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Sixth Man Arrested in Buffalo al Qaeda Probe

Aired September 16, 2002 - 07:02   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


PAULA ZAHN, CNN ANCHOR: We're going to go straight back to Buffalo, where federal authorities there have arrested a sixth man in the terror investigation centered, as we mentioned a little bit earlier on this morning, in upstate New York. Mokhtar al-Bakri was apprehended in Bahrain. Now, he joins five other terror suspects held in a federal detention center near Buffalo.
Let's check in with Jeff Flock, who is standing by live from Buffalo with the very latest on this arrest.

Good morning -- Jeff.

JEFF FLOCK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning to you, Paula.

Indeed, this morning, out in front of the federal courthouse. Perhaps you see it in the shadows off behind me. It is where we expect today Mr. al-Bakri to make an initial appearance. The other five made their initial appearance over the weekend.

All six now charged with having terrorism training in Afghanistan. No picture of Mr. al-Bakri yet, but the other five are all from Lackawanna, which is a suburb of Buffalo here, just to the south of Buffalo, all of Yemeni descent. And we know at least four of them were U.S. born -- all of them U.S. citizens, but four of them, U.S. born as well.

The allegations against them are detailed in this dozen-page criminal complaint that we have here. It charges them specifically with getting terrorism training from al Qaeda in Afghanistan, and they allege that that training took place in the year 2001, before the events of September 11.

The question is: Was this an al Qaeda sleeper cell? That is something that there is conflicting information on this morning. One federal agent expressing sentiment that, in fact, this was a sleeper cell -- that is, men who would be called to action at some later point by al Qaeda. Other sources backing off -- that government source is backing off that to CNN.

A raid was conducted on the homes of many of these men on Friday. Mr. al-Bakri's home was one of those raided, so perhaps that was some heads-up that he was about to be taken into custody. He, by the way, was arrested in Bahrain, and then transported back here to upstate New York, where he is now being held with the others.

Again, we expect the court appearance, Paula, from him today at the federal courthouse behind me sometime. The other five have a bond hearing slated for Wednesday. So, this case clearly is still unfolding, and a lot of questions still to be answered.

That's the latest from Buffalo -- back to you.

ZAHN: Jeff, before we let you get away, let's go back to the chronology. When did these guys first get on the FBI's radar?

FLOCK: Very interesting. Some conflicting information about that as well, but clearly, before the events of September 11. They were clearly being looked at before that. Federal authorities claim that the Muslim community here outside Buffalo brought these men to their attention, so they have been watching them for some time. But as we said, the training that they allegedly took part in, in Afghanistan, was some time in mid-year of 2001.

ZAHN: Jeff Flock, we'll be checking in with you throughout the morning, as more information becomes available on this sixth man just arrested -- appreciate it.

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