— -- Shishani Gives Terror Information
D E T R O I T, July 24 — An Arab-American charged with smuggling $12million in bogus cashiers checks into the United States told agentsthat the man named on the checks may belong to al Qaeda,authorities said today.
Omar Shishani, 47, also told investigators that he can providethem with information on terrorism, Assistant U.S. Attorney EricStraus said during a hearing.
Defense attorney Nabih Ayad said his client never made suchstatements and family members in Jordan said Shishani was simply awealthy computer salesman.
Shishani was arrested last week after arriving at DetroitMetropolitan Airport on a flight from Indonesia. He was jailedwithout bond today after pleading innocent to possession ofcounterfeit securities and smuggling merchandise into the UnitedStates. He faces up to 15 years in prison.
Shishani was asked about terrorism during an interview withfederal agents. According to Straus, he answered: "If you want toknow about terrorism, I can help you with that."
Authorities say they found nine phony cashiers checks during asearch of Shishani's bags. Six were dated June 10, 2002, and madepayable to "Baharuddin Masse," according to the indictment. Theother checks were dated Sept. 3, Sept. 5 and Sept. 6, 2002.
Shishani told agents he believes Masse may belong to al Qaeda,has made pro-al Qaeda statements and named his daughter al Qaeda,Straus said. The suspect's attorney said he only said the partabout the girl.
Two of the checks were for $5 million each; two were for$500,000 each; and five were for $200,000 each, the affidavit said.The checks, labeled "cashier check," were purportedly issued bythe Pomona, Calif., branch of West America Bank.
There is no Pomona branch and the checks were labeledincorrectly, Secret Service agent Clarence T. Laster said in theaffidavit. Several people have been arrested in the Las Vegas areafor passing similar checks, Laster said.
Authorities have searched Shishani's home in Dearborn, near Detroit, but the results of the search were sealed.
Shishani was born in Jordan. He immigrated to the United States20 years ago, where he married. He holds both the Jordanian andAmerican passports, and his lawyer described him as a broker.
Shishani's brother, Ali, said he had little information on thechecks other than they were given to his brother in Indonesia, towhich Omar Shishani often travels on business.
"My brother didn't break any laws," Ali Shishani said fromAmman, Jordan. "The checks were in his pocket, but he didn't usethem or try to cash them."
Ahmad Shishani, another of Shishani's brothers in Jordan, saidOmar Shishani has "absolutely no links at all with any terroristgroup or al Qaeda" and that his brother is a wealthy computersalesman who travels often.
— The Associated Press
Congress to Debate Homeland Security Bill
W A S H I N G T O N, July 24 — A Homeland Security Department with strongintelligence capabilities but without the personnel flexibilityPresident Bush wants would be created under legislation the Senatehopes to pass next week.
The Senate Governmental Affairs Committee, chaired by Sen.Joseph Lieberman, was scheduled to debate and vote on thelegislation today. As lawmakers try to get a bill to Bush bythis fall, the full House planned to begin debating its versionThursday.
House Speaker Dennis Hastert said he thought lawmakers werecoming to a consensus.
"We're very well on the way to getting agreement on thehomeland security bill," he said today on CNN. The aim is tomake the government more efficient in "how we protect thiscountry," the Illinois Republican said.
Lieberman, D-Conn., said his bill would augment the president'sproposal by making the new Cabinet agency an aggressive consumerand analyst of intelligence produced by the CIA, FBI and others.Unlike Bush's plan, the Senate bill would let the Homeland Securitysecretary assign the intelligence agencies to get specific domesticinformation or to look more closely into certain areas.
Senators have suggested other changes — 75 amendments in allmight be offered — such as leaving the Federal Emergency ManagementAgency out of the new department and moving the Bureau of Alcohol,Tobacco and Firearms from the Treasury Department into the newagency.
In the end, Lieberman said, the measure probably will win strongsupport. "There remains a broad, bipartisan concern that we've gotto create the new department," he said.
On personnel issues, Bush met Tuesday at the White House with 30Republicans and Democrats to stress the need for agility in the170,000-employee agency to confront an ever-changing terroristthreat.
"It must have personnel abilities to make certain that peopleare trained and trained well, and if they're not, they need to beable to bring people on who can do the job and do it right," saidWhite House spokesman Ari Fleischer.
Bush wants the new Homeland Security secretary to have latitudeto develop a new personnel system that would allow vacancies to befilled quickly and job assignments to be changed rapidly.Department leaders should be able to "reassign those who cannotadapt," said Kay James, Bush's director of personnel management.
To Democrats, this sounds like an assault on union collectivebargaining protections and the cherished civil service. That systemwas designed to prevent political influence and cronyism in thefederal government and allow whistle-blowers to disclose wrongdoingwithout fear of reprisal.
Lieberman said Democrats would prefer to leave the personnelquestions for later to pass the legislation quickly. Lawmakers hopeto get a bill to Bush perhaps as early as Sept. 11.
"If we try to change that, it's going to really slow up thebill," Lieberman said. "It would be better if we not force abitter and divisive fight on this now."
Sen. Phil Gramm, R-Texas, said Bush should veto the bill if itdoesn't include the personnel changes.
"The president asked for a freer hand to fight terrorism. Thisbill handcuffs him," Gramm said.
The House legislation, set to be debated beginning Thursday,attempts at compromise by prohibiting any change in several keyworker protections while allowing flexibility in pay, performanceappraisals and job classifications. Democrats said they remainopposed.
Bush also wants the ability to transfer within the department upto 5 percent of its annual budget, contending this is necessary torespond quickly to emerging or unforeseen threats. Democrats andRepublicans in Congress have balked at that: the House bill permitstransfer of only 2 percent for the first two years.
—The Associated Press
Report: Poor Emergency Communication Must Be Resolved
A R LI N G T O N, Va., July 24 — Firefighters, medics and police performedwell following the Sept. 11 attack on the Pentagon but poorcommunication is one of several areas that needs to be fixed,according to a report.
The authors also warned that firefighters and others who went tothe scene without notifying those in charge sometimes caused moreproblems than they solved.
Similar concerns have been raised in New York, where more than300 firefighters and other emergency workers died in the WorldTrade Center attack on the same day. Officials have saidcommunication in the two towers was poor and that some would-berescuers showed up without orders.
Titan Systems Corp., a San Diego technology and defense company,prepared the 200-page report at Arlington County's request withmoney from a federal grant. The report team interviewed about 475people who responded after a plane was crashed into the Pentagon.
The report, released Tuesday, said the FBI's Washington fieldoffice knew at 9:20 a.m., 18 minutes before the Pentagon crash,that American Airlines Flight 77 had been hijacked after takeofffrom Washington Dulles International Airport. That informationwasn't shared with local law enforcement, but Arlington PoliceChief Ed Flynn said that information would not have been helpful.
"No one knew where that plane was headed," Flynn said.
The report is generally favorable, but it makes 235recommendations for improving emergency response. It highlightsfive areas that need improvement, especially communications.
"Almost all aspects of communications continue to beproblematic, from initial notification to tactical operations,"the report said.
Cell phones didn't work in the hours after the attack, and radiochannels were oversaturated. Pagers worked best, but mostfirefighter do not carry them, according to the report.
"In the first few hours, foot messengers at times proved to bethe most reliable means of communicating," according to thereport, which recommended cell phone priority access for rescueworkers.
The authors also said organizations and response units thatdispatched themselves to the scene sometimes complicated thecommand structure. No rescuers were killed at the Pentagon.
County Manager Ron Carlee said some changes have already beenmade to implement the recommendations. New communicationsequipment, including a paging system, has been purchased. Arlingtonand Pentagon police have signed an agreement providing for jointjurisdiction outside the Pentagon.
—The Associated Press
