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Fighting terror notebook
©Associated Press Checks lead to airport arrestsWASHINGTON -- Hundreds of employees with access to high security areas of airports have been arrested on charges such as using phony Social Security numbers, lying about past criminal convictions or being in the United States illegally, government records show. Federal law enforcement officials said they have arrested or indicted more than 450 workers at 15 airports in the investigation known as Operation Tarmac. Many of those arrested are illegal immigrants who could be deported, while others face prison terms of up to 10 years or fines of up to $250,000, say officials of the departments of Justice and Transportation. The workers arrested had security badges allowing them to get onto planes, ramps, runways and cargo areas, law enforcement officials said. They were employed by private companies, such as those which clean airplanes or operate airport restaurants. While law enforcement officials said none of those arrested has terrorist links, some aviation experts said the workers were in positions to help smuggle bombs or weapons aboard aircraft, if they wished to do so. Nearly 140 of the arrests involved workers at Dulles International Airport and Reagan National Airport in the Washington, D.C., area. Other arrests have come in Baltimore, Phoenix, San Diego, San Francisco, San Jose, Calif., Charlotte, N.C., Boston, Sacramento, Calif., Atlanta, Las Vegas, Seattle, Portland, Ore., and Salt Lake City. FAA Administrator Jane Garvey in October ordered background checks of an estimated 750,000 airport and airline employees who could enter secured areas of airports. The checks are supposed to be completed by December. Feuding kills as many as 25 in AfghanistanGARDEZ, Afghanistan -- Bitter feuding among warlords turned eastern Afghanistan into a war zone this weekend, leaving as many as 25 people dead and furious residents accusing the interim regime of being weak, and the United States of being uncaring. On Sunday, residents in Gardez began to emerge from shuttered dwellings to bury their dead killed in the previous day's rocket assault. As many as 25 people died when soldiers loyal to warlord Bacha Khan Zardran fired a torrent of rockets into the city on Saturday, said Gardez governor Taj Mohammed Wardak. Another 70 people were injured. From their heavily guarded compound on the southern edge of the city, U.S. Special Forces brought blood and medicine to the hospital to help treat the wounded, Dr. Naqibullah Irfan said. Also Sunday ...MILITANT SENTENCED: An Egyptian state security court on Sunday sentenced Islamic militant Mohammed El-Sayed Soliman Youssef, who trained in Afghanistan and Pakistan with Osama bin Laden's al-Qaida group, to 10 years with hard labor. SENATORS URGE PATIENCE: Senate leaders, including Majority Leader Tom Daschle, D-S.D., and Minority Leader Trent Lott, R-Miss., said Sunday there is broad support for toppling Saddam Hussein but that it is too early to take military action against Iraq. "We've got to win the war on terror, we've got to stabilize Afghanistan. We have to do all that we can to ensure that we succeed there before we take on another mission," Daschle said. AFGHANS COMMEMORATE: Afghanistan staged military parades across the country Sunday to commemorate the end of communist rule 10 years ago. Interim Prime Minister Hamid Karzai and Defense Minister Qasim Fahim reviewed the troops, then saluted as the parade inched along with 76 tanks and helicopters, rocket launchers and Scud missiles.
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From the Times wire desk
From the AP |
