Some 480 detained in terrorist investigation, Ashcroft says

By Pete Yost

Associated Press

WASHINGTON – Authorities investigating the terrorist attacks have arrested or detained more than 480 people, Attorney General John Ashcroft said Friday.

Ashcroft disclosed the numbers after releasing a document left behind by the hijackers. He said it provided “a shocking and disturbing view into the mindsets” of those responsible.

FBI Director Robert Mueller made clear the investigation is focusing on more than one group associated with Osama bin Laden’s al-Qaida network. “One should not focus on one individual, but on a series of networks across the world,” he said.

Ashcroft added, “We have not ruled out the participation of other individuals and other organizations in this attack.”

Mueller said investigators have had substantial cooperation from other countries in tracking the movements of the hijackers. He said authorities have began to put together a picture of how the attacks were planned and completed but “the picture is nowhere near fully painted.”

Ashcroft said the document left behind by the hijackers contained instructions for before and during the flights as well as numerous religious references.

He said those references were “a stark reminder of how these hijackers grossly perverted the Islamic faith to justify their terroristic acts.”

The FBI released photographs of the 19 suspected hijackers on Thursday, a move that was designed to bring in information from people who may have seen the men before the Sept. 11 attacks.

Ashcroft called the release of the photos part of a “national neighborhood watch,” while Mueller acknowledged that questions remained about whether an accompanying list contained the true names of the 19.

“What we are currently doing is determining whether, when these individuals came to the United States, these were their real names or they changed their names for use with false identification in the United States,” Mueller said.

The FBI director said there was evidence that one or more of the hijackers had had contacts with al-Qaida, the network associated with Osama bin Laden, the exiled Saudi millionaire who is the Bush administration’s top suspect in the attacks.

At a court hearing Friday in London, prosecutors said an Algerian pilot instructed four of the hijackers who crashed the plane into the Pentagon. The prosecution said Lotfi Raissi, 27, qualified in the United States as a pilot in 1997, attending the same Arizona flight school as four of the hijackers involved in the attacks Sept. 11.

“He was the lead instructor of four of the pilots that were responsible for the hijackings,” prosecutor Arvinda Sambir told the court.

Richard Egan, Raissi’s defense lawyer, said his client “adamantly denies any involvement in the recent appalling tragedies.” Raissi is wanted in the United States on charges of giving false information in connection with his application for a pilot’s license.

In Washington, the Justice Department released an arrest warrant for Raissi and a criminal complaint from Arizona charging him with two counts of making false statements to the Federal Aviation Administration about his medical condition and arrest record. The compliant made no mention of any connection between Raissi and the hijackers.

Two Middle Eastern men who fraudulently obtained licenses to drive trucks hauling hazardous materials were arrested, the Justice Department said. Fadhil Al-Khaledy was arrested Thursday in Chicago and Raad Al-Malfky was arrested in Chattanooga, Tenn.

Both obtained the licenses through an alleged scam in Pennsylvania that involved at least 20 Middle Eastern men who got licenses. All have been arrested; none has been linked to the hijackings. The arrests came amid concerns about possible terrorist attacks involving chemical or biological weapons.

A Middle Easterner believed to be the middleman in the scheme was also captured. Elmeliani Benmoumen helped the others illegally obtain the licenses, according to the FBI. Benmoumen denied being involved in the scheme.

In other developments:

_A grand jury in Boston subpoenaed student records from the University of Rhode Island. It was among several universities which have received subpoenas from grand juries in the investigation. “Our belief is it’s a general request,” University of Rhode Island spokeswoman Linda Acciardo said. “We have no reason to believe it’s connected to the individuals who hijacked the planes.” The university said it learned the subpoena was related to the attacks after it contacted the FBI in Boston to confirm it.

_Evidence surfaced in Las Vegas that at least five of the hijackers had stayed in the casino town between May and August, said a source who insisted on anonymity.

_Officials said the government’s manhunt has thwarted two terrorist attacks since Sept. 11 and gathered evidence suggesting collaborators were in various stages of planning on several other plots to harm U.S. interests here and abroad.

Evidence seized in raids in the United States and in Europe included plans or materials for an attack on the U.S. Embassy in Paris and an attack with explosives on a military site in Brussels, Belgium, the officials said.

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The FBI’s toll-free hot line for people with information about the 19 hijackers is 1-866-483-5137. A form also is available on the Internet at http://www.ifccfbi.gov.