US authorities on Thursday released photos of the 19 men suspected of orchestrating deadly suicide attacks, hoping to push forward their investigation amid fears others are planning similar strikes.
"This is another step in what in effect is part of a national neighborhood watch," Attorney General John Ashcroft said.
"It is our hope that the release of these photos will prompt others who may have seen the hijackers or been in contact with them to contact the FBI with any information they may have that would be helpful to the investigation."
The Federal Bureau of Investigation already is pursuing more than 200,000 leads in what has become the largest probe in US history -- uncovering those responsible for devastating terror attacks September 11 on New York's World Trade Center and the Pentagon near here which left some 6,000 dead or missing.
Investigators are more concerned, however, with preventing similar attacks, amid fears terrorists had tried to acquire dangerous chemicals and licenses to transport them, FBI director Robert Mueller said.
"Our primary focus is on preventing potential future attacks. We are working hard to identify and locate associates of the hijackers who may pose a threat to this nation," he said.
Mueller would not specify the threat, but said authorities nationwide were on high alert, including at US border posts.
Investigators have arrested several people on charges of fraudulently obtaining commercial drivers licenses and permits to transport hazardous materials, including five in Michigan, three in Washington state and two in Missouri.
Authorities have not publicly linked any of those arrests to the attacks, and Mueller said Thursday recent arrests in Pennsylvania on similar charges were not linked to the hijackers.
Meanwhile, ABC News reported that Saudi-born Islamist militant Osama bin Laden plans next to try to free a Muslim leader imprisoned for involvement in the 1993 bombing of the World Trade Center.
Sheikh Omar Abdel Rahman, a blind Egyptian cleric, is serving a life sentence in a federal prison for plotting the 1993 attack.
In an interview, a former member of bin Laden's al-Qaeda group, known only as "Max," said while "it would be very difficult for them to do this release, they are trying, even now, just looking for a chance."
US investigators also are pursuing investigations of reprisal attacks on Arab and Muslim Americans or those with Middle Eastern appearance. Mueller said federal grand juries in Salt Lake City, Utah, and Seattle, Washington, handed up criminal indictments on Wednesday in two incidents.
"These indictments are proof that those who attempt to take out their anger and frustration on innocent Americans will be investigated and prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law," Mueller said.
The probe into the attacks extends beyond US borders as part of a declared war on terrorism by the US government.
In Toronto, police raided four addresses linked to Nabil al-Marabh, arrested in Chicago last week on suspicion of being the link between the hijackers and bin Laden.
Al-Marabh, who entered Canada in 1994, was charged in June by Canadian authorities with carrying a false passport as he tried to cross into the United States, but he later disappeared after missing a court appearance.
Acting on tip-offs from the CIA or information gleaned from their own surveillance operations, European security agencies have made a string of arrests in the last two weeks in a bid to piece together a trans-Atlantic connection behind the attacks.
France, Spain, Belgium, Britain and the Netherlands are holding a total of 23 men picked up since the attacks, all suspected of links with bin Laden.
The tiny Pacific nation of Nauru, meanwhile, is facing new scrutiny over its secretive tax-haven operations amid fears it could have been a conduit for terrorist funds, senior diplomatic sources said on Thursday.
Nauru operates around 400 offshore banks, all registered to one government mailbox.
(China Daily 09/28/2001)
