Posted on 11/05/2001 7:44:48 PM PST by beacon
No Texas Connection to Chicago Arrest
(Dallas -TX) Despite a Heightened State of awarness, baggage screeners didn't notice that Sabash Gurung, had several knives, a stun gun and a can of mace in his carry on luggage.
Since his arrest, various published and broadcast reports have linked Sabash Gurung to Ayub Ali Khan, a material witness who was arrested in Texas and is still being held in connection with the September 11th attacks.
But according to the F.B.I office handling the Chicago case, there's no connection.
Ross Rice/F.B.I. Special Agent - Chicago:
"..Our investigation - has not found any link between the fellow in custody here in Chicago - Sabush Gerrung - and anyone else connected to any other terrorist activities..."
The Reason some have mistakenly linked Khan and Gurung is they both reportedly once lived in the same apartment building in Chicago: 1025 W. Hollywood Avenue.
"C.B.S 11 : Some are going to ask how is it that they both have the same address. They couldn't just pull that out of thin air? Ross Rice: Well.. there's another person with a similar name to Ayub Ali Khan...living at the Hollywood address. We've since determined it's two separate people - that they both where living in this large apartment complex is just a coincidence"
Coincidence or not the security breach was real. Gurung faces one count of attempting to carry a weapon on an aircraft - which is a Felony.
He has another hearing on Thursday and in the meantime the F.B.I. will try to... "see if he was acting alone or if he was working in concert with someone else - but right now he's the only one who has been charged"
It must be another isolated incident. Nothing to see here folks, move along.
saw his "collection" on Fox. looked like your basic cheap blades to me. not even a Benchmade or Syderco among them, from what I saw.
In Chicago, FBI agents have worked to confirm if two men arrested last week had lived here.The men, Ayub Ali Khan, 51, and Mohammed Jaweed Azmath, 47, had left the Newark, N.J., airport aboard a flight headed for Texas roughly the same time as the hijackings.
The airplane was grounded in St. Louis, so the men took a train headed to Texas. They were arrested with $5,000 in cash and box cutters like the ones used by the hijackers. The men had listed Chicago addresses among others.
The Acxiom phone directory CD-ROM shows the following:
KHAN AYUB, 1025 W HOLLYWOOD AVE CHICAGO ILGURUNG SUSHIL, 1025 W HOLLYWOOD AVE CHICAGO IL
Of course, this Ayub Khan may be a different person from the Ayub Ali Khan arrested, as the article claims. What Chicago address did Ayub Ali Khan give when he was arrested?
Excellent question...
Indeed! Thanks for the ping, btw.
This is CNN's version of the Sabash Gurung/Ayub Ali Khan connection:
...CNN has learned that Gurung gave the same West Hollywood Avenue apartment address in Chicago as one of those listed for Ayub Ali Khan, who is being held as a material witness in the September 11 attacks along with another man, Mohamed Jaweed Azmath.The FBI statement played down the significance of a possible connection, and the superintendent of the apartment building said Gurung never actually lived there.
Khan and Azmath were arrested September 12 in Fort Worth, Texas, on an Amtrak train heading to San Antonio.
Found in their possession were $5,500 cash, two flat box-cutter type knives and hair dye. Azmath also had copies of numerous passport photos.
The hijackers of the planes that crashed into the twin towers of the World Trade Center and the Pentagon used similar box cutters as weapons, authorities said.
On the day of the attacks, Khan and Azmath were on a TWA flight from Newark to San Antonio. The flight was diverted to St. Louis when the FAA closed the skies to commercial aircraft after the terrorist hijackings and attacks.
Khan and Azmath lived in Jersey City, New Jersey. But a records check by CNN found a Chicago address for Khan sandwiched between two New Jersey addresses used by him. The Chicago address is for the same apartment building listed by Gurung.
A government source told CNN that Khan never actually lived or worked in the Chicago apartment.
But, the source said, "many phone calls were made to and from that apartment, and credit card bills were paid from that address..." --CNN
Last Thursday, Gurung returned to the buildings to rent an apartment but was unsuccessful, the building managers said."He said he was coming back from Minnesota where his brother had gone to study," said Adam Colfax, manager of the 5737 N. Kenmore building. The brothers had moved out of the building last September, he said.
Gurung was reserved, even "anti-social," while his brother was a "real nice guy," Colfax said.
When he was arrested, Gurung possessed what he allegedly admitted was a fake U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service employment authorization card in the name of Aishwarya Gurung. His student visa expired Dec. 31, 1999, prosecutors said.
Good catch, that September 18 Sun-Times article.
I noticed the FBI agent's statement proclaiming "no connection" has Gurung's name spelled differently:
"..Our investigation - has not found any link between the fellow in custody here in Chicago - Sabush Gerrung - and anyone else connected to any other terrorist activities..."
Elsewhere the guy's name is spelled "Sabash Gurung."
What's with the FBI? Is this creative spelling?
I noticed that too, but I thought it was probably just a typo from when beacon typed the article in. Is that right, or was it an FBI misspelling?
Reminds me -- there was an overseas hijacking a few years ago that may have been the dry run for 9/11, as I remember the hijackers used small knifes and stun guns.
Knifes and stun guns -- that's the MO.
Also regrads the name, obviously it's a phoentic spelling, and likely Sabash himself used variants from document to document.
I've traced down a Washington Post article from 9/21/2001 entitled "Focus Continues on Two New Jersey Men." It states that Khan and Azmath (who was arrested with Khan) gave a number of addresses; in particular, it says, "Khan also listed an address on West Hollywood Avenue in Chicago...." Click on the link to read the entire article.
Recall that Khan and Azmath were on board a plane to San Antonio on 9/11 when all planes were grounded. Their plane landed in St. Louis, and they took a train from there to San Antonio. They were then arrested with box cutters, $5000 in cash, and hair dye. They are from Hyderabad, India, and were in the U.S.A. on false passports. Khan's real name is said to be Gul Mohammed Shah.
Sabash Gurung is the Nepalese just arrested at O'Hare Airport with a stash of weapons (knives, a stun gun, etc.). Gurung lives with his brother Sushil at 1025 W. Hollywood Ave. in Chicago. A person by the name of Ayub Khan also lives at that address (see the Chicago phone book), but the FBI suggested that this wasn't the same Ayub Khan who had been arrested and that there was no evidence linking Gurung to terrorist activities. The fact that an article from 9/21, long before Gurung was in the news, says that Khan listed a West Hollywood Ave., Chicago, address strongly suggests that the two Ayub Khans are, in fact, the same person. (I'd like to track down a source with the full Chicago street address Khan gave when he was arrested.)
One further point connecting these three: unlike the cell(s) of mostly Saudi Arabians who committed the 9/11 massacres, these three are all from the Indian subcontinent (2 from India and 1 from Nepal). (In spite of being from India, I would assume that Khan is Moslem, since his real middle name is Mohammed. I don't know that the other two are Moslem.)
It seems the FBI can't help itself--after 8 yrs. of Clintonite promotions, there's no one in authority who can tell the truth. Clinton packed the government with chronic liars.
Maybe, but I'm not willing to dismiss the FBI so quickly. It's possible that they release some misinformation (or incomplete or otherwise misleading information) on purpose, to confuse the enemy and engender uncertainty as to how much knowledge the U.S. government has.
This may actually be a good idea tactically, notwithstanding appearances. But if they're doing this, it has the unfortunate side effect of also reducing American morale (by generating doubt as to the competence and integrity of our officials).
What would be decisive in deciding this case, I think, is this Gurung guy's religion, which I have not seen reported. 3% of the population of Nepal is Moslem. Does anybody know whether Subash Bahadur Gurung's name indicates his religion?
I also found one by the same name (first and last) who is a ranking police officer in Nepal, as well as many by the same last name who were arrested in riots and one in a murder, in Khatmandu. The name appears to be common, unfortunately.
In the old days, I would have agreed with you. After all the coverups they've participated in, I suspect that's the least likely excuse.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.