OKLAHOMA CITY
FBI special agent Weldon Kennedy said they should be considered ''armed and extremely dangerous.'' The were under suspicion because they were associated with a vehicle linked to the bombings. The third man, described as a witness, was being returned from Britain, where he had flown Wednesday. Kennedy denied a report by CNN that three people had been arrested in Dallas and Oklahoma. British immigration officials stopped a man on a flight from Chicago today and returned him to the United States for questioning. Sources said he was returning on a flight from London to Chicago. His bags, seized in Rome, reportedly contained material that could link him to the attack. In Washington, Justice Department spokesman Carl Stern called the man being returned from London ''a possible witness who was refused admittance to Britain.'' Asked if he was a suspect, Stern replied: ''You never know what's down the road.''
CNN said the three men suspects had stopped to ask an Oklahoma Highway Patrol officer for directions Wednesday, and the officer was suspicious enough to write down their car's license plate number. The license number was registered to a rental car -- a car other than what the men were driving, the network said. In New York, a law enforcement source told The Associated Press that one of the three, Asad R. Siddiqy of New York, was a suspect in the bombing. Siddiqy is a cab driver in the borough of Queens. CNN said Siddiqy was arrested in Dallas, along with Mohammed Chafi. The network said a brother of Siddiqy was arrested in Oklahoma. ''There are a number of good solid leads being pursued,'' Stern said in Washington. He added, ''We may have more to say later.'' There seemed no doubt that the death toll at the federal building would rise, although no one could say by how much. Marrs said he didn't know how many people remained unaccounted for, and that it might take six days to find all the bodies. He said more than 700 people have called special telephone numbers to notify authorities that they were safe. Marrs' assistant, Jon Hansen, said structural engineers have identified sections of the building most likely to shelter survivors, and rescuers had refocused their search on those areas. No one had emerged alive from the federal building since 10:30 p.m. Wednesday, and Mayor Ron Norick said at midmorning that rescuers had stopped hearing any sounds of life. No one knows precisely how many people were in the building at the time of the blast. Sen. Jim Inhofe (R-Okla.) estimated that there were about 810 people -- 560 employees and 250 non-employees. Dr. David Tuggle, a pediatric surgeon at Children's Hospital of Oklahoma, said he believed there was only a remote chance anyone else would be found alive. Children's Hospital was among several public institutions nationwide to be evacuated today after bomb threats, presumed to be the work of ''copycats.'' GRAPHIC: A soldier and search dog examine cars at Tinker Air Force Base in Oklahoma City one day after the federal building was bombed. ; ASSOCIATED PRESS
Federal authorities issued arrest warrants today for two suspects in the terrorist bombing of a federal office building, and a third man was in custody as a possible witness. Hopes dimmed for the fate of those trapped in the wreckage.
Authorities did not have names of the two suspects, but described them as white males of average height and weight.
CNN said the three men suspects had stopped to ask an Oklahoma Highway Patrol officer for directions Wednesday, and the officer was suspicious enough to write down their car's license plate number. The license number was registered to a rental car -- a car other than what the men were driving, the network said.
A full day after a car bomb caused horrific destruction to the Alfred P. Murrah federal building, the confirmed death toll stood at 36, including 12 children, Fire Chief Gary Marrs said late this morning. More than 400 people were injured.
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OKLAHOMA CITY ''We are positive this vehicle was associated with the bombing,'' said Weldon Kennedy, FBI special agent in charge. ''We are positive these two people were associated with this vehicle.'' Sources said there was ''a possibility'' the suspects were motivated by anger at a federal agency. A likely target is the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms - the object of considerable animosity from extremist groups, including the Branch Davidians. Their compound in Waco, Texas, was burned to the ground two years ago after ATF agents tried to serve a federal search warrant for firearms violations. Other suspects emerged Thursday. A Jordanian-American man described as a ''possible witness'' to the bombing arrived back in the United States from Britain late Thursday and was questioned in a secret location by law enforcement officials, FBI officials said. |
Authorities also questioned three other men, one of the men said Thursday. The man said his brother, Asad R. Siddiqy, 27, a New York cab driver, and an acquaintance, Mohammed Chafi, had driven to Oklahoma City seeking documents for an emergency return to their Middle Eastern homeland when they were arrested.
INFOBOX FBI HOTLINE Anyone with information about the suspects is asked to call the FBI hotline for the case (800) 9xx-xxxx. |
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DALLAS
That theory seemed to be falling apart Friday. A Jordanian American citizen who returned to the United States from Britain as either a "suspect" or a "witness," was "free to go" after being interrogated, U.S. Justice Department spokesman John Russell said. "We let him go. He's not in custody," Russell said. "He's free to go wherever he wants and I understand he's going back to Oklahoma City." Russell said the man was cooperative and may be questioned sometime again. Federal law enforcement officials said Friday that three suitcases reportedly linked to the Jordanian American do not, as was initially reported, contain bomb-related material. Italian authorities had turned over the bags to U.S. officials amid reports that they contained electrical tape, silicon, a hammer, aluminum foil and tweezers, as well as a videocassette recorder and pictures of missiles. Three men of Middle Eastern extraction were detained and questioned by authorities in Dallas and Oklahoma City Thursday after media reports said the license plates of the car they were driving may be linked to a truck associated with the bombing. But by day's end, officials discounted their significance to the Oklahoma City case. "It's not as strong as we initially thought it was," one said. One of the three detained men, since released, told his story to the Associated Press.
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Anis Siddiqy, 24, a cab driver from New York City, said his brother, Asad R. Siddiqy, 27, and an acquaintance, Mohammed Chafi, were in Oklahoma City seeking immigration documents for an emergency return to their Mideast homeland when they were arrested Wednesday. Siddiqy said he needed the documents to get home because of a family matter. He refused to be more specific or identify his Mideast homeland. Siddiqy said he was arrested Wednesday at the Dallas-Fort Worth airport while trying to rent a car so he could join the others in Oklahoma City. Earlier that day, police raided an apartment in Dallas that was being rented by two of the men. A copy of a search warrant left in the apartment showed that a black bag, containing clothing, a calendar and an address book was seized. The items were sent to a federal lab for testing after a bomb -sniffing dog indicated they may have been exposed to chemicals used in explosives, officials said. The man's two acquaintances were picked up Wednesday night soon after they had asked an Oklahoma Highway Patrol officer for directions. The tag number recorded from their vehicle by the trooper was allegedly traced to a blue Chevrolet Cavalier rented by one of the men from National Car Rental at Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport, a law enforcement official said. The Cavalier was found with one of the men Thursday morning at an Oklahoma City motel, the official said. The man said he was questioned for 16 hours and given a lie-detector test before being released Thursday. Chafi was also released Thursday, but his older brother remained in custody. Federal officials have denied that suspects were taken into custody in Dallas. Dallas police spokesman Jim Spencer referred requests for comment to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms. |
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Washington The men who put down an $ 80 deposit at a Ryder truck rental outlet to rent the vehicle Monday were not asked to provide a driver's license as usually is required because they looked much like soldiers from nearby Fort Riley, the local sheriff said. People at the rental outlet "just trusted these people," Geary County Sheriff Bill Deppish said, adding they looked "like other young GIs in their 20s" who regularly rent vehicles there. Authorities said the two men did not appear to be Middle Eastern nor did they speak with any discernible accent - hints that the speculation that Islamic militants were responsible might be premature or incorrect. But authorities said they did not rule out any group or motive. Investigators are considering the possibility that the two may not have been the primary perpetrators in the bombing plot but rented the truck for others, The Washington Post reported today. |
And in a sign that a foreign connection had not been ruled out, the FBI asked the CIA counterterrorism center for information on the organization of foreign terrorist groups and their patterns of operations.
Among the suspects being questioned, the Associated Press and CNN reported, was Asad R. Siddiqy, a New York cabdriver who arrived in Oklahoma City about an hour before the blast. A Jordanian-American described by U.S. officials as a possible witness in the bombing was flown from London to Washington for questioning. Italian officials said his bags, seized in Rome, contained possible bomb-making tools that had escaped detection at the Chicago airport. "Upwards of 50" more bodies were found in just one area of the bombed-out building, the governor said today, a number that would double the death toll to more than 100. "And this is not an area that they anticipated finding this number of individuals," Gov. Frank Keating told ABC's "Good Morning America." Earlier, Jon Hansen, assistant fire chief, had said rescuers were "working in areas now where we've got a significant amount of fatalities." GRAPHIC: Color Photo: Crews climb over debris Thursday at the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City as they search for victims of Wednesday's bombing / Associated Press Illustration: drawing of Suspect 1: White, medium build, about 5'10", 180 pounds, brown hair, tattoo on left arm. Illustration: drawing of Suspect 2: White, medium build, about 5'11", 185 pounds, light brown crewcut. |
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New York --
Siddiqy, 27, who came to the United States from Lahore, Pakistan, in 1990, represents "a significant part" of the bombing investigation, a law-enforcement source said last night. The FBI and Attorney General Janet Reno yesterday said they were unaware the men had been detained. Sources stressed, however, that there is no evidence linking Siddiqy or Siddiqy's brother, Anis, 24, a Queens College student and part-time cabbie - to the blast. Another man, identified as Mohammed Chafi, also was detained in Oklahoma Wednesday and questioned in the explosion, law-enforcement sources said. A fourth man, Abraham Ahmed, was returned to the United States from London yesterday, said officials, who added that Ahmed had three duffle bags containing material useful in making bombs. He was being called a "witness" in the case as of last night. |
Sources said Asad Siddiqy's name "came up" in the investigation of the February, 1993, explosion at the World Trade Center but added he never was connected to the explosion. Asad and Anis Siddiqy lived in a two-story brick Elmhurst home as recently as one month ago, according to Amir Mufti, a 22-year-old man who lived next door to the brothers. He said he didn't know where they moved. Anis Siddiqy also had an Astoria address where he was living until a week ago. The Siddiqys' mother lived with her unmarried sons in the same house until she returned to Pakistan two or three months ago, Mufti said. Taxi and Limousine Commission records show Asad Siddiqy received summonses in June, 1992, for speeding and operating a dirty taxi, for which he was found guilty at TLC hearings, spokesman Eugene Rodriguez said yesterday. "He had a pretty abysmal record, pretty lousy," Rodriguez said. Asad Siddiqy, who has not driven a cab in months, was most recently driving a limousine, Mufti said. When he first came to the United States four or five years ago, Asad Siddiqy worked at a carpet company in Manhattan, according to a former roommate who did not want his identity revealed. Afterward, he became a cabbie, but he'd always hoped to start his own carpet business someday, the roommate said. During his free time, Asad Siddiqy liked to stay home and watch movies on TV. Acquaintances didn't consider him very religious, but he went to Friday prayers every week at a Queens mosque. "It's impossible" that the brothers could be involved in any religious or political violence, Mufti said. "This has to be some kind of mistake." GRAPHIC: Photo-A 1994 photo of Asad Siddiqy from the Taxi and Limousine Commission. |
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Some dismiss it as being akin to Elvis sightings,... yeah, and I would COMPLETELY dismiss McVeigh's book as being the product of a hypnotized stooge who was fed palatable stories by his 'handlers' (while in prison) to relate to those who actually wrote his book ...
Not!
That reminds me - have ANY of you notorious tin-foilers written to or, heaven forbid, TALKED to Michael Fortier (who is ALIVE) and gotten his feed back on his take of "foreign gov't involvement"?
I'll GLADLY drop dead of a heart attack (and STOP hounding you people) if you have ...