November 1, 2001, Reuters, U.S. Rejects report of search for six men,
U.S. Rejects Report of Search for Six Men
Reuters via iwon.com ^ | October 31, 2001 | Reuters
Posted on 10/31/2001, 3:26:25 PM by CommiesOut
U.S. Rejects Report of Search for Six Men
October 31, 2001 12:09 pm EST
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. officials on Wednesday said they had nothing to corroborate a newspaper report that federal agents were searching for six men who had been carrying material about a nuclear power plant in Florida and an Alaskan pipeline.
Officials said they had no information about a search for the six men, whom The Miami Herald said had been detained in the Midwest but later released even though they were carrying photographs and information on a nuclear power plant in Florida and the Trans-Alaska oil pipeline.
"We have absolutely no information at this point in time to substantiate that story," said Russ Bergeron, spokesman for the Immigration and Naturalization Service.
A federal law enforcement official denied claims in the story that FBI director Robert Mueller was "furious" at the release.
"There's nothing to that. He was completely unaware of it. So there's no way he could be furious," the official said.
A Justice Department official said "there's no credibility at all to that report."
According to the report, police stopped the six men traveling in two cars in an unidentified state over the weekend. In addition to the photographs, they were carrying box-cutters and other "suspicious equipment," it said.
The men who hijacked four planes on Sept 11, killing more than 4,800 people and triggering the U.S. war against terrorism, used box-cutters to overpower flight crews.
The suspects in the Midwest incident appeared to be from the Middle East and carried Israeli passports, according to the Herald story. The INS decided the passports were valid and they had entered the United States legally and it released the suspects without consulting the FBI, the newspaper said.
Florida has three nuclear power plants -- at Turkey Point, south of Miami, St. Lucie, and the Crystal River plant north of St. Petersburg.
U.S. papers: FBI hunting suspected terrorists with Israeli passports
www.freerepublic.com/forum/a3be0e2867983.htm
U.S. papers: FBI hunting suspected terrorists with Israeli passports,
HA'ARETZ DAILY
10/41/2001, 11:49:58 PM
www.freerepublic.com/forum/a3be0e2867983.htmFree Republic
Nov 1, 2001
U.S. papers: FBI hunting suspected terrorists with Israeli passports
HA'ARETZ DAILY ^ | Thursday, November 01, 2001 Cheshvan 15, 5762 Israel Time: 07:45 (GMT+2) | Yossi Melman and Nathan Guttman
Posted on 10/31/2001, 11:49:58 PM by American_Patriot_For_Democracy
The FBI is conducting a manhunt for six men carrying Israeli passports who are suspected of plotting terror attacks in the United States - and who were released by the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service after having been under arrest, according to the Knight-Ridder news service.
The six were arrested over the weekend in a state in the Midwest while traveling in two cars, and were found to have photographs and information about a Florida nuclear reactor and the Alaska pipeline, the news agency reported. There are three nuclear reactors in Florida. They also had "suspicious equipment," including box-cutter knives similar to those used by the hijackers on September 11, Knight-Ridder said.
But the six, who were decribed as having Israeli passports and a "Middle Eastern look," were released after INS officials decided that their passports and visas were valid. According to the Miami Herald, the INS released the men without consulting the FBI - or reporting the arrests. When FBI director Robert Mueller heard about the incident, he was "furious."
However, the newspaper also quoted the INS as calling the report that it had allowed the release of the six "unconfirmed." And a spokesman for the company operating the Alaskan pipeline, which carries some 17 percent of all the oil in the U.S., said he did not know of any threat to the pipe.
An Israeli embassy spokesman in Washington said he knew about the affair from the newspaper, but American authorities had made no formal contact with the embassy about the matter.
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| U.S. papers: FBI hunting suspected terrorists with Israeli passports |  | ||
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| By Yossi Melman and Nathan Guttman | |||
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The FBI is conducting a manhunt for six men carrying Israeli passports who are suspected of plotting terror attacks in the United States - and who were released by the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service after having been under arrest, according to the Knight-Ridder news service.
The six were arrested over the weekend in a state in the Midwest while traveling in two cars, and were found to have photographs and information about a Florida nuclear reactor and the Alaska pipeline, the news agency reported. There are three nuclear reactors in Florida. They also had "suspicious equipment," including box-cutter knives similar to those used by the hijackers on September 11, Knight-Ridder said. But the six, who were decribed as having Israeli passports and a "Middle Eastern look," were released after INS officials decided that their passports and visas were valid. According to the Miami Herald, the INS released the men without consulting the FBI - or reporting the arrests. When FBI director Robert Mueller heard about the incident, he was "furious." However, the newspaper also quoted the INS as calling the report that it had allowed the release of the six "unconfirmed." And a spokesman for the company operating the Alaskan pipeline, which carries some 17 percent of all the oil in the U.S., said he did not know of any threat to the pipe. An Israeli embassy spokesman in Washington said he knew about the affair from the newspaper, but American authorities had made no formal contact with the embassy about the matter. | |||
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