Fighting terror

Flight 93 families dispute FBI theory

WASHINGTON - Families of passengers who rebelled against hijackers aboard United Airlines Flight 93 said Friday the FBI theory that the terrorists deliberately crashed the plane into a Pennsylvania field was based on "limited and questionable interpretations" of the cockpit recording.

The theory - described by FBI director Robert Mueller and disclosed deep within a congressional report on the Sept. 11 attacks - suggests insurgent passengers might not have successfully fought their way into the cockpit and grappled to seize the plane's controls, as has been popularly perceived.

"Without a doubt, the passengers breached the cockpit," said Randall Greene of New York, whose brother Donald, a pilot of smaller aircraft, was onboard. "I'm surprised by the theory attributed to the FBI director that the passengers did not take control of the aircraft."

The FBI has steadfastly maintained that its analysis isn't conclusive and doesn't detract from the heroism demonstrated by passengers, who are believed to have rushed down the airliner's narrow aisle to try to overwhelm the four hijackers.

The plane went down far from the White House, in a field near the rural town of Shanksville, Pa. All 33 passengers, seven crew members and the four hijackers died.

ALEXANDRIA, Va. - Terrorism suspect Zacarias Moussaoui was part of a plot to fly a plane into the White House, a prosecutor alleged in a transcript released Friday, raising the possibility of other would-be hijackers.

Moussaoui "was keenly aware of why he was here," prosecutor Kenneth Karas told a Jan. 30 hearing.

While previous court documents mentioned that Moussaoui planned to crash an airliner into the White House, it was unclear how he could do so without help.

Karas said "the evidence is clear" that Moussaoui had accomplices in a plan to fly a fifth attack plane, although he did not make clear whether the alleged operation was planed on Sept. 11.

The prosecutor identified one of those who provided evidence as Faiz Bafana, a member of Jemaah Islamiya, a Southeast Asian group the United States says has links to the al-Qaida terrorist network.

NEW YORK - A Pakistani man held for four months in the government's terrorism investigation was charged Friday with entering the United States to help clear the way for an al-Qaida associate to sneak in after him.

Uzair Paracha, 23, detained as a material witness since his March arrest in New York, was held pending a bail hearing next week.

According to the criminal complaint, Paracha agreed to help the al-Qaida associate get documents that would let him enter the United States and help him get legal immigration status. The government has not released the associate's identity but says the man has remained overseas.

Anthony Ricco, Paracha's lawyer, said his client was manipulated into helping the associate and was looking forward to a trial to prove he had no criminal intent.

WASHINGTON - Secretary of State Colin Powell on Friday designated Chechen rebel leader Shamil Basayev a threat to the security of the United States and to U.S. citizens.

Powell, in a notice in the Federal Register, said Basayev, 38, "has committed, or poses a significant risk of committing, acts of terrorism" against U.S. interests.

The State Department said Basayev has links to the al-Qaida terror network. With Britain and Russia, the United States asked the United Nations to impose travel sanctions on him and to block shipment of arms and financial contributions to the rebels by U.N. members.

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