Report: 9/11 Probe Eyes Fifth Hijacking

ByABC News
October 14, 2002, 9:37 AM

— -- Report: 9/11 Probe Eyes Possible Fifth Hijacking

N E W Y O R K, Oct. 11 Authorities interviewing an alQaeda member in custody overseas are probing a new theory ofthe Sept. 11 plot: that suspect Ramzi Muhammad Abdullah binal-Shibh was planning to pilot a fifth hijacked plane tostrike the White House, The New York Times reported today.

The plan was disrupted when bin al-Shibh, who was capturedlast month in Pakistan, failed to obtain permission to enterthe United States, where he had planned to attend flight schoolin Florida, senior government officials said, the Timesreported.

Evidence that there were plans for a fifth hijacking teamhas also come from the debriefing of John Walker Lindh, but thepossibility that bin al-Shibh was to be the leader of the fifthgroup has not been previously disclosed, the Times reported.

This theory has gained momentum in recent weeks asinvestigators have assembled new details about bin al-Shibh'smovements around Europe in the months before the attacks, the Times reported. Investigators have also compiled a fullerpicture of his relationship with Mohamed Atta, whom officialscall the ringleader of the plot, and uncovered freshinformation about the breadth of al Qaeda's original plan forthe attacks, according to the Times.

More specific information about bin al-Shibh's role in theplot could emerge as a result of the arrest today in Germany ofa Moroccan, Abdelghani Mzoudi, who the local authorities sayshared an apartment in Hamburg with bin al-Shibh, Atta and atleast one other hijacker, the Times reported.

The officials said bin al-Shibh has provided onlyfragmentary information about the hijackings and al Qaeda'sactivities since the war in Afghanistan, the Times reported.The officials said bin al-Shibh had not said he planned to leadanother hijacking group, according to the Times.

Reuters

State Department Warns Americans Abroad of Terror ThreatW A S H I N G T O N, Oct. 11 Americans overseas should remain vigilantbecause of "the continuing threat of terrorist actions" againstU.S. interests worldwide, including possible suicide attacks aimedat U.S. civilians, the State Department says.

The government "continues to receive credible indications thatextremist groups and individuals are planning additional terroristactions against U.S. interests," the department said Thursday in aglobal alert.

"American citizens may be targeted for kidnapping orassassination," warned the department.

The alert comes a day after the FBI issued a similar alert tostate and local authorities across the country.

Both alerts cited as a reason for concern a recently releasedtaped statement attributed to Osama bin Laden and separateinformation obtained from al Qaeda detainees indicating possibleattacks against U.S. targets.