At least 10 people have been arrested for fraudulently obtaining commercial drivers' licenses and permits to transport hazardous materials, as US authorities investigated whether terrorists planned to use dangerous chemicals to conduct further attacks on US cities.
Officials said five men were arrested in Detroit, three in Washington state and another two in Missouri on Wednesday.
Authorities have not publicly linked the men to the Sept. 11 attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, but US Attorney General John Ashcroft told a Senate hearing on Tuesday there was "a clear and present danger" terrorists may be planning to use trucks carrying hazardous materials to blow up targets in US cities.
The arrest of a Somali-born US citizen, Mohamed Abdi, 44, was also seen as a prime lead in the US investigation. He appeared in court Wednesday after authorities found his name and phone number in a car registered to one of 19 suspected hijackers.
US prosecutor Rob Spencer said Abdi may be a "witness to the most heinous crime ever perpetrated on America," according to Washington television station WRC.
Investigators in the US and elsewhere were also trying to uncover the financial dealings of chief suspect Osama bin Laden and his al-Qaeda terrorist network.
The tiny Pacific nation of Nauru is facing new scrutiny over its secretive tax-haven operation amid fears it could have been a conduit for terrorist funds, senior diplomatic sources said yesterday.
Nauru operates around 400 off-shore banks, all registered to one government mail box.
A diplomat who obtained a list of the banks registered in the island said over half were actually subsidiaries of major American banks.
"About a third of them appear to be of Middle Eastern origin, and in the circumstances of what happens, it raises questions about what and who they are," the source said.
In Uganda, officials seized the registration documents of a firm thought to have links with bin Laden, the government-run New Vision newspaper reported, without naming its source.
It said security agents seized documents related to Taba, reportedly the local subsidiary of Taba Investments of Saudi Arabia, in which bin Laden is said to have a stake, the newspaper reported.
In another development, Salvadoran authorities have been asked to provide information about a citizen of the Central American nation detained in the US following the terror attacks.
The man, identified as Luis Alonso Martinez Flores, is believed to have assisted suspects linked to the attacks in obtaining US documents, such as drivers licenses, Interior Minister Francisco Bertrand told a local radio station Wednesday.
Authorities were seeking to establish "whether he was some kind of useful idiot or if he was really part of a major network."
In Spain, Interior Minister Mariano Rajoy, said Wednesday that Spanish police had dismantled a "terrorist cell" linked to Osama bin Laden's al-Qaeda network.
He said the cell comprised six Algerians who were members of the Salafist Group for Preaching and Combat.
In France, authorities jailed seven suspected Islamic extremists thought to be linked to a network in Europe close to bin Laden.
In Pakistan, intelligence officials agreed to cooperate with their US counterparts, Pakistani sources said yesterday following talks between teams from Pakistan and the US.
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