Al-Zedi).
Alzeedi's address is listed as 200 Airport Road, Building 5 in Clarksville.
That's the same address as an aircraft sales company.
Airport workers told NewsChannel 5 investigative reporter Phil Williams that Alzeedi and four other Middle Eastern men visited there back in August looking to buy planes.
Their main interest: used single-engine Tampico aircraft, a type of aircraft commonly used to train pilots.
A possible coincidence, the aircraft were previously owned by Embry-Riddle University, a Florida flying school where one of the terrorists involved in the Sept. 11th attacks may have graduated.
Alzeedi identified himself as the owner of Zidi Aviation, a Saudi Arabian company. A prototype web page developed for the company lists "pilot training" among its services and shows the cockpit of commercial jetliners. Zidi was also an authorized distributor of high-tech flight simulation equipment produced by a Boeing subsidiary.
According to FAA records, Alzeedi ended up buying two Tampicos that had been listed on the Internet... aircraft that he told service workers he planned to fly to Morocco in North Africa to train pilots.
FBI agents visited the Clarksville airport after the Sept. 11th attacks and questioned people about Alzeedi's activities.
One airport worker described Alzeedi as a "good family man" and expressed doubt that he would be involved in such a horrible plot.
In addition, NewsChannel 5 has learned that Alzeedi may have had contact with two local FBI agents back in August at the Hilton Suites, just across from Nashville's arena. Alzeedi and his party kept three rooms there for about a month while they waited on the aircraft.
Alzeedi listed Room 412 as his room.
One night, Alzeedi was inside Eddie George's Grill in the hotel, when someone apparently stepped on his foot. That's when, hotel workers say, he identified himself as an Iranian diplomat and demanded that the hotel compensate him for his injuries.
Then, in late August, the hotel locked Alzeedi and his party out of their rooms because of an unpaid bill of approximately $2,500. Inside the rooms, hotel workers found satellite navigation equipment and wet suits.
Suspicious, they called the FBI.
It is believed that agents talked to Alzeedi at that point, but found nothing at that time to justify further investigation. Aviators say, when flying a single-engine plane across the Atlantic, such equipment can be just basic survival gear.
Today, the phone number once listed by Zidi Aviation is out of service, and email sent to Zidi Aviation's publicized address have been returned as "undelivered mail."
All that leaves unanswered questions: were the activities here part of a terrorist plot or just a simple coincidence?
I think you have mistaken treating people respectfully with being "whimps." Which criminal is treated as a hero in Tennessee?
Unfortunately, my "whimp"ness and my constant efforts not to step on anyone's toes keeps me from pointing out when someone is acting like an ass. And I mean that in the nicest sense of the word.
UMMM HELLO?? ANYONE CARE TO LOOK AT THIS AGAIN??? WET SUITS??? This nice gem has been buried wayyyyyyyyyyy too long. Re-bumping it.
Free Trapper - you remembered right.
Gee, what is everyone so suspicious about? < sarcasm >
A while back there was a thread about some gas bottles being stolen in one of our larger Northern cities.The concern at the time seemed to focus on the gas being used for some nefarious purpose,although the gas itself should have presented little if any real problem.
However,the high pressure tanks themselves,high pressure compressors or a combination of the two could be used in a number of ways I can think of that would not be in the least bit to our benefit.
This has been a worry to me for some time now but there are "so many" simple things that could be used to cause major problems for us,it's hard to know what to watch for.
If so,I would appreciate being placed on it.;o)
FBI keeping eye on Saudi's plane
From staff and news services
Copyright © 2001 Blethen Maine Newspapers Inc.
An airplane belonging to a Middle Eastern man sought for questioning by the FBI remains under watch at the Portland International Jetport, where it has been since before the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.
The single-engine plane reportedly landed here to be outfitted with extra fuel tanks, which is not uncommon when small planes are to be flown across the Atlantic Ocean.
The FBI has been searching for the plane's owner, a Saudi named Khaled Alzeedi, since August. He is not believed to be connected to the Sept. 11 attacks, but is on an FBI watch list concerning another matter related to the terrorism investigation, officials have said.
Portland Transportation Director Jeffrey Monroe says he does not believe the presence of the plane represents anything to worry about.
"We don't consider this airplane being here a threat. We don't have it in our mind that this airplane was brought in as some sort of a terrorist weapon or tool," Monroe said.
The FBI has been seeking Alzeedi since he bought two Tampico TB-9 airplanes while in Nashville, Tenn., in August. Alzeedi, a pilot who owns Zidi Aviation in Delaware, Saudi Arabia and Morocco, had one of the two planes he bought flown to Portland's jetport. He planned to have it outfitted with extra fuel tanks and then flown to Morocco. That type of plane is easy to handle, making it popular for flight training.
A London-based Arabic-language newspaper, Asharq Al-Awsat, reported Tuesday that it had interviewed Alzeedi by telephone from Morocco, and that Alzeedi expressed amazement at the investigation, saying he had already answered investigators' questions.
According to the newspaper, Alzeedi said he left the plane in Portland for installation of extra fuel tanks, and that the Sept. 11 attacks disrupted his plan to return to pick up the plane. Alzeedi said he planned to bring both planes to Morocco, the newspaper reported.
Security at the Portland International Jetport has been increased since Sept. 11, when two suspected terrorists took a flight to Boston and boarded American Airlines Flight 11, the first jet to crash into the World Trade Center.
Since then, the small five-seater with the registration number N11ZD on the side has been idle on the tarmac at the jetport.
Jetport officials learned several days after the terrorist attacks that an airplane at the general aviation terminal had been under FBI surveillance.
"People were aware of this even before the 11th of September," Monroe said. "As every lead began to open up, people began paying more attention to each scrap of information and that increased the intensity."
The FBI and officials from the airport's general aviation terminal did not immediately return calls seeking comment Thursday. The Federal Aviation Administration referred calls to the FBI.
Portland Police Chief Michael Chitwood said the FBI never alerted his department about the plane, but he said his detectives learned about it later from the federal government.
"Once again, it's a case of information not being shared," said Chitwood, who has criticized the FBI in the past for its unwillingness to share details of its investigation with local police.
A stop in Maine wouldn't be unusual for a pilot planning to cross the Atlantic, according to Rick Voorhis, president of Van Nuys Flight Center in California. The Northeast is also a common place to get an extra fuel tank before a trans-Atlantic trip, Voorhis said.
Portland is a popular stop for such work because of its proximity to Europe and because Northeast Airmotive does that kind of augmentation, Monroe said.
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