Free Republic

WASHINGTON - A U.S. customs inspector praised for keeping the 20th hijacker in the 9/11 plot from getting into the country told Congress yesterday that the "hostile" Saudi gave him the creeps and vowed, "I'll be back." Jose Melendez-Perez told the 9/11 Commission, the panel probing the attacks on America, that he was spooked enough by the man identified only as "Al-Qahtani" to put him on a plane out of Orlando after he arrived in the U.S. from London and Dubai, United Arab Emirates, with a one-way ticket and $2,800 in cash. Al-Qahtani was dressed head-to-toe in black when he...

WASHINGTON - The U.S. is detaining a Saudi man in Cuba who is believed to be the intended 20th hijacker in the Sept. 11, 2001, terror plot, sources said yesterday. The Al Qaeda agent, identified by officials only as al-Qahtani, was intercepted in August 2001 by an alert Customs inspector at the Orlando airport but wasn't held, sources said. "He was a little hinky when he came in and they put him on the next flight out," a senior law enforcement official told the Daily News. Al-Qahtani was later picked up by coalition forces in Afghanistan and transferred to the...

ORLANDO (CBS Tampa) — The Orlando International Airport will soon be opening a Muslim prayer room. WKMG-TV reports the airport will spend $250,000 to build the “Reflection Room” where Muslims can pray. The airport decided to build the room after Emirates Airlines announced it will make non-stop flights from Orlando to Dubai. “These rooms provide travelers an opportunity to pray in their own way and have peace before they take on a long flight,” Imam Muhammad Musri, president of the Islamic Society of Central Florida, told My News 13. Many Muslims currently pray in public, and even the bathrooms, at...

Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney is squeezing in one last visit to Central Florida Monday, while First Lady Michelle Obama will rally support for her husband in south Orange County the same day. .....This will be Romney's fourth visit to Central Florida in as many weeks. President Barack Obama's only scheduled visit to the area during the past month was canceled because of Hurricane Sandy.Romney will speak at 9 a.m. at Avion Jet Center, 2841 Flightline Ave., Orlando Sanford International Airport. Doors open at 6:30 a.m. Free tickets are are available at mittromney.com/FL or through Romney For President offices at:...

Starting Monday, travelers over age 75 at Orlando International Airport and three others nationwide will get a break at security checkpoints under a test program that could allow them to keep their shoes and light jackets on and skip pat-downs. The new guidelines announced Wednesday by the Transportation Security Administration are part of an effort to move away from its one-size-fits-all security procedures and speed lower-risk passengers through while focusing on those who may need more scrutiny. Similar changes were made last fall for travelers 12 and younger.