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CNN LIVE AT DAYBREAK

Five Being Sought by FBI

Aired December 30, 2002 - 06:05   ET

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

CATHERINE CALLAWAY, CNN ANCHOR: Now to the war on terror in the U.S., the FBI is asking for your help in finding five men who may be in the United States illegally. The men have Arabic names, and range in ages from 19 to 33.
Our Jeanne Meserve says that although there is an all-out manhunt underway, authorities are not talking about any specific threats.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JEANNE MESERVE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (on camera): U.S. authorities are operating on the assumption that the five men crossed the border possibly from Canada on or around Christmas Eve. The FBI says it has no specific information that these individuals are connected to any potential terrorist activities, but it wants to talk to them because of information developed in ongoing investigations.

The men are identified as Abid Noraize Ali, Iftikhar Khozmai Ali, Mustafa Khan Owasi, Adil Pervez and Akbar Jamal. They range in age from 19 to 33.

The FBI cautions that these may be fictitious identities, and officials say they do not know for sure what country or countries these men are from.

Sources say the names surfaced within the past week, and that by the time authorities had the information, there was a good chance the individuals had already entered the country. Nonetheless, Customs, the Immigration and Naturalization Service and the Transportation Security Administration implemented additional measures in hopes of stopping them.

If they had entered the U.S. illegally, authorities want to know why they are here. They also want to question them for additional leads. There may be threads to other investigations, said one official.

Because federal authorities have not had any luck finding the men, they are now enlisting help, sending a lookout to state and local law enforcement, and posting pictures and names on the Internet, hoping to shake loose useful information from the public.

Some security experts suggest that by going public, law enforcement may be trying to disrupt a terrorist operation.

Administration officials declined to quantify their level of concern or speculate on why the men might be here, saying -- quote -- "I think it is impossible to say what they may or may not be up to, or how imminent that may or may not be."

But a state-level homeland security source said it must be pretty important. Why else would they have 265 million people looking for them?

Jeanne Meserve, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CALLAWAY: And for more on this FBI manhunt, we turn to CNN security analyst Kelly McCann this morning, who is joining us by phone.

Good morning to you.

J. KELLY MCCANN, CNN SECURITY ANALYST: Hi, Catherine.

CALLAWAY: Kelly, you know, this sounds like there's a lot more that the FBI knows they're not telling us about these individuals.

MCCANN: Well, certainly, I mean, something's made these five individuals rise to a level that's different from, you know, the many other illegal immigrants that are here in the U.S. So, I think that erring on the side of prudence Catherine, and getting some information out probably responding to some pressures that has been leveled on them to get the public involved and, you know, account for people who are -- quote/unquote -- "lost in the U.S."

CALLAWAY: You know, as Jeanne said in her report just a moment ago, it must be very important if they have everyone in America looking for these individuals. Is it a last-minute effort -- you know, is this the last-ditch effort by the FBI to find these guys? Have they obviously been looking for them for some time?

MCCANN: No, I don't think so. I think more to what it's an indication of is -- I mean, there's a compelling argument that could be made for, you know, the timing of these men coming into the U.S. right near the New Year's celebrations, et cetera. But there's also -- right now with the information we have, it's impossible to determine how they're involved. It could be that, you know, the FBI wants to talk to these men just about the methodology they used to get into the country, and the fact that they were able to do it, so they can stop gap that with INS and Customs.

So, I think the best way to look at this is take it at face value, and certainly become the eyes and ears of the police, if they are located, certainly get that information to the FBI local regional office.

CALLAWAY: All right, Kelly, thanks for getting up early with us this morning. That's Kelly McCann, CNN security analyst.

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