 |
| U.S.
authorities arrested Ramsi Al-Shannaq in Baltimore, Maryland, on
June 26
|
WASHINGTON,
July 4 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) - A Jordanian national
suspected of being a roommate of two September 11 hijackers was
charged Tuesday, July 2, with illegally obtaining a U.S. visa,
according to U.S. law enforcement officials.
The
indictment of Ramsi Subhi Saleh Al-Shannaq was made by a federal grand
jury in Baltimore, Maryland, which accused the man of knowingly
committing fraud in obtaining a nonimmigrant visa at the U.S. Embassy
in Doha, Qatar, in October 2000, the officials said, Agence
France-Presse (AFP) reported.
If
convicted, the 27-year-old Jordanian could be sentenced to 10 years in
jail and fined $250,000.
The
indictment contains no mention of Shannaq’s possible ties to Nawaq
Al-Hamzi and Hani Hanjour, two of the American Airlines flight 77
hijackers, who are suspected to have crashed the plane into the
Pentagon building September 11.
Immigration
and Naturalization Service agents arrested Al-Shannaq at his home in
Baltimore on June 24. U.S. officials are not saying where Al-Shannaq
is being held.
Authorities
said the Jordanian shared a Northern Virginia apartment for two months
with Al-Hamzi and Hanjour. Investigators want to know what Al-Shannaq
knew about the hijackers and any possible plans they might have
discussed.
His
family insists he had nothing to do with the terrorist attacks that
left the World Trade Center in New York and part of the Pentagon
building in ruins and killed approximately 3,000 people.
According
to news agencies, quoting a U.S. law enforcement official, Al-Shannaq
has acknowledged living with the hijackers.
He
will be arraigned July 8 before a federal judge in Baltimore.
The
U.S. government argues it may hold immigration violators without
releasing information if their arrest is related to a terrorism
investigation, reports news agencies.
Presently,
73 people are being held in federal custody on criminal charges or
violations related to the government’s investigation of September
11. In addition, another 74 are being held on immigration-related
charges and are in INS custody. Some of those held for immigration
violations do not have lawyers, news agencies reported.
