Terrorist’s arrest was state’s close call

Published 9:00 pm Saturday, December 8, 2001

Associated Press

SEATTLE — When Ahmed Ressam was arrested for smuggling explosives across the Washington state border two years ago, few people could imagine an underground network of terrorists determined to destroy American targets.

That was before Sept. 11.

Ever since, people in the Seattle area and around the country have had occasion to remember the close call of Dec. 14, 1999, and to marvel at how lucky the country was when an alert border guard caught a would-be terrorist.

"It was extraordinarily important, a watershed event," said Harvey Kushner, a terrorism expert at Long Island University.

Like nothing before it, except maybe the 1993 World Trade Center bombing, Ressam’s arrest pointed to the degree of terrorist infiltration in North America — a degree that would not be completely understood until attacks of Sept. 11.

Furthermore, Kushner said, it was the first time the federal government began talking about security alerts, and the danger of unspecified terrorism threats.

"The federal government showed that with what it had, it couldn’t protect the American public," he said. "Prior to that time, the government would never say it publicly, but that’s going to be the case now — involving the public, not just making them the eyes and ears, but warning them."

Ressam, an Algerian who had trained at Osama bin Laden’s terrorism camps in Afghanistan, was arrested by U.S. Customs inspectors in Port Angeles as he left a ferry from British Columbia. During routine questioning, Ressam, suffering from malaria, appeared nervous and sweaty.

He bolted as inspectors searched his car. They caught him about six blocks away, foiling a plan to blow up a busy terminal at Los Angeles International Airport and possibly other targets, as well.

Arrests followed in New York, Vermont, Montreal, Ireland and elsewhere.

Two years later, Ressam’s arrest, conviction last April and subsequent cooperation have given authorities an intimate knowledge of what went on at bin Laden’s training camps and, to some extent, how terrorist networks such as al-Qaida operate. He has told them of killing dogs with poison gas and learning to assassinate, commit sabotage and build explosives.

"I don’t think anybody who participated in this case back in December of ‘99 thought we’d still be involved two years later," said federal prosecutor Andrew Hamilton. "At the time the news first broke, we weren’t exactly sure what we had."

What they had was a potential terrorist attack, and at the time, an unknown target.

Mayor Paul Schell canceled a planned millennium celebration at the Space Needle, which is near a motel where Ressam had a one-night reservation.

Schell was criticized — even mocked — for his decision. But while Seattleites celebrated the New Year at home, plans for another attack across the country would soon take shape.

Within about a year, authorities believe, Mohamed Atta and others were moving ahead on plans to fly jets into the World Trade Center and the Pentagon.

Juan Noriega, owner of Old Timer’s Cafe in downtown Seattle, was one of those who criticized Schell. He lost more than $10,000 in business after millennium celebrations were canceled.

Like many others, he now acknowledges the decision was for the best.

"Osama bin Laden affected our lives two years ago, but we didn’t realize it," Noriega said. "I thought the mayor overreacted. Now I know better."

Since his arrest, Ressam has also alerted authorities to at least three other Algerians in his plot, and testified against one of them. He hopes his cooperation will win him leniency when he is sentenced Feb. 14.

But while Ressam’s arrest may have alerted authorities to a more persistent threat from bin Laden, the public didn’t get the message until the greatest success of bin Laden’s network, on Sept. 11.

Ressam’s arrest resulted in at least a partial crackdown on suspected Algerian terrorists, with arrests being made in Canada and elsewhere. A Montreal woman was arrested trying to sneak an Algerian into Vermont at a remote border crossing.

But, said Larry Johnson, former counterterrorism chief with the State Department, the government may not have given the issue the coordinated, comprehensive look it deserved.

"Everybody was already on edge," he said. "It was seen as further confirmation that millennium preparations were warranted."

But on the whole, the general public wasn’t particularly alarmed by Ressam’s arrest, he said. "It was just part of a dull roar."

Officials involved in the case acknowledge luck was involved in stopping Ressam. His sweating in Port Angeles may have been due to nothing more than a fever spike, a symptom associated with malaria.

They were also lucky in the roundabout route Ressam chose. Ressam’s itinerary showed him heading to Seattle. Inspectors became suspicious because Seattle is a 140-mile drive from Vancouver and requires no ferry ride.

But Johnson stresses that Ressam’s arrest was more than luck and good police work.

"Ressam helps put bin Laden and the al-Qaida network in perspective," Johnson said. "Despite their training, they’re not some 10-foot-tall giant. We’re not helpless against them.

"Ressam didn’t have money; he had to work as a criminal to finance his activities. He didn’t have his Master Terrorist Gold Card. Bin Laden has been able to reach out in a variety of networks, but they’re not all powerful, thank God."

Copyright ©2001 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.