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Investigation: Global hunt intensifies

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SUMMARY:

Interpol issued an arrest warrant for an Egyptian-born surgeon reported to be Osama bin Laden's deputy, the international police organization said in a statement.

Four people were detained in Paris Tuesday in connection with a planned attack on the U.S. Embassy in the French capital and other U.S. targets in France, police said.

U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft said "several individuals" who may have links to the hijackers implicated in this month's terrorist attacks had sought or held licenses to transport hazardous materials.

UPDATE:

Interpol said police in its 179 member countries were formally requested to try to trace Aiman al Zawahri and, if successful, immediately notify the Cairo Interpol Bureau.(Full Story)

Zawahri, a trained physician, is considered to have masterminded several terrorist operations in Egypt. Al Jihad is suspected of being behind the assassination of Egyptian President Anwar Sadat in 1981.

A dozen people are in French custody in connection with an alleged plot to bomb the U.S. Embassy in Paris. They were apprehended by counter-intelligence officers, acting on orders of magistrates probing terrorist threats made against U.S. interests, and were being questioned.

Ashcroft said the U.S. probe had revealed "several individuals, including individuals who may have links to the hijackers, who fraudulently have obtained or attempted to obtain hazardous material transportation licenses."

U.S. law enforcement sources had previously cited only one man who had sought a license to transport hazardous materials. Nabil Al-Marabh, 34, was taken into custody outside Chicago last week by FBI agents investigating the September 11 attacks.


  •  Summary

  •  Update

  •  Key questions

  •  Who's who

  •  Impact

KEY QUESTIONS:

How are people identified as terrorists communicating with each other? Click here for more.

How are law enforcement authorities using technology such as encryption tools to hunt terrorists? Click here for more.

What groups are U.S. investigators focusing on, and what are their aims? Click here for more.

How would law enforcement authorities go after financial assets of people identified as terrorists? Click here for more.

How did the September 11 attackers evade U.S. intelligence? Click here for more.

WHO'S WHO:

George W. Bush: U.S. president

Colin Powell: U.S. secretary of state Click here for more.

Condoleezza Rice: National security adviser Click here for more.

John Ashcroft: U.S. attorney general

Robert Mueller: FBI director Click here for more.

George Tenet: CIA director. Click here for more.

Osama bin Laden: U.S. authorities have named bin Laden, a wealthy Saudi exile living in Afghanistan, as the prime suspect in masterminding the September 11 attacks. Click here for more

IMPACT:

Information gained from the investigation could lead to fundamental changes in U.S. security and intelligence systems, as well as surveillance laws.






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