Man Arrested in Hijackers’ Fake ID Case
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NEWARK, N.J. — A man accused of providing fake IDs to two of the Sept. 11 hijackers was arrested Tuesday at New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport as he returned from Egypt, authorities said.
Mohamed el-Atriss was detained by customs agents before being turned over to local authorities late Tuesday. He will be arraigned Friday in Passaic County.
El-Atriss left for Egypt hours before New Jersey authorities raided his home and businesses July 31.
According to the FBI, he sold phony IDs to Khalid Almihdhar, who was on the airliner that crashed into the Pentagon, and Abdulaziz Alomari, who was aboard one of the planes that hit the World Trade Center.
Authorities have said they did not know whether el-Atriss knew of the hijackers’ plans.
Federal authorities have not filed any charges against el-Atriss, who is a naturalized U.S. citizen from Egypt. However, Michael Drewniak, a spokesman for the U.S. attorney’s office in Newark, described him as a person “of interest” in an ongoing investigation.
Passaic County officials have charged el-Atriss with conspiracy and with manufacturing and distributing phony documents. They said he sold hundreds of fake driver’s licenses, ID cards, automobile titles and license plates.
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