Suspect in alleged U.S. millennium plot arrested in Algeria

From State Department correspondent Andrea Koppel and David Ensor

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Nearly a year after a worldwide search was begun for an alleged plotter of a millennium celebration attack in the United States, two U.S. officials said Thursday the suspect, Abdelmajid Dahoumane, has been arrested in Algeria.

A senior administration official tells CNN that Dahoumane turned up in Algeria recently, and says U.S. officials were "in the process of working with the Algerians" in the questioning of Dahoumane, 33, an Algerian national.

Dahoumane was indicted on terrorism-related charges by a U.S. federal grand jury in Seattle on January 20, and a federal warrant was issued for his arrest. The State Department had posted a $5 million reward in the case.

Dahoumane is believed to have been an accomplice of Ahmed Ressam, an Algerian indicted last year for allegedly planning a terrorist attack in the United States. An attack was averted when Ressam was stopped as he tried to drive a car with explosives across the border from Canada into Washington state.

Officials said Dahoumane and Ressam shared a hotel room in Vancouver, British Columbia, shortly before Ressam was arrested. When officials began a manhunt, Dahoumane vanished, prompting the issuance of what was described as an international "all points bulletin."

The U.S. official would not elaborate on what, if any, information Dahoumane has given about his suspected role in last year's plot in the United States or his possible links to Osama bin Laden's terrorist network.

"If information about his role leaks," this official says, "that could discourage the Algerians from working with us."

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