By The Associated Press
A look at terrorism-related events in Latin America since late last year:
-- In Honduras, Security Minister Oscar Alvarez says evidence shows terrorists, likely from al-Qaida, may be trying to recruit Hondurans to carry out attacks in Central America.
-- In El Salvador, authorities reinforce security at the international airport and along the borders after purported al-Qaida threats appear on the Internet against the country for its support of the U.S.-led mission in Iraq.
-- In Panama, the United States and seven Latin American countries -- including Argentina, Chile, Colombia, the Dominican Republic, Honduras, Peru and Panama -- carry out a weeklong anti-terror exercise aimed at protecting the Panama Canal.
-- Along the U.S.-Mexican border, the FBI issues an alert for Adnan Gulshair El Shukrijumah, 29, an alleged al-Qaida cell leader and bombmaker, saying the Saudi pilot may try to cross into Arizona or Texas. Mexican authorities said they had no evidence he had entered Mexico.
--In Mexicali, near the border with California, eight people from Armenia, Iran and Iraq are arrested Thursday on charges they may have entered Mexico with false documents. Although they did not appear to have ties to terrorists, they are part of Mexico's growing crackdown on non-Mexican migrants.
-- In McAllen, Texas, 48-year-old Farida Goolam Mahamed Ahmed of South Africa is arrested after wading across the Rio Grande into Texas. Officials detain her as she tries to board a flight, saying she carried a passport with pages missing. She pleads innocent to violating U.S. immigration law, and authorities are investigating whether she has ties to terrorists. During a court hearing Aug. 20, testimony indicates Ahmed traveled from Johannesburg, South Africa, on July 8, via Dubai, United Arab Emirates, to London, then to Mexico City on or about July 14. The countries she traveled through do not require South Africans to have visas.
-- Honduran officials say Shukrijumah was spotted earlier this year at an Internet cafe in the capital, Tegucigalpa.
-- In Washington, Attorney General John Ashcroft warns that al-Qaida is determined to launch a U.S. attack in the next few months, and he asks state and local law enforcement and the public for help tracking down seven people believed to be connected to al-Qaida. One of the seven is Shukrijumah, who once lived in Florida. "All present a clear and present danger to America. All should be considered armed and dangerous,'' Ashcroft said.
-- In Mexico, authorities cancel two Los Angeles-bound flights from Mexico City and force a third to turn around after takeoff because the United States, Canada and Interpol told Mexico they suspected terrorists might be using Mexican soil to plan an attack.
PORT ST. JOHN, Fla. -- Family and friends of an American contractor kidnapped and beheaded in Saudi Arabia gathered for a funeral Saturday, more than two months after the engineer disappeared.
About 100 people attended services for Paul M. Johnson Jr., who grew up in Eagleswood Township, N.J. and once lived in Florida. He had worked in Saudi Arabia for Lockheed Martin for more than a decade. Johnson was kidnapped June 12 by militants in Riyadh who demanded the release of al-Qaida prisoners in exchange for the 49-year-old's life. Photographs and a video of the beheading were later posted on the Internet.
Hours later, Saudi security forces shot and killed Abdulaziz al-Moqrin, alleged mastermind of Johnson's kidnapping and murder.
Not all of Johnson's remains were recovered, but the family thought it was time for a funeral. "This is not a full closure, but it is some closure," said Johnson's son, Paul M. Johnson III.
Johnson's remains will be cremated and sent to Thailand. His widow is a native of Thailand, and the couple had planned to move there after Johnson's contract expired.
Johnson's casket, draped with an American flag, was carried into a church by an Air Force honor guard, which also fired a 21-gun salute.