Free Republic

WASHINGTON – The brother-in-law of alleged terrorist co-conspirator Sami al-Arian attended engineering classes at the same college and time as the suspected mastermind behind the Sept. 11 terror plot, records at the North Carolina college show. The overlap raises questions about the extent of al-Arian's ties to terrorist groups. He and his brother-in-law, Mazen al-Najjar, have been accused by federal authorities of supporting Hamas, a Palestinian militia responsible for anti-Israeli suicide bombings, through an elaborate network of terrorist front groups and fund-raising arms. Mazen al-Najjar Al-Najjar, a Palestinian refugee, was arrested in 1997 and deported last year. Al-Arian, who also...

<p>The U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service has detained at an unknown location a former Sudanese Air Force pilot who may have been planning to hijack an airliner and fly it into a target in the United States, U.S. officials told CNN on Friday.</p>

<p>GREENSBORO, N.C. (AP) — A Sudanese pilot who officials say is being investigated for possible al Qaeda links is accused in an affidavit of falsifying immigration documents in an attempt to stay in the United States.</p> <p>FBI agents said in the affidavit filed in federal court that Mekki Hamed Mekki said he submitted several forms with variations of name, date of birth and place of birth to improve his chances in an immigration lottery.</p>