Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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Investigators seek public’s help BY PETE YOST ASSOCIATED PRESS WASHINGTON (AP) - Attorney General John Ashcroft on Thurs day released photographs of the 19 suspected hijackers, saying it’s part of “a national neighborhood watch” in which investigators hope Americans might recognize some of the hijackers. Ashcroft and FBI Director Robert Mueller asked any Amer icans who might recognize the photos to contact authorities. They said there were still ques tions about the true identities of some of the men, and they hoped the public’s assistance would help answer those questions. “What we are currently doing is determining whether, when these individuals came to the Unit ed States, these were their real names or they changed their names for use with false identifi cation in the United States,” Mueller said. The FBI director said there was evidence that one or more of the hi jackers had had contacts with al Qaida, the network associated with accused terrorist Osama bin Laden. He wouldn’t be more specific. Mueller said the FBI thinks the names and photographs match those on the manifests of the hi jacked planes. Ashcroft said investigators have received more than 100,000 tips. Mueller said the bureau has “over 200,000 leads we are investigating.” Some of the names have slightly different spellings and others have additional names added, compared with the list the FBI released on Sept. 14. Mueller said the FBI is con fident the names Asncron ana pnotos were the identities the hijackers had before entering the United States. People with the same or similar names have challenged the identi ties of at least four of the hijackers the FBI released on Sept. 14. Saudi Arabia Embassy offh cials, for example, have said a Saudi electrical engineer named Abdulaziz Alomari — the same name as one of the hijackers on the plane that crashed into the Pentagon — had his passport and other papers stolen in 1996 in Denver when he was a student, and reported the theft to police there at the time. The FBI director said there was some evidence that “one or more” of the hijackers were re lated to each other. Mueller also said the FBI believes Wednesday’s arrests of people al legedly involved in fraudulently get ting commercial licenses to carry hazardous materials are not relat ed to the terrorist hijackings. On Wednesday, FBI agents in vestigating the Sept 11 terrorist at tacks assisted in the arrests of 10 Middle Eastern men in three states for fraudulently obtaining licenses to transport hazardous materials. Wednesday’s sweep in Missouri, Michigan and Washington fol lowed FBI warnings that terrorists might try to strike next using chemical or biological weapons. The 10 who were arrested were among 18 people from seven states charged with falsely obtaining haz ardous material licenses from a Pennsylvania state examiner. The examiner told the FBI he took pay offs in exchange for the permits be tween July 1999 and February 2000, according to court papers. The dri vers didn’t take required tests, and some had suspended licenses when they got the permits. The concern about licenses to haul chemicals first surfaced last week when the FBI arrested Nabil Al-Marabh, 34, a former Boston cab driver. Al-Marabh holds a commercial driver’s li cense and is certified to transport hazardous materials. The FBI seemed to be zeroing in on people who—wittingly or unwitting ly — helped the 19 men authorities say hijacked four airliners and crashed them in New York, Washington and Pennsylvania. Nearly 7,000 people were dead or missing. Salvadoran national police di rector Mauricio Sandoval said the FBI had detained a man who al legedly helped the terrorists get false identification cards. Luis Mar tinez-Flores “may have moved” around “with the terrorists in New York, Boston or Florida,” Sandoval told a news conference. The name Luis Martinez-Flores turned up last week on a list of 21 peo ple whose financial records the FBI had asked all U.S. banks to check. The 19 suspected hijackers were on the list, along with Martinez-Flores and one other person. Martinez-Flores apparently was being held by U.S. immigra tion officials in Virginia as an il legal immigrant, Sandoval said. In Florida, Michael ffluvsa, chairman of SunCruz Casinos gambling cruise company, said two or three men linked to the hi jackings might have been cus tomers on a ship that sailed from Madeira Beach. One name on the passenger list from a Sept. 5 cruise was the same as one of the suspected terrorists, Hlavsa said: SunCruz Casinos turned over photographs and other docu ments to FBI investigators after employees said they recognized as customers some of the men suspected in the terrorist attacks. Authorities also were taking a new look at a 1998 meeting be tween Osama bin Laden, the chief suspect in the Sept. 11 attacks, and a senior Iraqi intelligence officer in Afghanistan. Farouk Hijazi, an Iraqi intelligence officer who is Iraq’s ambassador to Turkey, met with bin Laden in Kandahar, a re gion in southeastern Afghanistan, where bin Laden is known to have training camps, a U.S. official said Wednesday, speaking on condi tion of anonymity. It’s not known what was discussed at the De cember 1998 meeting. Sizemore Students urged to report problems CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 dard. The younger Sizemore sug gested that, when the photograph; were taken, the employees wen still recuperating from these inten sive shifts. The pictures of the sleeping em ployees were taken on the weekenc of Sept. 8-9. The younger Sizemon Wasn’t sure what day the 24-hou coverage period started. Students moved into the dorm; Aug. 18, three weeks before th< weekend the pictures were taken, so the guards had been off the 24 hour coverage period for at least a week when they were found sleep ing. The younger Sizemore called students' safety concerns “unfor tunate.” He said, “They're read i ing the articles and they're seeing what's being said. The article did not shed a very good light [on Size more Security]. I assure them that we have a lot of good officers that are dedicated to their job. For every good officer we have, it just takes one bad to make the rest of them look bad. I hope that stu ; dents will see the improvements ■ we have made.” But some students are still see ing sleeping security guards. Sec ond-year criminal justice student Jessica Johnson said, “I went out Saturday, and when I came home at four o'clock that morning, the security guard was sleeping. I no ticed the same thing last year, so I guess I'm used to [it].” The younger Sizemore said the company hasn’t received any complaints since the article ran. Law Enforcement Director Ernie Ellis said he felt good about security on campus. “If there are issues at hand about the guards,” he said, “we encourage the stu dents to take a hand in this by calling an R.A .or R.H.D. during normal times. During the later hours after 12 a.m., if they see this going on, do not hesitate to call the police department. We are very concerned about the safety of our residents here on campus, and we work closely with Hous ing to resolve these issues.” The elder Sizemore said stu dents should call a supervisor if they see guards sleeping or call the Sizemore Security office. “We continue to work with stu dents to educate them about safe ty,” Luna said. Comments on this story? E-mail ga mecockudesk fdhotma il.com. Your words could be here... if you worked for The Gamecock. Come to RH 333 to apply. I -- —r3 Don't Miss A Ploy...New Sunglass Styles Now In! Ray-Ban • Costa • Anarchy Oakley • Maui Jim & More *EndOf"\ Summer ) Sale! 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They know what our position is,” Powell said about Afghanistan’s ruling Taliban officials. Powell said he spoke twice with Jackson, who told him he was contacted by Taliban leaders. He didn’t discourage Jackson from going, he said. However, “I don’t know what purpose would he served right now since the position of the United States and the international community is quite clear,” Powell said. “It’s a matter for he and whoever he was speaking to over there to decide.” Jackson, indicating he might try to help free two U.S. relief workers, said he had talked Thursday to the parents of Heather Mercer and Dayna Curry, who are being held by the ruling Taliban in the Afghan capital, Kabul. Taliban say they urged bin Laden to leave ISLAMABAD, PAKISTAN (AP) - Afghanistan’s ruling Taliban have advised Osama bin Laden of a clerical decision urging him to leave the country voluntarily, the Afghan ambassador in Pakistan said Thursday, acknow ledging that the Taliban know his location. The Afghan ruling militia had initially asserted they couldn’t find bin Laden to inform him of the recommendation, made Sept. 20 by a council of Muslim clerics, or the Ulema. U.S. officials had dismissed the claims that bin Laden, the top suspect in the Sept. 11 terror attacks, was missing. Ambassador Abdul Salam Zaeef said the clerics’ decision had been “endorsed” by the Taliban’s supreme leader Mullah Mohammed Omar. “Osama has now received the Ulema council’s recomm endations and their endorse ment” by Omar, he said. “We have not lost Osama, but he is out of sight of the people.” State fair to have increased security COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) - Security will be increased at the South Carolina State Fair, but organizers say they hope the reaction to the terrorist attacks earlier this month doesn’t become overbearing. The 132nd annual edition of the fair runs Oct. 4-14, with more than 500,000 people expected to attend. There will be more security at entrance gates and officials say any bag is subject to inspection before a person is allowed on the grounds. The Richland County Sheriffs Department will have a strong presence. Signs outlining security measures will be posted at the pntranrpc Generals allowed to shoot down planes WASHINGTON (AP) - Two Air Force generals have been authorized to order the military to shoot down any civilian airliner that appears to be threatening U.S. cities, Pentagon officials said Thursday. Seeking to reassure America's travelers of their safety, Secretary of Defense Donald H. Rumsfeld said, “There are a lot of safeguards in place.” He said he had crafted the new rules of engagement for military pilots with Gen. Henry H. Shelton, who is retiring as chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. White House spokesman Scott McClelland said every attempt will be made to follow the chain of command from the commander in chief on down before any order to down a plane is issued and the decision would be made only by very senior-level officials.