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Boxcutters Original Source Link: (May no longer be active)
http://fyi.cnn.com/2001/US/09/23/inv.investigation.terrorismhttp://fyi.cnn.com/2001/US/09/23/inv.investigation.terrorism
Box cutters found on other September 11
flights
(CNN) --The complex investigation into the terrorist attacks in New York and
Washington gathered more strands of evidence over the weekend, leading
authorities to several parts of the world.
The FBI says it's pursuing almost 150,000 tips and potential leads in its criminal
investigation into the coordinated assault that destroyed the World Trade Center and
severely damaged the Pentagon, killing thousands of people.
A key part of solving the puzzle may be box-cutter knives or similar tools found on
two flights made successfully, the same day that four United States commercial jets
were hijacked and crashed, sources told CNN.
The hijackers who seized the airliners on September 11 had used box cutters to
attack some of the crew and passengers, according to government officials and
accounts from passengers in-flight who phoned relatives before their planes
crashed.
A knowledgeable source said two small knives were found on a Delta flight that was
supposed to depart Boston, and a box cutter was found on an Atlanta-to-Brussels
Delta flight. These planes didn't take off since all flights were grounded after the
hijackings. The tools were found when the planes were searched.
Investigators say they aren't sure whether the tools found were intended for some
sort of innocent use or whether their owners may have had malicious intent. But
they say the two planes' passenger manifests have been checked. And investigators
increasingly believe that the weapons may have been prepositioned by accomplices
for use by others. As one U.S. official told Time magazine, "These look like inside
jobs."
Charles Miller, a U.S. Justice Department spokesman, told CNN some box cutters
were found on other planes besides the four hijacked ones, but he did not provide
any details.
Separately, two men who are now in federal custody were found with box cutters
when they were detained in Texas two weeks ago. The men -- Ayub Ali Khan and
Mohammed Jaweed Azmath -- had been on a flight from Newark, New Jersey to
San Antonio, Texas that got diverted to St. Louis, Missouri. They were stopped on
an Amtrak train on its way to San Antonio.
More evidence also has been revealed to explain a warning issued last week by the
FBI to crop-duster plane owners and pilots telling them to be on the lookout for
suspicious individuals.
Time magazine -- an AOL Time Warner sister medium to CNN.com -- reports that
investigators found a crop-dusting manual during their search of a suspected
terrorist hideout.
"We're right in the middle of our defoliation season of cotton in Georgia right now,
and crop-dusters were grounded for about a week," said Rep. Saxby Chambliss.
"Needless to say, they were upset, our farmers were upset, but there was a reason
for it. And you're now seeing what the reason was."
Time does quote a senior official as saying they do not place "high credibility" on the
notion that hijackers were exploring the idea of stealing or renting crop-dusters.
Detainees held
Hoping to further encourage forthcoming information, the reward money for the
capture of the terrorists behind the September 11 attacks now has been set at $25
million by the U.S. State Department.
The reward money is part of a $5.1 billion spending package to deal with the costly
aftermath, the first installment of a $40 billion emergency recovery package
approved by Congress and President Bush.
Some of those wanted for questioning in the alleged terrorist conspiracy have been
caught in the international dragnet.
A 29-year-old man arrested in west London in connection with the terrorist strikes
on the World Trade Center was released Saturday, Scotland Yard said.
Two other men and one woman arrested Friday by anti-terrorist branch officers
remained in custody.
The officers arrested two men and one woman in west London in 3 a.m. raids at
two separate residences. Both residences also were searched.
A third man was arrested in the West Midlands region near Birmingham around 7
p.m., police said. The four were apparently questioned in a central London police
station.
British police carried trash bags of evidence from the Birmingham address, and, for
examination purposes, police also towed an expensive German car parked at the
residence.
Of the first three arrested, a 27-year-old man and 25-year-old woman were living
together at one residence. The 29-year-old man, now released, was picked up at
another residence.
There were no details given on the arrest of the third man, who is in his mid-40s.
Authorities declined to explain how the suspects may have been linked to the
September 11 hijackings of two jetliners that were crashed into the twin towers of
the World Trade Center 18 minutes apart.
But a law enforcement source told The Associated Press that one of four people
arrested in England on Friday took flying lessons at the same Arizona school, and at
the same time, as a terrorist in the Pentagon attack. The individuals in custody had
not been cooperating with authorities, the law enforcement source added.
No nationalities were given for those arrested.
Other European arrests
In France, eight people are being detained suspected of belonging to extremist
groups thought to be planning attacks on U.S. interests in France, the interior
ministry announced.
Counter-intelligence officers arrested the suspects on orders of magistrates probing
threats made against U.S. interests, possibly including the U.S. Embassy in Paris.
The probe had been opened the day before the attacks in the United States.
Police sources said the arrests came after an Algerian man, identified as Djamel
Begal, allegedly confessed to planning an attack on the embassy while being held in
the United Arab Emirates. He gave the names and addresses of extremists in Paris,
the sources said.
At least one of the suspects apprehended in France had been in contact with Begal,
and others had been under police surveillance since Begal's arrest in the UAE in July,
sources said. Police are investigating possible links between the French case and
two arrests last week in Brussels.
A prosecutor's office in Brussels said two men believed to have been planning an
attack on American interests in Europe have been charged with possession of
weapons of war. They were members of a radical group, said Fabienne Laduron, a
spokeswoman for the prosecutors.
She said prosecutors were not ruling out a connection with Osama bin Laden, the
Saudi exile identified by top U.S. officials as the prime suspect in the attacks.
Extradition sought
U.S. authorities are still seeking the extradition from Toronto of Nageeb Abdul Jabar
Mohamed Al-Hadi. In a federal complaint filed in Chicago, he's charged with
carrying false documents, including multiple Yemeni passports. The FBI said papers
written in Arabic were found sewn in his clothing. Al-Hadi was flying from
Germany to Chicago when his flight was diverted to Toronto on the day of the
attacks.
Authorities also found two Lufthansa crew uniforms in his suitcases.
A court document says Al-Hadi is believed to be a Lufthansa employee, but it was
unclear whether as a contract employee he had proper access to the uniforms in his
luggage.
Al-Hadi was charged in federal court in Chicago with carrying false documents, but
authorities did not immediately say what, if any, connection the man had with the
hijackers. He was not in the Chicago courtroom as the charges were filed, as he is
detained in Toronto.
The cockpit voice recorder recovered in the wreckage of United Flight 93, which
crashed into a Pennsylvania field, has yielded evidence of a "definite struggle" in the
cockpit. Officials familiar with the recording say shouts in English and Arabic and
the sounds of a scuffle can be heard.
Several family members of passengers on the doomed jet previously described cell
phone conversations indicating that passengers may have tried to retake control of
the plane.
FBI Director Robert Mueller visited the crash site last week. Without going into
details, Mueller seemed to confirm that the passengers attempted some type of
takeover.
"I think ... both the attorney general and I -- and the attorney general of
Pennsylvania -- have indicated we believe those passengers on this jet were absolute
heroes and their actions during the flight were heroic," he said.
Other developments
-- The FBI now believes suspected hijacker Abdul Aziz Alomari -- one of the men
officials say they think was aboard American Airlines Flight 11, which slammed into
the north tower of the World Trade Center -- played a "key leadership role" in the
attacks, law enforcement sources tell CNN.
-- In trying to establish a connection between the suspected terrorists' support
operation and bin Laden, a source high in the investigation tells CNN that the
emphasis is on tracking the money. It's a trail that may be made easier to follow by
evidence that most of the funds seem to have been distributed through a single
source.
-- A federal judge in Detroit, Michigan, denied bail Friday for three men arrested this
week in connection with the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon.
-- Travel bookings Web sites Travelocity.com and Expedia.com confirmed with
CNN on Friday that they have been approached by investigators to provide
reservation data.
-- In northern Kentucky, six search warrants -- four federal and two state -- were
executed as part of the investigation. Officials said "numerous" people were
interviewed by FBI agents and 25 were detained on potential immigration violations.
-- CNN National Correspondent Mike Boettcher contributed to this report.
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