Fighting terror: notebook

LSU fires scientist in anthrax inquiry

WASHINGTON -- Dr. Steven J. Hatfill, who says the federal government has ruined his life by linking him to the anthrax investigation, was fired Tuesday from his job as a researcher at Louisiana State University.

Hatfill, 48, was hired by LSU's National Center for Biomedical Research and Training in July and put on administrative leave with pay Aug. 2.

"The university is making no judgment as to Dr. Hatfill's guilt or innocence regarding the FBI investigation," said chancellor Mark A. Emmert in a brief statement released by the university on Tuesday.

"Our ultimate concerns are the ability of the university to fulfill its role and mission as a land-grant university," he said. "In considering all of these objectives, I have concluded that it is clearly in the best interest of LSU to terminate this relationship."

Pat Clawson, a spokesman for Hatfill, said the university called Hatfill's attorneys Tuesday afternoon and told him of their decision to fire him. No explanation was given.

In a statement, Hatfill blamed the FBI's investigation for his firing.

"My life has been completely and utterly destroyed by (Attorney General) John Ashcroft and the FBI," Hatfill said. "I do not understand why they are doing this to me. My professional reputation is in tatters. All I have left are my savings and they will be exhausted soon because of my legal bills."

Five people were killed by anthrax-laced letters sent through the mail last fall.

The FBI has identified Hatfill as "person of interest" in its investigation but no more or less important than about 30 fellow scientists and researchers with the expertise and opportunity to conduct the attacks.

However, Hatfill has been treated differently. FBI and Postal Service agents wearing protective gloves searched his apartment in Frederick, Md., twice. And his photo was the only one circulated last month in the Princeton, N.J., neighborhood where investigators believe the anthrax letters may have been sent.

FBI collects hundreds of samples in Boca Raton building

BOCA RATON -- Investigators and scientists searched for clues inside the anthrax-infested former home of tabloid publisher American Media Inc. for a fifth day Tuesday after collecting hundreds of samples during the weekend.

The FBI said their work has been "successful" but declined to say whether they have found whatever brought the anthrax inside the building, a key piece of evidence in the 11-month-old criminal investigation.

The investigation will continue until at least Sept. 11, the deadline FBI agents set in their search warrant for the building. AMI spokesman Gerald McKelvey said the warrant could be extended.

Police Cmdr. Maria Maughan said investigators tried new sampling techniques Tuesday. She declined to elaborate on the techniques or the samples being taken from the building.

Man suspected of bin Laden ties will be deported

BUFFALO, N.Y. -- A man once portrayed as a key figure detained after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks drew the maximum eight-month sentence Tuesday for an immigration violation and was ordered deported to Syria.

Nabil al-Marabh, 35, won't face any terrorism charges, and the government has no evidence "of any involvement by the defendant in any terrorist organization," prosecutor Paul Campana said.

Last fall, the U.S. government listed al-Marabh among 200 people being sought for questioning in the terrorism. In a court filing in Toronto, Canadian authorities alleged he was "connected to the bin Laden network."

He was arrested in suburban Chicago on Sept. 30, where he was working in a liquor store, and held in isolation in a New York prison until May without seeing a lawyer or judge until he was charged with immigration law violations.

He pleaded guilty in June to conspiring to enter the country near Niagara Falls a year earlier.

Al-Marabh got sentencing credit for the 31/2 months he has served since being charged and might not be sent to Syria, where the Kuwaiti native is a citizen, until January, though his lawyer said she expects he will be deported this month.

During the hunt for al-Marabh last September, federal agents raided a home in Detroit that had his name on the mailbox. He was not there, but they arrested three occupants -- Karim Koubriti, 24, Ahmed Hannan, 34, and Farouk Ali-Haimoud, 22 -- and found a cache of false documents.

The three men were indicted last week on charges of conspiring to support Osama bin Laden's al-Qaida terrorist network. The men pleaded innocent to charges of fraud and misuse of visas, permits and other documents.

Prisoners return to Pakistan

ISLAMABAD -- About 110 Pakistanis held in Afghanistan on suspicion of having fought for the Taliban will be released and sent to Pakistan today, the government news agency reported. The agency said two special flights would bring the prisoners home. The report did not say whether they would be allowed to return to their homes or be detained in Pakistan.

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