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Fact Sheet

Investigation: International trail of evidence

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Attorney General John Ashcroft speaking at a recent news conference.  


SUMMARY:

A Czech minister has confirmed that the suspected leader of the suicide hijackers met an Iraqi intelligence agent in the Czech capital.

Meanwhile, a man suspected of having links to Osama bin Laden's al Qaeda network has been detained in Bosnia, NATO has said.

Elsewhere, two cars belonging to September 11 hijackers and sold a week before the attacks have been found at a small used car dealership in Florida, law enforcement sources said Thursday.

And one of three San Diego college students brought to New York in connection with the investigation into last month's terrorist attacks is expected to head back to California to face immigration charges.

UPDATE:

Interior minister Stanislav Gross said the meeting between Mohamed Atta and Ahmad Khalil Ibrahim Samir Al-Ani took place in April just before the Iraqi was expelled for conduct incompatible with his diplomatic status.

Intelligence sources told CNN about the meeting in the days following the September 11 terror attacks in New York and Washington, but this is the first official confirmation by Czech officials. (Full story)


  •  Summary

  •  Update

  •  Key questions

  •  Who's who

  •  Impact

Attack on America
 CNN.COM SPECIAL REPORT
 CNN NewsPass Video 
Agencies reportedly got hijack tips in 1998
 MORE STORIES
Intelligence intercept led to Buffalo suspects
Report cites warnings before 9/11
 EXTRA INFORMATION
Timeline: Who Knew What and When?
Interactive: Terror Investigation
Terror Warnings System
Most wanted terrorists
What looks suspicious?
In-Depth: America Remembers
In-Depth: Terror on Tape
In-Depth: How prepared is your city?
 RESOURCES
On the Scene: Barbara Starr: Al Qaeda hunt expands?
On the Scene: Peter Bergen: Getting al Qaeda to talk

 VIDEO
CNN's Lisa Barron reports that since the September 11 attacks more companies are verifying credentials of potential business partners (October 21)

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(QuickTime, Real or Windows Media)
 

NATO Secretary-General Lord Robertson said on Friday that the individual being detained in Bosnia was among a number of suspects held by allied forces and local police in the Balkan country.

Bosnian police, in cooperation with NATO-led forces, have detained dozens of suspects since the September 11 attacks in the United States. (Full story)

The vehicles belonging to the suspected hijackers are now being searched by authorities as part of the investigation into the attacks. Law enforcement sources said the two cars were found at an unidentified car dealership in Tamarac, Florida, just northwest of Fort Lauderdale. One of the vehicles was described as a red Pontiac Grand Am; the sources did not say what kind of vehicle the other car was.

Marwan Al-Shehhi, 23, and Mohamed Atta, 33, sold the vehicles about a week before the deadly terrorist attacks that destroyed the World Trade Center and heavily damaged the Pentagon. (Full story)

"Operation Green Quest" will target underground money transfers, called the "hawala" system in the Middle East and South Asia, said Robert Bonner, commissioner of the Customs Service.

"This operation will also generate new information on sources of terrorist funding and systems, such as the 'hawala,' used to fund terrorism," Bonner told reporters.

"Hawala," a primitive method of transferring money from one source to another, especially between countries, is used to evade the legal banking system, Bonner said. (Full story)

KEY QUESTIONS:

What tactics are being used to get people in custody to talk about any knowledge they may have of the September attacks?

What avenues are international investigators pursuing to trace the source of funding for the suspected hijackers? Click here for more.

What clues about the September 11 attacks have U.S. investigators learned from the hundreds of arrests made?

How will the expansion of law-enforcement powers affect Americans' civil liberties? Click here for more.

How long can suspects be held, and on what charges are they being held? Click here for more.

What groups are U.S. investigators focusing on, and what are their aims? 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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