Feds Say 23 People in U.S. Have 'Terrorism Ties'

June 04, 2002

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Justice Department has identified 23 people in the United States who have various levels of "terrorist ties" and at least one with links to Osama bin Laden's al Qaeda group, U.S. officials said on Tuesday.

"The (Foreign) Terrorist Tracking Task Force has identified, acknowledged and handled 23 individuals in this country that have different levels of terrorist ties," a Justice Department official said.

At least one has ties to al Qaeda, the organization linked to the deadly Sept. 11 attacks on America.

The official did not know what level of ties that individual had to al Qaeda, and did not know what other organizations the other 22 were connected to.

"Their identities and whereabouts have been given to the appropriate Joint Terrorist Task Forces around the country," the official said.

As part of an effort to prevent another attack on the United States, Joint Terrorist Task Forces have been set up in FBI field offices around the country to investigate people accused of having connections to extremist groups.

The Justice Department announcement that 23 people have been identified by the task forces comes as the FBI and CIA defend themselves against allegations they did not do enough to prevent the Sept. 11 attacks, or make information about possible threats available to the public.
http://www.reuters.com/news_article.jhtml?type=topnews&StoryID=1049434