Times Record News (Wichita Falls, TX) August 09, 2003
Saudi man detained by FBI released
Federal agencies, Sheppard have no new information
By Jeff Hall
A member of the Royal Saudi Arabian Air Force detained Thursday in Wichita Falls by the FBI was apparently released Friday, a spokesman for the Saudi Arabian embassy in Washington, D.C., said.
Embassy spokesman Nail Al-Jubeir said Friday he was told the unidentified man was released but would be monitored by the U.S. government.
The FBI, however, would not confirm the arrest or the release.
"I've been told by our people that at this point there's no new information to discuss, and we will not be making any comment until the appropriate time," Special Agent John Skillestad said Friday from the Dallas FBI office.
Officials at the Saudi embassy, including its military attache who spent the day with his FBI counterparts, was unaware of the incident until contacted by the Times Record News, Al-Jubeir said.
"We had absolutely no idea," he said. "This is the first we've heard about it."
A Dallas television station first aired the story Thursday night in a live broadcast from the Municipal Airport in Wichita Falls, claiming a Saudi national who was undergoing training at Sheppard Air Force Base had been taken into custody for alleged links to terrorist activities.
Kathy Colvin, an attorney with the U.S. Attorney's Office for North Texas in Dallas, said Friday she was surprised when she saw the television report Thursday night. She said it was not likely the local FBI office would detain someone for suspected terrorist links without contacting the U.S. Attorney's Office.
"This office has no information about what happened last night," she said. "I would presume the coordination between the FBI and the U.S. Attorney's Office is unprecedented these days."
Karen Vorhes, a spokeswoman for the FBI in Washington, D.C., said Friday the agency would not make any comment about the incident.
"He was not a pilot (trainee)," she said. "Beyond that, we're not going to make any comment on that."
Maj. Manning Brown with the Sheppard's public information office said Friday he could not comment on the case. However, Brown did confirm that five members of the Saudi military were taking classes in aircraft maintenance at the base.
The base, which trains NATO pilots as well as Air Force pilots, also offers a broad range of other training, he said. Members of non-NATO militaries can get training at the base through the Air Force Security Assistance Training Squadron, he said.
Laura McGowan, the public information officer for the base, said Friday that Sheppard offers about 70 courses on aircraft maintenance and related subjects. The time required to complete the courses depends on what is being taught, she said. That means a person could complete the course in anywhere from three weeks to several months to even a year.
Students taking the classes are not restricted to the base, she said.
The Royal Saudi Air Force flies primarily U.S. aircraft, including 165 F-15s and 60 older F-5s. The 18,000-man Air Force also has roughly 90 Tornado aircraft, built in Europe, according to www.GlobalSecurity.Org.
While FBI officials in Dallas and Washington, D.C., were giving out practically no details about the case, a local businessperson confirmed making contact with the local FBI office in July about suspicious items brought to the business.
The businessperson, who asked not to be identified for fear of retaliation, said Friday the items might have been some research done to identify potential targets.
"We didn't even know where it went from there," the businessperson said. "We don't even know if it's connected."
FBI agents have not contacted the business since the July report, the businessperson said.
"I think it's really important that when people have uneasy feelings about something that they report it - to trust their gut instincts when they think something isn't right," the businessperson said.
Nathan Moran, a professor of criminal justice at Midwestern State University who has published articles about terrorism and organized crime, said Friday he was surprised by the apparent quick release of the Saudi national.
"I would find that to be interesting," he said. "It depends on what this guy was picked up for, because there's not a lot of information out there."
Al-Jubeir said it was not unusual for Saudi nationals to be arrested on suspicion of terrorism immediately following the attacks on New York and Washington, D.C., on Sept. 11, 2001, but that has been dwindling over the past two years. Fifteen of the 19 airplane hijackers on 9-11 were from Saudi Arabia.
These days, people tend to play the "terrorist card" to get Saudi nationals out of jobs, colleges or other places, Al-Jubeir said.
"We have had several reports of Saudis being kicked out of apartments because someone reported they were acting suspicious when really all the people wanted was that person's apartment," he said.
While Sheppard and Wichita Falls might not be a good target for terrorists, the Air Force base does provide a rich training ground for people wanting to learn secret details about bombs, missiles and aircraft, Moran said.
"I don't think there's anybody out at the base who could build a missile from the ground up, but they could be exposed to how missiles are made, how they operate, especially if they're spying," Moran said.
"In terms of being exposed to secure and classified information, absolutely. You could stumble across something classified by accident."
Regardless of what happened or why, it has made for a busy pair of days for the people in Sheppard's public information office, Brown said. Civilian and uniformed personnel answered many phone inquiries Thursday night and stayed busy Friday, he said.
"We've gotten quite a few calls," he said. "I'd say we've probably fielded about 10 (Friday). We're not going to be able to comment on much beyond what we've already said, but we've talked to a lot of people about what we do here, what we train for."
© Copyright 2003, The Times Record News (Wichita Falls, TX)
