Delta Flight Detained, FBI Investigates

ABC News

October 15, 2001, 5:00 AM ET

12 min read

W A S H I N G T O N, Oct. 13, 2001 -- A New York to Amsterdam flight was canceled when the airline alerted authorities about four men who purchased or attempted to purchase one-way tickets, prompting the FBI to investigate.

MORE INVESTIGATIVE NEWS:• Arizona Man Indicted

• FBI Warns of Additional Attacks

• Terrorist Financial Assets Frozen

The Delta Air Lines flight was scheduled to depart from New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport on Friday evening. Two men were detained before the flight and held by immigration by immigration authorities after questions arose about their travel documents, according to the Associated Press.

The FBI told the Associated Press that two of the men were detained before the flight Delta Air Lines flight's scheduled departure from New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport Friday evening, and held by immigration authorities after questions arose about their travel documents.

Suspicions were raised after two men bought one-way tickets from a New York City travel agency, paying with cash and leaving an apparently bogus phone number, ABCNEWS has learned. A short time later, two more men, described as Middle Eastern, arrived at the travel agency also seeking one-way tickets for that night's flight. When the travel agent became suspicious and started to make a phone call, the two men quickly left the building.

"I'm not going to get into any detail other than the fact that we were conducting an investigation," Barry Mawn, head of the FBI's New York office, said at a press conference today. "The joint terrorism task force, out at the airport, there were some individuals that, as far as their ticketing and their status, we were checking, and that is ongoing."

Al Salmi claimed he did not know Hanjour, but investigators discovered the two spoke on several occasions, including at least once about their mutual interest in flying, according to the indictment. Hanjour, a Saudi Arabian national, received pilot training at a flight school in Scottsdale, Ariz., and eventually obtained a Federal Aviation Administration pilot's license.

Al Salmi is also licensed as a private pilot, and ABCNEWS has learned that he took flight lessons at Sunbird Flight School in Chandler, Ariz.

John Martin, general manager of the school, confirmed al Salmi took flight lessons at his school just before July. Al Salmi used a freelance flight instructor at first and then switched to the school's instructor, Martin said. Prior to July, al Salmi qualified for a private license to fly small aircraft.

Martin said he was able to give the FBI names of several other Middle Eastern people who were training around the same time. He did not know if al Salmi was connected to any of the other students.

An innocent man with a similar name turned up on the FBI watch list. Ali Salami said his name and phone number appeared on the watch list and the FBI called him three times before it became apparent that perhaps al Salmi had stolen his social security number. The FBI watch list still shows Ali Salami as an alias for al Salmi, which is apparently inaccurate.

Justice Department spokeswoman Mindy Tucker said U.S. authorities have arrested or detained 698 individuals since Sept. 11 in connection with the terrorism investigation.

• Ashcroft Repeats FBI Warning

Attorney General John Ashcroft reminded Americans not to overlook the possibility of future terror attacks.

"Americans must be mindful of the threat of additional terrorist acts, and be mindful ofthe fact that such a threat is real," he said. "All possiblemeasures are being taken to detect and prevent future attacks, to bothincapacitate and deter would-be terrorists."

The attorney general's remarks came a day after the FBI issued a chilling, but vague, warning to the American public.

"Certain information, while not specific as to target, gives the government reason to believe that there may be additional terrorist attacks within the United States and against U.S. interests overseas over the next several days," the bureau said in a statement Thursday.

The FBI said today that they were "not aware of any specific or credible threat against theme parks."

Since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks in New York and Washington, U.S. officials have consistently maintained a high state of alert for possible future attacks. But this was the first formal warning issued to the public by federal authorities.

"The FBI has again alerted all local law enforcement to be on the highest alert and we call on all people to immediately notify the FBI and local law enforcement of any unusual or suspicious activity," the statement continued.

Ashcroft said the alert "should promote caution, not incite alarm."

• Stepping Up ‘Financial War’ Against Terrorism

Intensifying its effort to starve international terrorists of funding, the Bush administration moved Friday to freeze the financial assets of dozens of individuals and organizations with ties to known terror groups.

"This morning we took the next step in the financial war," Treasury Secretary Paul O'Neill said at a news conference in Washington, where officials named 39 groups and people believed to finance terrorist operations or to be terrorists themselves.

"We're determined to deny terrorists the resources to carry out their acts of evil," he said.

O'Neill said the list included businesses and charitable organizations that funnel money to al Qaeda, the global terrorist network of Saudi exile Osama bin Laden, which authorities say is responsible for the Sept. 11 suicide hijacking attacks in New York and Washington.

"There is compelling, substantial and credible evidence to take immediate action," said David Aufhauser, general counsel for the Treasury Department. "We're interested in finding money that kills."

The half-dozen entities which will have their assets frozen by a blocking order issued today by the department include two honey producers and a bakery in the Middle East that are believed to surreptitiously funnel money to terrorists groups.

"We are putting the world on notice that those choosing to fund acts of terror can no longer hide behind legitimate business functions and expect to escape action by the United States," said Jimmy Gurule, treasury undersecretary for enforcement.

Among the 33 individuals named in the order are 18 of the 22 men identified Wednesday by the FBI as the world's "most wanted" terrorists. The assets of the other four had already been frozen under an executive order issued by President Bush on Sept. 23, authorizing the blocking of U.S. assets belonging to supporters of terrorism.

Bush has emphasized the financial effort as a crucial component of the campaign against terrorism.

"The first shot in the war was when we started cutting off their money because an al Qaeda organization can't function without money," the president said Thursday night during his first full news conference since the Sept. 11 attacks. "And we're continuing our efforts to reach out to willing nations to disrupt and seize assets of the al Qaeda organization."

According to the Treasury Department, the United States has frozen nearly $4 million in assets belonging to bin Laden, al Qaeda and the ruling Taliban regime in Afghanistan, not including the assets affected by today's order.

Officials said this morning that some 110 countries have pledged support for the effort and 66 have issued blocking orders similar to the one announced this morning by the Treasury Department.

"Today we add another brick to the international wall we are building against the funding of terrorist acts around the world," said Gurule. "We are using every tool at our disposal to cut off the various sources of funding for their atrocities."

Nations worldwide have so far frozen more than $24 million in assets since the Sept. 11 terror attacks.

ABCNEWS' Salim Jiwa and Beth Tribolet contributed to this report