A worldwide campaign to track down terrorists was picking up pace yesterday, one day after US officials sought increased powers to combat terror at home.
But even as the massive investigation spread, fresh fears emerged in the US that the terrorists could have been planning to use crop duster aircraft to attack the country with chemical or biological weapons.
French police yesterday detained four suspected Muslim militants in the Paris region on orders of anti-terrorist judges.
The detentions were linked to a Europewide crackdown on Muslim extremists following the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks in the US, that have left an estimated 7,000 people feared dead.
It was not clear whether there was a direct link between the latest arrests and the US attacks, but seven people detained in France in similar raids last week had been under surveillance for their alleged links to bin Laden.
In the US state of Virginia, prosecutors said they had Monday charged a man with fraudulently helping to obtain valid state identity cards for some of the suspected hijackers who executed the US hijack attacks.
The identity cards helped the suspects obtain credit cards and tickets for the four passenger flights they hijacked.
US Attorney General John Ashcroft told a congressional hearing Monday that the FBI and immigration authorities had detained or arrested 352 people, and were seeking to question an additional 392 -- a number far higher than originally acknowledged. None of the detainees has however been charged with a crime related to the Sept. 11 attack, with most held on immigration or other charges.
Investigators are trying to piece together clues left by the terrorists to find trails leading to other potential terrorists -- and to the masterminds of the strikes.
But despite the biggest investigation in US history, none of those picked up in US have been charged with a crime directly related to the terror attacks
"Thus far we cannot connect any of those people that we're looking at to any of those 19 hijackers," an official was quoted as saying by the New York Times yesterday.
Ashcroft also told Congress that the FBI "has confirmed that Mohammed Atta, one of the suspected hijackers, was acquiring knowledge of crop dusting aircraft prior to the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11."
NO HUMAN ERROR: After the incident, the Coast Guard Administration said it would obtain uncrewed aerial vehicles and vessels to boost its detection capacity Authorities would improve border control to prevent unlawful entry into Taiwan’s waters and safeguard national security, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said yesterday after a Chinese man reached the nation’s coast on an inflatable boat, saying he “defected to freedom.” The man was found on a rubber boat when he was about to set foot on Taiwan at the estuary of Houkeng River (後坑溪) near Taiping Borough (太平) in New Taipei City’s Linkou District (林口), authorities said. The Coast Guard Administration’s (CGA) northern branch said it received a report at 6:30am yesterday morning from the New Taipei City Fire Department about a
IN BEIJING’S FAVOR: A China Coast Guard spokesperson said that the Chinese maritime police would continue to carry out law enforcement activities in waters it claims The Philippines withdrew its coast guard vessel from a South China Sea shoal that has recently been at the center of tensions with Beijing. BRP Teresa Magbanua “was compelled to return to port” from Sabina Shoal (Xianbin Shoal, 仙濱暗沙) due to bad weather, depleted supplies and the need to evacuate personnel requiring medical care, the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) spokesman Jay Tarriela said yesterday in a post on X. The Philippine vessel “will be in tiptop shape to resume her mission” after it has been resupplied and repaired, Philippine Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin, who heads the nation’s maritime council, said
REGIONAL STABILITY: Taipei thanked the Biden administration for authorizing its 16th sale of military goods and services to uphold Taiwan’s defense and safety The US Department of State has approved the sale of US$228 million of military goods and services to Taiwan, the US Department of Defense said on Monday. The state department “made a determination approving a possible Foreign Military Sale” to the Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office in the US for “return, repair and reshipment of spare parts and related equipment,” the defense department’s Defense Security Cooperation Agency said in a news release. Taiwan had requested the purchase of items and services which include the “return, repair and reshipment of classified and unclassified spare parts for aircraft and related equipment; US Government
More than 500 people on Saturday marched in New York in support of Taiwan’s entry to the UN, significantly more people than previous years. The march, coinciding with the ongoing 79th session of the UN General Assembly, comes close on the heels of growing international discourse regarding the meaning of UN Resolution 2758. Resolution 2758, adopted by the UN General Assembly in 1971, recognizes the People’s Republic of China (PRC) as the “only lawful representative of China.” It resulted in the Republic of China (ROC) losing its seat at the UN to the PRC. Taiwan has since been excluded from