Suspected terrorists identified, but no arrests made Ashcroft
( 2001-09-13 12:08 ) (7 )

US officials said on Wednesday that some of the suspected terrorists who hijacked and crashed four airliners had been identified, but authorities were not prepared to "make an attribution of specific responsibility".

Speaking at a press conference with Attorney General John Ashcroft, FBI Director Robert Mueller said officials had "identified many of the hijackers on each of the four flights that went down."

Although he did not identify the individuals, Ashcroft said some "were trained as pilots in the United States."

"We're not in a position to make an attribution of specific responsibility at this time," Ashcroft said. "We're still pursuing a number of leads -- over 2,000 of them. And when we have an appropriate assemblage of evidence and we feel like an announcement should be made, we will make it then."

He said the four planes -- two originating from Boston and one each from Newark, New Jersey and Washington Dulles International Airport -- were taken over by between three and six individuals per plane, "using knives and box cutters, and in some cases making bomb threats."

Mueller said investigators also had identified "a number of individuals who we believe had something to do with the hijackings, and we have pursued those leads aggressively."

"We will leave no stone unturned in our quest to find those responsible," he said.

He denied reports that the Federal Bureau of Investigation had made any arrests, instead saying that in the process of investigating, the agency had found people "out of status" who had been detained on immigration charges.

"We've been able to mobilize quite a group of investigators, about 4,000 special agents of the FBI, 3,000 support personnel," Ashcroft said. "We have specially trained individuals, scientists, lab technicians and the like, (and) an additional 1,000 that are available."

Mueller said the FBI had found evidence of "the presence at some point in time of either the hijackers themselves or their associates" in Boston, Massachusetts; Providence, Rhode Island; and Miami, Florida.

Ashcroft called the investigation "perhaps the most massive and intensive investigation ever conducted in America."

Investigators fanned out across the United States, methodically hunting for clues.

One of the most promising leads may be found at Boston's Logan International Airport, from which the FBI and local police had seized a Virginia-registered car in which they found Arabic-language pilot instruction manuals, according to an airport official.

The Boston Herald reported that state police have identified at least five Middle Eastern suspects, including two brothers whose passports were traced to the United Arab Emirates. One of the men was trained as a pilot, according to the paper.

The paper also reported that at least two other suspects flew to Logan Tuesday from Portland, Maine, where authorities believe they had traveled after entering the United States from Canada.

Abu Dhabi public television reported Wednesday that two suspects traced to Boston's Logan airport were Wa'el Mohammad al-Shihri and Ahmad Ibrahim Ali al-Hazzouni. The network said the pair carried Saudi passports, with UAE-issued international driver's licenses.

The FBI refused to comment on press reports that investigators were looking for two cars which were rented in Boca Raton, Florida, by a suspect identified as Mohammed Atta.

Another Florida lead involves the car of a former student at an aviation school, in which pilot manuals and a picture of Saudi-born suspected terror mastermind Osama bin Laden were found, according to CBS television.

US intelligence officials, particularly at the Central Intelligence Agency, see bin Laden as the "main suspect" for these terrorist attacks, but so far there has been no proof of his involvement.

US authorities believe bin Laden, who is said to be hiding in Afghanistan, was behind the deadly terror attacks against the US embassies in Kenya and Tanzania in 1998.

"We've made a really good start, and we're going to keep working on this, and we're going to do everything possible," Ashcroft said. "No more significant or substantial investigation has ever been launched in this country."