Manhunt for Second Suspected Terrorist
ABCNEWS.com
As investigators learn more about the Algerian man charged with tryi ng to smuggle explosives into the United States, border guards are on high alert and
Americans are being warned to travel with caution at year’s end.
Police say Ahmed Ressam, who was arrested at a border checkpoint last week, has been linked to Said Atmani, believed to be the head of a Montreal crime
ring that has funded terrorist groups. Ressam was charged Friday with bringing nitroglycerin into the United States, having false ID and making false
statements to U.S. Customs officials.
According to Montreal Police spokesman Andre Poirier, Ressam, 32, was jailed for a few weeks in Montreal last year for stealing laptop computers and
cellular phones from cars.
“We have reason to believe that the money that was gathered after selling those goods was distributed to some terrorism groups,” he said.
The FBI and CIA are also said to be looking for possible ties between Ressam and Osama bin Laden, the man U.S. officials believe leads a terrorist
network involved in the bombings of U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania last year.
The Seattle Times reported in Sunday’s editions that Ressam may be indicted by a secret grand jury before a scheduled appearance in U.S. District
Court in Seattle on Wednesday.
Massive Manhunt for Accomplices
Meanwhile, FBI and CIA agents are engaged in a continent-wide manhunt for possible accomplices who they say may have already arrived in the United
States or are trying to cross the border.
Hotel sources told ABCNEWS they were questioned by two officers of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police about Ressam and another man who stayed
at the hotel from mid-November to mid-December.
A maid said Ressam and the other man spent hours locked in a back room where she saw many plastic containers. They rarely allowed the room to be
cleaned, she said, but that it smelled like eggs — an odor similar to that emitted by sulphur, a common bomb-making component.
When Ressam was captured Tuesday, he was carrying a Canadian passport and two driver’s licenses, all of which contained false names. Ressam
reportedly had two ferry ticket stubs in his possession — suggesting a companion may have walked off the boat — when he was arrested in Port Angeles, a
port city of 20,000 about 60 miles northwest of Seattle.
A reservation for the night of Dec. 14 was made under the name of Benni Noris — the name on Ressam’s false passport — at a motor inn in Seattle. The
motel was just blocks from the city’s landmark Space Needle, planned site for a huge New Year’s celebration.
Ressam was already wanted by Canadian authorities. There is a Canada-wide immigration arrest warrant and a British Columbia-wide arrest warrant out
for him for theft of less than $5,000, according to the complaint filed in federal court in Seattle.
On Sunday, police found a van belonging to Ressam and registered in the Noris name in the east end of Montreal, police said. A security perimeter was set
up and the area was evacuated.
Police also have been searching the Montreal apartment that Ressam reportedly shared with Atmani.
Americans Warned to be Cautious
Since Ressam’s arrest, international scrutiny has focused on Canada as a popular haven for terrorist groups. Security analyst Vincent Cannistraro said in
today’s editions of the Seattle Post-Intelligencer that at least 50 known terrorist groups are present in Canada because they face fewer legal restrictions than
in the United States.
“A number of terrorist groups find Canada a benign area in terms of fund-raising, organizing and presence,” he said. The danger from terrorists
operating in Canada was previously thought to be aimed mainly outside the United States, but Ressam’s arrest has changed that thinking, Cannistraro said.
In the wake of Ressam’s arrest, officials are warning Americans everywhere to be cautious. Security especially has been heightened at the 300 points of
entry into the United States, the U.S. Customs Service says. A fenced perimeter has been constructed around the Seattle Center — site of the Space Needle
and a New Year’s bash expected to draw 60,000 people.
On Sunday, National Security Adviser Sandy Berger said, “This is a period of heightened risk of terrorist actions involving Americans. I would say
Americans should be vigilant as they go about their plans for the New Years.”
Over the weekend, more than 200 people were arrested in Pakistan in the wake of reports that U.S. citizens there could be targeted by terrorists.
Contributing to this report were ABCNEWS.com’s Jonathan Dube in Seattle, Josh Fine in Montreal, Beth Tribolet in Vancouver and Len Tepper in New
York. Also contributing were The Associated Press and Reuters.
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What They Found
The bomb-making materials customs agents said they found in
Ressam’s car were:
• 118 pounds of a fine white powder, identified as urea, contained in
10 plastic bags;
• two jars of a yellowish liquid identified as nitroglycerine;
• two plastic bags filled with a crystalline sulfate powder;
• four black boxes, each containing a circuit board connected to a
Casio brand watch and a 9-volt battery connector.
“Preliminary analysis disclosed that when these materials are
combined with a detonator, it would produce a large explosive
device,” the complaint said.
Urea and nitroglycerine are materials commonly used in
explosives. The FBI concluded that nitroglycerine and 1,200 to
1,800 pounds of urea nitrate were used in the 1993 bombing of the
World Trade Center in New York City.
Bombs made from urea have 92 percent of the explosive power of
TNT. A bomb made from 118 pounds of urea would destroy a car 81
feet away and knock a 12-inch-thick brick wall off its foundation
from 76 feet away, according to government sources.
Magistrate David E. Wilson authorized the destruction of almost
all of the volatile nitroglycerine, citing safety concerns. Some of the
material is being retained for further testing.
For detonation, the boxes contained TPUs, or timing power units,
experts told ABCNEWS. TPUs are sophisticated detonators seen in
terrorist attacks around the world but rarely in the United States,
according to FBI agents.
ABCNEWS.com
As investigators learn more about the Algerian man charged with tryi ng to smuggle explosives into the United States, border guards are on high alert and
Americans are being warned to travel with caution at year’s end.
Police say Ahmed Ressam, who was arrested at a border checkpoint last week, has been linked to Said Atmani, believed to be the head of a Montreal crime
ring that has funded terrorist groups. Ressam was charged Friday with bringing nitroglycerin into the United States, having false ID and making false
statements to U.S. Customs officials.
According to Montreal Police spokesman Andre Poirier, Ressam, 32, was jailed for a few weeks in Montreal last year for stealing laptop computers and
cellular phones from cars.
“We have reason to believe that the money that was gathered after selling those goods was distributed to some terrorism groups,” he said.
The FBI and CIA are also said to be looking for possible ties between Ressam and Osama bin Laden, the man U.S. officials believe leads a terrorist
network involved in the bombings of U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania last year.
The Seattle Times reported in Sunday’s editions that Ressam may be indicted by a secret grand jury before a scheduled appearance in U.S. District
Court in Seattle on Wednesday.
Massive Manhunt for Accomplices
Meanwhile, FBI and CIA agents are engaged in a continent-wide manhunt for possible accomplices who they say may have already arrived in the United
States or are trying to cross the border.
Hotel sources told ABCNEWS they were questioned by two officers of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police about Ressam and another man who stayed
at the hotel from mid-November to mid-December.
A maid said Ressam and the other man spent hours locked in a back room where she saw many plastic containers. They rarely allowed the room to be
cleaned, she said, but that it smelled like eggs — an odor similar to that emitted by sulphur, a common bomb-making component.
When Ressam was captured Tuesday, he was carrying a Canadian passport and two driver’s licenses, all of which contained false names. Ressam
reportedly had two ferry ticket stubs in his possession — suggesting a companion may have walked off the boat — when he was arrested in Port Angeles, a
port city of 20,000 about 60 miles northwest of Seattle.
A reservation for the night of Dec. 14 was made under the name of Benni Noris — the name on Ressam’s false passport — at a motor inn in Seattle. The
motel was just blocks from the city’s landmark Space Needle, planned site for a huge New Year’s celebration.
Ressam was already wanted by Canadian authorities. There is a Canada-wide immigration arrest warrant and a British Columbia-wide arrest warrant out
for him for theft of less than $5,000, according to the complaint filed in federal court in Seattle.
On Sunday, police found a van belonging to Ressam and registered in the Noris name in the east end of Montreal, police said. A security perimeter was set
up and the area was evacuated.
Police also have been searching the Montreal apartment that Ressam reportedly shared with Atmani.
Americans Warned to be Cautious
Since Ressam’s arrest, international scrutiny has focused on Canada as a popular haven for terrorist groups. Security analyst Vincent Cannistraro said in
today’s editions of the Seattle Post-Intelligencer that at least 50 known terrorist groups are present in Canada because they face fewer legal restrictions than
in the United States.
“A number of terrorist groups find Canada a benign area in terms of fund-raising, organizing and presence,” he said. The danger from terrorists
operating in Canada was previously thought to be aimed mainly outside the United States, but Ressam’s arrest has changed that thinking, Cannistraro said.
In the wake of Ressam’s arrest, officials are warning Americans everywhere to be cautious. Security especially has been heightened at the 300 points of
entry into the United States, the U.S. Customs Service says. A fenced perimeter has been constructed around the Seattle Center — site of the Space Needle
and a New Year’s bash expected to draw 60,000 people.
On Sunday, National Security Adviser Sandy Berger said, “This is a period of heightened risk of terrorist actions involving Americans. I would say
Americans should be vigilant as they go about their plans for the New Years.”
Over the weekend, more than 200 people were arrested in Pakistan in the wake of reports that U.S. citizens there could be targeted by terrorists.
Contributing to this report were ABCNEWS.com’s Jonathan Dube in Seattle, Josh Fine in Montreal, Beth Tribolet in Vancouver and Len Tepper in New
York. Also contributing were The Associated Press and Reuters.
COMMENT BEGINS-- Sidebar goes here COMMENT ENDS
What They Found
The bomb-making materials customs agents said they found in
Ressam’s car were:
• 118 pounds of a fine white powder, identified as urea, contained in
10 plastic bags;
• two jars of a yellowish liquid identified as nitroglycerine;
• two plastic bags filled with a crystalline sulfate powder;
• four black boxes, each containing a circuit board connected to a
Casio brand watch and a 9-volt battery connector.
“Preliminary analysis disclosed that when these materials are
combined with a detonator, it would produce a large explosive
device,” the complaint said.
Urea and nitroglycerine are materials commonly used in
explosives. The FBI concluded that nitroglycerine and 1,200 to
1,800 pounds of urea nitrate were used in the 1993 bombing of the
World Trade Center in New York City.
Bombs made from urea have 92 percent of the explosive power of
TNT. A bomb made from 118 pounds of urea would destroy a car 81
feet away and knock a 12-inch-thick brick wall off its foundation
from 76 feet away, according to government sources.
Magistrate David E. Wilson authorized the destruction of almost
all of the volatile nitroglycerine, citing safety concerns. Some of the
material is being retained for further testing.
For detonation, the boxes contained TPUs, or timing power units,
experts told ABCNEWS. TPUs are sophisticated detonators seen in
terrorist attacks around the world but rarely in the United States,
according to FBI agents.