Military

DATE=9/20/2001

TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT

TITLE=ATTACKS/ARREST (L-O)

NUMBER=2-280827

BYLINE=MICHAEL LELAND

DATELINE=CHICAGO

INTERNET=YES

CONTENT=

VOICED AT:

INTRO: U-S government agents have arrested a man near Chicago, as they continue looking for people who might have information about last week's terrorist attacks in New York and Washington. More from V-O-A's Michael Leland.

TEXT: F-B-I agents arrested 34-year-old Nabil Al-Marabh late Wednesday night at the suburban Chicago liquor store, where he had just started working on Monday. The head of the F-B-I office in Chicago, Kathleen McChesney, says Mr. Al-Marabh's name is one of more than 200 on a list of people being sought by the federal terrorism task force.

/// MCCHESNEY ACT 1 ///

The name of this individual matches a name on the list. Therefore, yes, he is of interest to the task force.

/// END ACT ///

/// OPT /// Officials have been looking for a man named Nabil Al-Marabh, a former Boston taxi driver, because of his suspected links to hijackers believed to be aboard one of the planes that flew into New York's World Trade Center last week. He is also named in an arrest warrant in Boston for attacking a man with a knife last year. /// END OPT ///

Agents raided an apartment in Detroit on Monday, believing they would find Mr. Al-Marabh there. They did not find him, but agents did arrest three men who were in the apartment. They were found with documents that could suggest a link to a foiled terrorist attack on a U-S military base overseas. The men also had what appeared to be a diagram of an airport's flight lines.

At the time of the raid in Detroit, federal officials say Mr. Al-Marabh was elsewhere in the state of Michigan, applying for a duplicate drivers' license. The F-B-I's Kathleen McChesney says officials are not sure yet whether the man has more than one drivers' license bearing different names.

/// MCCHESNEY ACT 2 ///

I cannot confirm to you how many drivers' licenses he had, or applied for. What I can tell you is that the investigation is round-the-clock. It is ongoing (continuing) in this case. This is one part of that case.

/// END ACT ///

Federal officials also say it is possible the man they arrested is not the Nabil Al-Marabh they are looking for. They are working to verify the man's identification and nationality. (signed)

NEB/MJL/TW