I think that's a little hasty, but we should make an example of the twins.
Posted on 07/31/2002 11:11:13 AM PDT by kattracks
PATERSON, N.J., Jul 31, 2002 (AP Online via COMTEX) -- A man who authorities said sold fake identification to two of the Sept. 11 hijackers apparently left on a flight to Egypt hours before authorities raided his home and businesses Wednesday, officials said.
Mohamad El Atriss operated businesses in Paterson and Elizabeth where he sold the IDs, said Passaic County Sheriff Jerry Speziale. Authorities raided his home and business Wednesday afternoon and were told Atriss had took a flight from Newark to Egypt earlier that morning, Speziale said.
Atriss sold a fake identification card to Khalid Almihdhar, who was on Flight 77 as it hit the Pentagon, and one to hijacker Abdul Aziz Alomari from Flight 11, which hit the World Trade Center, Speziale said.
Authorities said they had 75 fake IDs that Atriss generated and sold for as much as $800 each, though they believed he made many more. The IDs included international driver's licenses and New Jersey state ID cards, neither of which legally exist.
Wednesday's raids followed a four-month investigation by sheriffs in Passaic, Bergen and Essex counties, the Paterson police and the FBI, Speziale said.
The investigation, dubbed Operation Paper Trail, began after police in Bergen and Passaic counties starting finding similar fake ids, Speziale said.
Authorities were tipped to Atriss by a St. Paul, Minn., company after he contacted it about paying cash for a high-speed copier machine capable of embossing seals.
Atriss never bought the copier from Minnesota, but did contact a Paterson company about a similar purchase, Speziale said. That company also became suspicious when Atriss offered to pay cash for the machine and they called the FBI, Speziale said.
FBI agents posed as merchants at the store and sold Atriss the copier, Speziale said. Law enforcement authorities also purchased fake IDs at Atriss' stores, known as All Service Plus, Overseas Development and Trading Co. and Green Palm Investments.
Copyright 2002 Associated Press, All rights reserved
if the fbi showed any signs of being competent, i'd say he was allowed to leave, so he could be tracked, and even bigger fish identified.
unfortunately, i have to agree with you.
Something about this article makes me think the FBI didn't plan to look very hard to verify the cover story.
When Patrick Henry said "Give me liberty or give me death," he assumed a universal level of common sense. He didn't mean for us to let these terrorists blow us to Allahville simply because some don't like 20th century security technology.
This is time to protect ourselves and fight the terrorist within and without our boarders (militant islam). This is not a time to debate "my definition of freedom is more important than everyone else's lives."
No pressure required ... our Egyptian allies will promptly extradite him.
[/sarcasm]
Cynthia McKinney?
OK, OK, I know that was mean....[g]
I think that's a little hasty, but we should make an example of the twins.
He disguised himself as an Arab.
Interesting timing, n'est ce pas?
Think back: today's articles say that on Flight 93 the hijackers were heard saying "God is great."
Now, where have we heard THAT before?
Really? How? Genuine biometric data taken from the owner of the fake ID can be put on the fake ID. Now he/she is "beyond question" because the ID card data matches the the biometrics.
Unless, of course, you are advocating a central databank that tracks every use of an ID card. And you believe no-one would be able to crack into a system that needs to be instantly accessible from anywhere 24/7/365. And you believe no-one working on the database could ever be compromised.
Does the name Kathrine Smith ring any bells???
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