Steve Quayle News Alerts

July 3, 2002

BERLIN, — The U.S. government has found evidence that an employee of the U.S. Embassy in Doha, Qatar, was selling U.S. visas to Jordanian nationals for bribes of $10,000 per visa, federal documents say. The State Department is now investigating whether one of those Jordanians was connected to the hijackers who launched the Sept. 11 attack on the United States.

AS MANY AS 70 Jordanians may have illegally bought their way into the United States from April 2000 to July 2001, according to a criminal complaint filed in a Detroit federal court last week, NBC’s Jim Popkin reported.

The State Department’s Diplomatic Security Service is investigating whether one of the Jordanians who bought a U.S. visa is Rasmi Subhi Salah al Shannaq, a roommate of two of the alleged hijackers. Shannaq was arrested in Baltimore in June and made an initial appearance in U.S. District court in Baltimore Monday to face charges of fraudulently obtaining a U.S. visa from the U.S. Embassy in Qatar.

Shannaq, 27, shared an apartment in Northern Virginia with Nawaf al Hazmi and Hani Hanjour for two months last summer. Hazmi and Hanjour were among those who allegedly hijacked American Airlines Flight 77, which crashed into the Pentagon, killing 64 people on board and 125 on the ground.

Federal authorities have said they have no direct evidence linking Shannaq to the Sept. 11 attacks.

Since January, federal agents have been trying to arrest some of the 70 people involved in the bribery case, the complaint shows. A Jordanian who had been living in the Detroit area was arrested last week as part of the Qatar bribery investigation. In court papers filed for his case, the State Department investigators revealed the outlines of the Qatar bribery caper.

LATEST DEVELOPMENTS
The U.S. Embassy employee from Qatar is not identified, and it is not clear from the documents if he or she has been arrested or charged with any crimes.

In his court appearance, Shannaq was read his rights by magistrate Susan Gauvey, who appointed a public defender for him and asked him if he understood the charges against him.

“Yes, your honor,” Shannaq replied in English, an Arabic interpreter at his side.
Gauvey set a detention hearing for Wednesday and placed Shannaq in the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service.

His public defender, Jim Wyda, told reporters after the hearing that there was no evidence that Shannaq had any ties to terrorist organizations.

He said Shannaq lived in the United States for many years and has had “innocent contact with many, many people.”

“What we have right now is a relatively minor fraud case,” Wyda said.

Shannaq was arrested on June 24. On July 2, a federal grand jury indicted him for visa fraud.

If convicted, Shannaq would face a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison and a fine of $250,000.

ROOTING OUT SUSPECTS
In related news, federal investigators are conducting raids nationwide on jewelry stores owned mostly by Pakistanis, hoping to break up fronts for terrorist groups or their financial backers, U.S. officials say.

The raids have taken place in several cities over the past two weeks, including Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Atlanta and New York. About 75 jewelry stores have been raided, said a law enforcement official, speaking on condition of anonymity.

The raids were not prompted by evidence of wrongdoing by all the individuals who were questioned, another U.S. official said. More than a dozen people are still in detention following the raids.

The government had acknowledged that some raids were conducted in late June, but had refused to discuss whether they were linked to efforts to fight terrorism. Some officials referred to the raids as “immigration sweeps.”

The officials said the jewelry shop owners have been asked about their accounting practices and whether they send money to any foreign organizations on a regular basis. They are also asked whether they support al-Qaida or know anyone who does, the officials said.

In other news, a friend of Mohammed Atta, the suspected leader of the Sept. 11 strikes on the United States, was arrested Wednesday in Hamburg, Germany, on terrorism charges, U.S. officials told NBC News. The friend was one of eight people detained on suspicion of belonging to a terrorist organization and plotting new attacks, German federal prosecutors said.

A U.S. official, speaking on condition of anonymity, identified the suspect as Abdelghani Mzoudi and said he was one of two witnesses to Atta’s 1996 will.

In Germany, prosecutors only identified Mzoudi as “Abdelghani M.” in conformance with German laws that prohibit release of a suspect’s last name until further charges are filed.

There is no indication that those arrested were involved with the Sept. 11 attacks but 29-year-old Abdelghani M. is also under investigation on suspicion that he supported the hijackers’ terrorist cell, said Frauke Scheuten, a spokeswoman for the federal prosecutors’ office.

Three of the suicide pilots in the Sept. 11 attacks — including Atta — lived and studied undetected in Hamburg. Several others believed to have helped plan the attacks also lived there.

Hamburg police spokesman Reinhard Fallak said a video has supplied evidence that Mzoudi had contacts with Atta.

Police said they had been watching the suspects since February. Fallak said they were arrested to collect further evidence and avoid “unacceptable risks.”

NBC’s Robert Windrem, The Associated Press contributed to this report.

http://www.msnbc.com/news/775709.asp