‘The List’ a Focal Point of FBI’s Manhunt

“The List,” containing a slew of Arabic-sounding names, has been teletyped to thousands of law enforcement agencies across the country.

Each day, new names are added. Few have been deleted. Routinely attached is the warning: “These individuals should be approached with caution.”

As the FBI presses forward with the dragnet, its most visible law enforcement tool has been this bare-bones roster of names passed to police agencies, airlines and border agents.

By late last week, more than 700 names--about 350 individuals and an equal number of aliases--were on “The List” for questioning in connection with the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

Federal investigators say they have detained hundreds of people, many whose names first appeared on the computer printouts.

The first list, distributed Sept. 14, included the names of the 19 hijackers who authorities say crashed commercial jets into the World Trade Center, the Pentagon and a Pennsylvania field. Early lists also contained the names of a North Carolina businessman and a pair of elderly brothers living in Canada and Georgia. Their names were dropped last week after they were interviewed by the FBI.

Authorities Face Complex Challenge

The ever-expanding list reflects the complexity of the challenge facing authorities as they struggle to gauge the dimensions of an unprecedented criminal conspiracy. The list’s lack of precision highlights the urgency of heading off further attacks that could be brewing. It also makes clear the difficulty investigators have in tracking the identities of people from different cultures whose names can take many different forms when translated.

Some names, such as that of suspected hijacker Waleed M. Alshehri, are listed with more than half a dozen alternative spellings and transpositions.

“People can get very confused over transliteration,” said USC law professor Niels Frenzen, who in 1997 helped defend several Iraqi nationals accused of hiding their true identities in connection with an international espionage case. “The FBI unfortunately has a well-demonstrated track record of misunderstanding [Arabic names].”

Atty. Gen. John Ashcroft says investigators are doing their best, “using every legal means at our disposal,” to help find accomplices and head off attacks. Local and federal law enforcement officials say the list has led them to material witnesses and potential suspects, and eliminated others from suspicion.

On Friday, a suspect whose name appeared on one of the earlier rosters, Lotfi Raissi, faced charges in a British courtroom where prosecutors said he played a lead role in training the hijackers to fly the jetliners.

Before he was taken into custody, Raissi, an Algerian who held a U.S. pilot’s license, was located by British journalists who spotted his name on the FBI list.

At the same time, civil rights advocates are growing increasingly anxious about innocent people being branded and having their lives disrupted.

Hussein Ibish, spokesman for the Washington-based American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee, said he understands investigators face a monumental task. “[But] people are being caught up in wide nets, and they may have nothing to do with this at all,” he said. “It’s a very troubling way of going about an investigation.”

Akbar Bhanji, 58, of Toronto was among those on an early version of the list, along with his brother Amer, 64, of Georgia, who he said is preparing for heart bypass surgery.

“This situation is very stressful,” said Akbar, who says he, too, has heart problems. “This thing can get out of hand.”

The brothers are convinced a disgruntled relative, who they say has harassed them for years, pointed the FBI in their direction. It was only a few days ago that their names were dropped from the list, records show.

For some, there is a disturbing resemblance to past government lists born of fear and crisis, lists of suspected Communists used to blackball Hollywood writers and actors being the premier example.

Clouds of suspicion can linger, scholars say, long after the initial scrutiny has ended. “Once you are on a list,” said Frenzen of USC, “you are labeled.”

Frenzen fears the list, which publications including The Times have obtained but not published, could end up being disseminated worldwide on the Internet. “That’s why developing these lists and putting people’s names on these lists is of great concern,” he said.

No Details Divulged on How List Is Compiled

FBI officials have refused to explain the criteria used to develop their list or characterize whether any specific individual is a suspect, associate or potential witness. Ashcroft has said the list includes information from tips and leads developed by investigators.

“We believe that the individuals on the list may have information that could be helpful to us in our efforts,” Ashcroft said.

The first version of the list included about 100 names.

Various versions obtained by The Times carry different titles. Some are merely pages of names. Others include such details as addresses, birth dates and possible connections to the 19 hijacking suspects.

For example, some on the list have allegedly used the same Internet address as a suspected hijacker. Others may have shared a credit card number, an address or a telephone number.

More than 45 people with Middle Eastern names who are “flight trained” made the list, including a group of pilots for Saudi Airlines who attended flight school in Vero Beach, Fla., and have since been cleared of having any connection with the hijackers.

Although federal officials are relying on the rosters, some police departments question how useful certain versions are, particularly the teletyped “be on the lookout” list, since it merely is a litany of names with no further details.

Such an investigative tool has “limited value,” said Al Ortenzo, an assistant chief in the Fort Lauderdale, Fla., police department. Still, his department is running each name through its database to see if any individual has had contact with his officers. “If there is any evidence or information that can help the FBI, we want to find it,” Ortenzo said. “They’ve got their hands full right now.”

In Santa Ana, police have also spent hours feeding names into department computers. “We haven’t had any hits that I’m aware of,” spokesman Mario Corona said.

Edward N. Luttwak, a senior fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, said the list is, by necessity, loosely drawn.

“The fact that [they] are issued and refined, that people get picked up and released, is all part of the messy initial response to the attacks,” Luttwak said.

Waiting might allow suspects to escape, added Luttwak, a Defense Department consultant. “It is the only possible approach.”

For some, getting on the list has been far easier than getting off. Delays have occurred, one high-ranking federal law enforcement official said, because of the volume of information being processed.

Field offices must funnel their findings to a counter-terrorism unit at FBI headquarters in Washington, where decisions are made about whether to drop a name.

Investment banker Mark Deuitch of Boone, N.C., was on the list for almost two weeks. He learned he was removed only when a reporter called him Wednesday.

Deuitch, whose clients include members of the Saudi royal family, was interviewed by FBI agents at his home four days after the attack. His business contacts and the fact that he had lived in the Middle East apparently converged to help place him on the list.

Deuitch also had been scheduled to take a flight on Sept. 11 from Charlotte, N.C., with a final destination of Washington. The ticket had been purchased by a client whose first name resembled that of suspected hijacker Mohamed Atta, records and interviews show.

Although he is happy his name was removed, Deuitch worries his troubles may never be over. “It became part of the public record when it was mentioned in newspapers,” he said.

“I’m worried that five years from now someone will do a [computer] search on me--just like I do before getting involved in business with someone--and it will come up.

“It taints me somewhat.”

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Times staff writers James Bates, Christine Frey, Richard Verrier, Scott Glover, H.G. Reza, Jon Healey, Lisa Getter, Rich Connell and Richard O’Reilly contributed to this report.