Saturday, August 24, 2002

Saudis Said to Detain 9/11 Suspect
A man wanted by FBI for alleged links to the Sept. 11 hijackers has been detained by the Saudi authorities, his father said Saturday.

Saud Abdulaziz Saud al-Rasheed surrendered voluntarily to the Interior Ministry on Thursday, said his father.

The FBI issued a bulletin Tuesday night seeking the immediate arrest of the 21-year-old Saudi man, saying he was suspected of being ``associated with the September 11, 2001 hijackers.''

Abdulaziz Saud al-Rasheed said he had urged his son to turn himself in to the ministry because he was sure of the young man's innocence and feared for his safety after the FBI alert.

The elder al-Rasheed, who works for the Saudi Red Crescent society in the capital Riyadh, denied the FBI accusations against his son, calling him a peaceful person who ``has nothing to do with terror networks.''

He said his son was in Egypt when the alert was issued and returned to Saudi Arabia on Wednesday.

Saud al-Rasheed, who runs a small sweet shop in Riyadh, was previously in Afghanistan to take part in humanitarian efforts there and returned the Saudi Arabia several months before the Sept. 11 attacks took place, the father said, speaking from Riyadh by telephone with The Associated Press in Dubai.

``He confirmed to me had no relations with any terror group there, specifically al-Qaida or the Taliban regime,'' he said.

The FBI bulletin said Saud al-Rasheed's current whereabouts were not known. It warned that he should be considered armed and dangerous.

The agency said it issued the alert after an image of al-Rasheed's Saudi passport was found among material ``previously recovered during the war on terrorism'' connected to the Sept. 11 hijackers.

Senior law enforcement officials say al-Rasheed's picture was found among pictures of several hijackers in materials obtained overseas some time ago and recently reviewed at the FBI.

Abdulaziz al-Rashid said the FBI obtained his son's photo from Pakistan.

``Saud told me that he entered Afghanistan through Pakistan and that he gave that particular photo to the Pakistani authorities in his visa application,'' the father said.
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/international/AP-Saudi-US.html

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