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A U.S.-Based Al Qaeda 'Sleeper Cell' Was Poised to Launch a Post-Sept. 11 Attack on a Major Washington Target; Would-Be Terrorists Went Underground or Fled U.S. NEWSWEEK The December 17 issue of Newsweek (on newsstands Monday, December 10) details the saga of John Walker, the American citizen who fought with the Taliban in Afghanistan. Newsweek also examines the survival of Al Qaeda following the military campaign. Plus: Yasir Arafat facing his greatest threat and an interview with Ariel Sharon. Also: Parsons in his new post and Enron's downfall. A look at Ocean's 11 and music group No Doubt. (PRNewsFoto)[TK] Evidence ...

MILWAUKEE (AP) Federal authorities have found seven people in Wisconsin suspected of bribing U.S. embassy officials in the Persian Gulf to obtain illegal visas. Six of the seven don't appear to have terrorist ties, said Assistant U.S. Attorney Francis D. Schmitz. He said little is known about the seventh person, Ahmad Abed Atia, 23, who had been living in Milwaukee. Atia was uncooperative with investigators and has been transferred to Chicago on a federal visa fraud charge, Schmitz said. The seven are part of a larger group of foreigners from Jordan, Pakistan, Syria and Bangladesh suspected to have paid at...

WHAT HAPPENED AT THE NONDESCRIPT ROADSIDE motel outside Oklahoma City was just a fleeting encounter during the twisted cross-country odyssey of the terrorists who would carry out the September 11 attacks. Mohamed Atta, alleged leader of the plot, and two companions wanted to rent a room, but couldn't get the deal they wanted, so they left. It was an incident of no particular importance, except for one thing. The owner of the motel remembers Atta being in the company of Zacarias Moussaoui, the so-called "20th hijacker," who was arrested prior to September 11 and now faces conspiracy charges in connection...

<p>Federal authorities have detained a Jordanian man they believe was a roommate of at least two of the Sept. 11 hijackers after a raid at a Southeast Baltimore home.</p> <p>Rasmi Al-Shannaq was taken into custody early Monday, apparently for overstaying his visa, according to law enforcement sources and news reports. He is believed to have lived last year with two of the hijackers who were on board American Airlines Flight 77 when it crashed into the Pentagon.</p>

A San Diego State University student from Yemen regularly dined and prayed with three San Diego-linked hijackers and helped them obtain Social Security cards, driver's licenses, flight school information and rides from Los Angeles International Airport, according to court records made public yesterday. The 18-page document, part of the immigration-fraud case against former material witness Mohdar Abdallah, was filed late Monday by federal prosecutors. It is the first public record to detail Abdallah's relationships with hijackers Nawaf Alhazmi, Khalid al-Midhar and Hani Hanjour, who were aboard the American Airlines plane that crashed into the Pentagon. Abdallah "had provided substantial assistance...