Suspect Charged in N.Y. Blast; Link to a Rented Van Is Cited : Arrest: Sudden break leads to Mohammed Salameh of N.J., said to be a devout Muslim, who is accused of ‘aiding and abetting’ attack on World Trade Center. A second person is being held.

Federal agents, taking advantage of an astonishing break in their investigation of the World Trade Center bombing, Thursday arrested a suspect described as a devout Muslim and accused him of renting a yellow Ford van that they say was used to carry explosives into the huge structure’s underground parking garage.

Authorities formally charged Mohammed A. Salameh, 25, with “aiding and abetting” the Feb. 26 attack on the skyscraper complex that killed five people, injured more than 1,000 and ranked among the worst terrorist acts in the nation’s history. And acting Atty. Gen. Stuart M. Gerson said in Washington that other suspects are under investigation.

Investigators struggling to pluck clues from the shards and rubble of the trade center’s shattered basement had feared that it might take weeks to pinpoint suspects but Salameh was seized without incident at a bus stop in Jersey City, N.J., only six days after the blast.

Authorities said that he had unaccountably used his own name to rent the Ford Econoline van allegedly used to transport the bomb into the trade center garage. And after the massive explosion, bemused investigators said, Salameh twice returned to the rental company demanding a refund of his $400 deposit on the van, which he said had been stolen.

Federal agents were led to the van when they traced a partial vehicle identification number on a charred and twisted fragment of metal found in the rubble.

Almost from the beginning, explosives experts had been convinced that the bomb was carried into the trade center in a vehicle and burn marks and other characteristics of the fragment convinced them that it was part of the vehicle.

“Sometimes the smallest, most insignificant piece of evidence can be that big break you need in the case,” said Jerry Singer, spokesman for the Treasury Department’s Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms Bureau, which has been participating in the investigation. “That vehicle identification number was like a signature on an envelope.”

Arraigned in federal court in New York Thursday evening, Salameh, who speaks little English, said through his attorney that he “is absolutely innocent.”

A second person was arrested Thursday and charged with obstruction of justice, authorities said. His name was withheld pending an arraignment scheduled for this morning, but sources said that he is an acquaintance of Salameh.

While a motive remains unclear for what officials are now convinced was a terrorist attack, Salameh is believed to be affiliated with a mosque in Jersey City led by Sheik Omar Abdul Rahman, a blind Muslim cleric who emigrated from Egypt and has been seeking the overthrow of the Cairo government and other secular regimes in the Middle East. A man convicted in connection with the 1990 slaying of Rabbi Meir Kahane was also a follower of Abdul Rahman, and it was reportedly one of his relatives who was arrested Thursday for interfering with the trade center investigation.

The breakthrough in the case was first announced by the White House, then confirmed by the Justice Department. Gerson labeled the developments “a remarkable day in the history of the FBI.”

President Clinton praised the hundreds of investigators who had been combing the blast site for clues and searching for possible terrorist links.

“I think that people should be very reassured by the incredibly rapid work. . . . “ he said. “It was very impressive. All resources were put into this from the moment the explosion occurred, and I think they did a remarkable job.”

Mohammed Magib, a spokesman for the Masjid El Salam Mosque, said that he did not know the suspect.

“We have nothing to do with the bombing,” he said. “We are not radicals. We are not fundamentalists. We are very peaceful people. This place has been singled out. It never ends.”

He declined to say whether the FBI had visited the mosque, situated above a Chinese restaurant.

Though immigration authorities are trying to deport Abdul Rahman, investigators acknowledged Thursday that they have no evidence thus far linking him to the trade center attack.

Authorities said that the break in the case came when an FBI laboratory explosives expert sifting through debris from the wrecked parking garage was able to pick out part of the van’s identification number. Using this with other evidence that officials declined to specify, they were able to trace the van to the Ryder truck rental company and then to the local outlet in Jersey City.

The trap was set for Salameh by FBI agents disguised as employees of the rental outlet. They dickered with Salameh over the deposit, giving him $200 in a partial refund. He was then arrested at a bus stop near the agency.

A telephone number Salameh listed on the rental agreement also led to important evidence in the case, officials said. Investigators traced the number to an apartment in Jersey City where they found a letter addressed to Salameh, as well as tools and electronic equipment that “indicated the presence in this apartment of a bomb maker,” said James Fox, assistant FBI director in charge of New York office.

In addition, a dog trained to sniff out explosives “responded positively” to a closet in the apartment, he said.

The apartment was rented by a woman identified as Josie Hadas.

Gerson called the arrest “a significant breakthrough” and said that it was “an important step in solving a violent and cowardly act that has shocked our nation.”

“A large first step has been taken,” said Fox.

Little information was released about Salameh. However, sources said he was known to the FBI before the bombing occurred. He was among the 185,000 individuals listed in the FBI’s computerized terrorism information system.

The extent of the FBI’s knowledge--whether the suspect’s mail had been intercepted or had he been subjected to physical surveillance, electronic intercepts or other investigative techniques--could not be immediately determined.

At 7:45 p.m. Thursday, the slightly built, bearded suspect wearing light gray sweat pants and a gray sweat shirt and white athletic shoes, was led in handcuffs into a fifth-floor courtroom at the federal courthouse at Foley Square in Manhattan.

He was charged with aiding and abetting the damage of a building used in interstate and foreign commerce, transporting explosives across state lines and causing the death of five individuals.

“It is my position and the defendant’s position . . . that he is absolutely innocent,” said Robert Precht, a public defender.

Judge Richard Owen denied bail, citing “a very serious risk of flight” after prosecutors said the bombing was “an act of terrorism.”

The arrest came as the result of one of the largest investigations in the nation’s history. Hundreds of federal agents converged on the trade center’s 110-story twin towers after the blast, which left an immense crater in the garage beneath the Hotel Vista.

Asked by the judge whether he accepted Precht as his lawyer, Salameh said: “I need other lawyer.”

Informed that he could get another attorney later, the slightly built defendant replied: “OK. Temporarily for tonight.” Precht asked that bond be set at $5 million for his client, but Judge Owen denied the request.

Times staff writers Ronald J. Ostrow, Victor Zonana and Janny Scott contributed to this story.