Free Republic

WHAT HAPPENED AT THE NONDESCRIPT ROADSIDE motel outside Oklahoma City was just a fleeting encounter during the twisted cross-country odyssey of the terrorists who would carry out the September 11 attacks. Mohamed Atta, alleged leader of the plot, and two companions wanted to rent a room, but couldn't get the deal they wanted, so they left. It was an incident of no particular importance, except for one thing. The owner of the motel remembers Atta being in the company of Zacarias Moussaoui, the so-called "20th hijacker," who was arrested prior to September 11 and now faces conspiracy charges in connection...

<p>Federal authorities have detained a Jordanian man they believe was a roommate of at least two of the Sept. 11 hijackers after a raid at a Southeast Baltimore home.</p> <p>Rasmi Al-Shannaq was taken into custody early Monday, apparently for overstaying his visa, according to law enforcement sources and news reports. He is believed to have lived last year with two of the hijackers who were on board American Airlines Flight 77 when it crashed into the Pentagon.</p>

A San Diego State University student from Yemen regularly dined and prayed with three San Diego-linked hijackers and helped them obtain Social Security cards, driver's licenses, flight school information and rides from Los Angeles International Airport, according to court records made public yesterday. The 18-page document, part of the immigration-fraud case against former material witness Mohdar Abdallah, was filed late Monday by federal prosecutors. It is the first public record to detail Abdallah's relationships with hijackers Nawaf Alhazmi, Khalid al-Midhar and Hani Hanjour, who were aboard the American Airlines plane that crashed into the Pentagon. Abdallah "had provided substantial assistance...