WASHINGTON – The Sept. 11 commission will investigate a claim that U.S. defense intelligence officials identified ringleader Mohammed Atta and three other hijackers as a likely part of an al-Qaida cell more than a year before the hijackings but didn’t forward the information to law enforcement.
Rep. Curt Weldon, R-Pa. and vice chairman of the House Armed Services and Homeland Security committees, said Tuesday the men were identified in 1999 by a classified military intelligence unit known as Able Danger. If true, that’s an earlier link to al-Qaida than any previously disclosed intelligence about Atta.
Sept. 11 commission co-chairman Lee Hamilton said Tuesday that Weldon’s information, which the congressman said came from multiple intelligence sources, warrants a review. He said he hoped the panel could issue a statement on its findings by the end of the week.
Army sacks senior general
In an extraordinary move, the Army sacked a four-star general who was the subject of a Defense Department investigation into alleged sexual misconduct, officials said Tuesday. Gen. Kevin Byrnes, 55, commander of Army Training and Doctrine Command, was approaching retirement when the decision to relieve him of duty was made by the Army chief of staff, Gen. Peter Schoomaker.
Twelve MIAs’ remains identified
The remains of 12 servicemen listed as missing in action during the Vietnam War have been identified and are returning home, 37 years after they died in a fierce battle near the Laos-Vietnam border, the Defense Department announced Tuesday. The 11 Marines and one Army soldier are the largest group of MIAs identified since the war, according to the military. The Marines were killed during a 10-hour battle on May 9, 1968, on a football field-sized area in South Vietnam, Pentagon spokesman Larry Greer said.
Electronic passports by end of year
The United States will begin issuing electronic passports in December to help tighten border and identity security, the State Department said Tuesday. A computer chip will be embedded in passport covers and will hold the same information that is written on the inside: name, date of birth, gender, place of birth, dates of passport issuance and expiration, passport number and a photo. The chip will also have a unique digital signature designed to protect the data from tampering.
Alabama: Video game defense fails
A 20-year-old whose lawyers claimed the video game “Grand Theft Auto” and childhood abuse caused him to kill three Fayette police officers was convicted Tuesday of capital murder. The jury deliberated for just over an hour before convicting Devin Moore. After his arrest, Moore told police, “Life is a video game; everybody has to die sometime.”
Florida: Mars orbiter launch delay
The launch of the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter was postponed by a day to Thursday so equipment that helps guide the vehicle during liftoff can be checked out by the manufacturer, NASA officials said Tuesday from Cape Canaveral.
Irene weakens to tropical depression
A weakened tropical depression Irene stayed on its path through the western Atlantic on Tuesday, posing no immediate threat to land, while Tropical Storm Harvey was falling apart over cooler water farther north. According to the five-day forecast from the National Hurricane Center in Miami, meteorologists expected Irene would eventually pass near Bermuda.
Massachusetts: Logan safety lapse
A mechanic taxied a cargo jet across a runway at Logan International Airport runway in Boston just as a passenger jet was getting ready to take off there, the latest in a series of safety lapses at the airport, officials said. In all, there have been four such lapses since June 9.
Virginia: ‘Vote Christian’ draws fire
The Anti-Defamation League, a Jewish organization, is calling on the Rev. Jerry Falwell to retract a “vote Christian in 2008” statement made months ago in a letter raising money for his ministries. Falwell, founder of Liberty University in Lynchburg and the Moral Majority, included with his mass fundraising letter for Falwell Ministries a sticker that reads, “I Vote Christian.” “What I was saying was for conservative Christian voters to vote their values, which are pro-life and pro-family,” Falwell said. “I had no intention of being anti-Jewish at all.”
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