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Would notebook's clues have headed off 9-11? Two numbers scrawled in a notebook that belonged to terrorism suspect Zacarias Moussaoui could have given the FBI a chance to identify several of the Sept. 11 hijackers before they struck six years ago, according to officials who are familiar with the bureau's massive investigation of the attacks. The notebook entries recorded the control numbers for two Western Union wire transfers in which suspected al Qaida coordinator Ramzi Binalshibh, using an alias, sent Moussaoui $14,000 from Germany in early August 2001, before he went to a Minnesota flight school to learn to fly a Boeing 747 jumbo jet. A check of Western Union records probably would have uncovered other wires in the preceding days for similar sums of money to Binalshibh — who'd been turned away at the U.S. border four times because he was a suspected terrorist — from an al Qaida paymaster in Dubai. On one of those receipts, the paymaster listed a phone number in the United Arab Emirates that several of the hijackers had called from Florida. FBI headquarters, however, rejected Minneapolis FBI field agents' repeated requests for a national security warrant to search Moussaoui's belongings after he was arrested on Aug. 16, 2001. One agent, Harry Samit, was so convinced that Moussaoui was a terrorist that he sent scores of messages to FBI headquarters pressing for a search warrant....
Lawyer wrongly accused in Madrid bombings back in court over Patriot Act The lawyer whom the FBI wrongly accused in the 2004 Madrid terrorist bombings was in court Monday to urge a judge to strike down provisions of the USA Patriot Act that helped investigators conduct what he says were unconstitutional searches of his home and office. Brandon Mayfield settled part of his case against the federal government for $2 million in November but was allowed to continue to pursue his challenge of the Patriot Act. He says the government is continuing to violate his civil rights by retaining thousands of copied pages of his family's personal information. Mayfield was arrested May 6, 2004, after a fingerprint found on a bag of detonators in Madrid was incorrectly matched to him. Before the arrest, federal authorities searched Mayfield's Portland-area home and law office, going through files and placing bugging devices in the home. Mayfield was held in prison for two weeks before he was released, and he received a formal apology from the FBI. He contends he was unfairly targeted because he is a convert to Islam. The 2001 Patriot Act greatly expanded the authority of law enforcers to investigate suspected acts of terrorism, both domestically and abroad. Mayfield's lawyers, Portland attorney Elden Rosenthal and Wyoming counsel Gerry Spence, argued Monday that the authority the Patriot Act grants is an assault on the U.S. Constitution's Fourth Amendment, which guards against unreasonable searches and seizures, without probable cause, determined by a judge, to believe that a crime has been committed....
Intelligence Chief Admits Error Mike McConnell, the director of national intelligence, on Wednesday recanted his claim that the new surveillance powers recently given to the government helped foil a terrorist plot in Germany. “Information contributing to the recent arrests was not collected under authorities provided by the Protect America Act,” Mr. McConnell said in a statement issued late in the day. Mr. McConnell had told the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee on Monday that powers granted by the act, hastily approved by Congress in early August before a monthlong break, helped stop the planned attacks. The law, which amended the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, had been pushed strongly by Mr. McConnell and the White House. Mr. McConnell’s assertion that the new powers helped foil the plot in Germany had been disputed by Representative Silvestre Reyes, the chairman of the House Intelligence Committee. Mr. Reyes, Democrat of Texas, said on Tuesday that the intelligence used to capture the would-be terrorists was collected under the old version of the surveillance law, not the new one. “In fact, F.I.S.A., which you repeatedly claim is ‘outdated,’ was precisely the tool that helped disrupt this plot,” Mr. Reyes said. “The new law did not lead to the arrests of the three terrorist plotters, as you claimed.” The new surveillance law expires in six months. Many Democrats want to change it sooner, arguing that it gives the government far more power to eavesdrop than Congress initially understood.
US moves to tighten immigration, customs procedures The United States is moving to tighten immigration and customs controls, which it says are vital to keep terrorists at bay six years after the September 11 attacks. Under plans that have been announced, foreign travelers will need to provide 10 digital fingerprints on arrival instead of two currently, and their personal data will be transmitted to the United States before their plane takes off. By the end of the year, virtually every container that comes into the country by sea will be screened amid concerns over possible smuggling of nuclear weapons, security officials said. "We must move forward aggressively to build on our success to keep pace with our enemies," said Michael Chertoff, secretary of the department of homeland security, the frontline body in the US "war on terror." In November, the United States will begin implementing the plan requiring travelers to give 10 digital fingerprints on arrival. Ten US airports will initially have the capability to collect the 10 prints before all ports of entry are covered by the plan by the end of 2008....
Meatpackers Union Sues Over Plant Raids A union representing workers at six Swift & Co. meatpacking plants sued federal immigration authorities Wednesday, alleging agents violated the workers' rights during raids by roughly handling even those not suspected of crimes. The United Food and Commercial Workers International Union and the eight workers named as plaintiffs in the lawsuit seek unspecified damages and an order to stop U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement from conducting what the union says are illegal raids. ICE officials investigating identity theft arrested 1,297 workers at the plants in December, but union officials have said that more than 12,000 workers were detained against their will during the raids. Swift has estimated the financial impact at up to $50 million. Union president Joseph Hansen said workers were handcuffed and held for hours and denied access to phones, bathrooms, legal counsel and their families....