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other Maine trivia:

SEPTEMBER 12, 2001 : (BANGOR, MAINE : FBI INTERVIEWS EMPLOYEES AT UNICELL’S OFFICE - THEY ARE INTERESTED IN KNOWING MORE ABOUT SEVERAL MEN WHO ATTEMPTED TO PURCHASE CELL PHONES RECENTLY) Morning : “In Bangor, the FBI focused their attention on a cell phone company, where agents interviewed employees at Unicel’s corporate office on Union St., next to the Bangor International Airport.
Rick O’Connor, senior vice president, said the agents were interested in knowing more about several men who attempted to buy cell phones recently. O’Connor said the company did not sell phones to them.
He said he didn’t know how the FBI knew about the incident, but agents appeared at the office Wednesday morning. “No one had called them,” he said. -———(AP, 9/12/01 j)

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AUGUST 2001 : (NASHVILLE, TN : HILTON SUITES : ALZEEDI AND FRIENDS WAIT FOR THE AIRCRAFT HE PURCHASED; ALZEEDI CLAIMS HE IS AN IRANIAN DIPLOMAT - See ZIDI AVIATION) ...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. -———— “Possible Terrorist Connection in Tennessee,” NewsChannel5 (WTVF - Nashville), Oct. 7, 2001

AUGUST 2001 late in the month : (NASHVILLE, TN : HILTON SUITES : ALZEEDI AND FRIENDS ARE LOCKED OUT OF THEIR ROOMS BECAUSE OF AN UNPAID BILL; HOTEL EMPLOYEES FIND WETSUITS AND GPS EQUIPMENT IN THEIR ROOMS AND CALL THE FBI - See ZIDI AVIATION, PORTLAND MAINE) 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. ....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. -———— “Possible Terrorist Connection in Tennessee,” NewsChannel5 (WTVF - Nashville), Oct. 7, 2001

OCTOBER 2001 : (PORTLAND, MAINE: ZIDI AVIATION) 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... -———FBI keeping eye on Saudi’s plane
From staff and news services, Friday, October 19, 2001
Copyright © 2001 Blethen Maine Newspapers Inc.
http://www.portland.com/news/attack/011019plane.shtml