Posted on 12/30/2002 8:44:10 AM PST by jimbo123
With the New Year's holiday approaching, the FBI is searching for several men of Arab ancestry after receiving intelligence they crossed illegally into the United States from Canada and may have connections to others under watch in terrorism investigations, law enforcement officials said Monday.
The FBI has no specific information the men are plotting a terrorist attack, but they want to question them about possible connections to individuals who are involved in terrorism, the officials said, speaking only on condition of anonymity.
In Seattle, Dan Harrington told the FBI he rode a Greyhound bus across the border with one of the men whom agents want to question, reports Rick Price of CBS News affiliate KIRO.
"Now he was definitely on the same bus as me down from Canada," Harrington said, pointing to a photograph of Mustafa Khan Owasi. "And it was definitely Christmas Eve,"
Harrington said federal agents detained Owasi during an unusually long delay at the border:
"I could hear the INS guy saying, 'Well basically that's not what you told me, your story keeps changing.' And they ended up leading him away," Harrington said.
Though he says Owasi never got back on that bus, which then continued to Seattle, Harrington finds it all disturbing. It's unclear what happened to Owasi after Harrington claims he last saw him.
Among the locations authorities were focusing their search on is New York, based on information received from at least one intelligence source, the officials said.
Because of the large gathering of Americans in New York City on New Year's Eve, authorities were taking the information seriously and pursuing the men even though there is no specific information that they are planning any activities, the officials said.
On Sunday, the FBI enlisted the public's help by putting out photos and names of five of the men they are seeking: Abid Noraiz Ali, Iftikhar Khozmai Ali, Owasi, Adil Pervez and Akbar Jamal, all born between 1969 and 1983.
The FBI warned that the names and birth dates may be false.
The FBI said it had "no specific information that these individuals are connected to any potential terrorist activities, but based upon information developed in the course of on-going investigations, the FBI would like to locate and question these persons." It also said the men are believed to have entered the United States illegally on or around Christmas Eve.
Officials said the intelligence indicated the men crossed from Canada but that there was no specific information on what port of entry.
One official said U.S. authorities' interest in them was heightened when an intelligence source provided information that some of the men being sought were connected to others who are the subjects of terrorism investigations.
The FBI said it was working with the Customs Service, the Immigration and Naturalization Service and the Transportation Security Administration to find the men.
INS spokesman Dan Kane said his agency has "implemented additional measures to look for these individuals."
He must have missed Christmas Eve with Osama's friend Patty Murray and Jihad-Jim McDermott. Seattle is a logical destination for friends of terrorism.
Now that's comforting. Additional measures probably means sending in the usual Keystone Kops and hiring 3 more Barney Fifes. Our borders are a very bad and old joke and the INS sent letters to Mohammad Atta six months after 9/ll, granting him an extension.
Yes, it's the INS's new catch & release program. They want to protect the breeding stocks of terrorists to make sure that our grandchildren will still be able to enjoy the thrill of hooking a big one.
RCMP won't confirm illegal border crossing
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CTV News Staff
The RCMP won't confirm reports that five men being sought by the FBI may have entered the United States illegally from Canada.
On Sunday, CNN reported that the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation was hunting for five men. They are: Abid Noraiz Ali, Iftikhar Khozmai Ali, Mustafa Khan Owasi, Adil Pervez and Akbar Jamal, all born between 1969 and 1983.
The FBI warned the names could be false, and refused to release countries of origin.
CNN quoted a source as saying the men entered the U.S. on or before Christmas Eve from Canada, but that could not be confirmed.
RCMP Staff Sergeant Andre Guertin told The Globe and Mail that they had previously been made aware of the situation before news of the situation broke on Sunday and had been cooperating with the U.S.
"I can state at this time that there is no reason for us to believe that (they came through Canada)."
John Iannarelli, and FBI spokesman, said Monday that it has not yet been confirmed whether the men entered the U.S. from Canada, the Toronto Star reported.
U.S. authorities said they had no specific information linking the five men to terrorist activities.
"I think it's very clear that they're being sought only for questioning," Mark Corallo, a spokesman with the American Department of Justice.
"We have no specific information that ties them to any terrorist activity."
David Harris, the former chief of strategic planning for CSIS, told CTV's Canada AM that the U.S. should be held responsible for any potential terrorists that enter its borders. However, he also said Canada has an obligation to make sure "we're not swimming in a pool of sharks."
In fact the article says this: "I could hear the INS guy saying, 'Well basically that's not what you told me, your story keeps changing.' And they ended up leading him away," Harrington said.
He could be still in custody, and they now know who his fellow Islamokazis are.
Owais Mustafa, a soldier of the Pakistan army’s 647 Mujahid Battalion, was handed over to Pakistani Rangers — the Pakistani counterpart of the Border Security Force — at Suchetgarh during a flag meeting in the presence of doctors from both sides.
The grandmotherly border patrol agent who twigged to him said, "He just acted hinky."
God bless the politically incorrect intuition of gray haired ladies!
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