May 11, 2002	Saturday	Safar 27, 1423

WASHINGTON, May 10: US investigators probing visa fraud found a flight manual, a hand-drawn picture of a plane striking the World Trade Center and a datebook with a single entry for September 11 at a northern Virginia home, search warrants show.

The items were seized as part of an investigation into a scheme to obtain student visas under false pretenses, which has led to the arrest of 56 men and women of Middle Eastern origin in various parts of the United States.

The suspects are accused of paying impostors between 1,000 and 5,000 dollars to pass a college entrance exam in English on their behalf. Passing the exam is a requirement for entering the United States on a student visa.

The FBI and other agencies are now investigating whether any of the suspects are linked to the September 11 attacks and Osama bin Laden’s al-Qaeda network.

Search warrants filed Wednesday in Norfolk, Virginia, described evidence seized from a northern Virginia home, although they did not identify where the home is located or who lives there.

At the property, law enforcement officials uncovered a student flight manual, a book identifying commercial airliners, an aerial shot of the Pentagon and a datebook featuring a lone, poorly spelled entry for September 11: “Trackd the World Trade Center or the Pentagon trackd for the plaen.”

Officials also found a drawing of a plane striking one of the twin World Trade Center towers, a Rolodex including the locations of oil refineries, videos titled “Incredible Air Disasters” and “Incredible Water Disasters” and photographs of men posing inside and outside the twin towers.

Court documents also showed that four individuals not connected to that home had been arrested in Hampton Roads, near Norfolk in southeastern Virginia, and charged with conspiracy to commit mail fraud and wire fraud.

Among them was Qatar native Fahad Alhajri, 28, who was in custody while officials checked to see if he is the same man who appears on a terrorist watch list. He was to appear in court later Friday.

The three others — Asmaa Al-Themairi, 26, Hamad Alzoman, 31, and Abdulaziz Alsaadoun, 28, all Saudi nationals — were released and were expected to appear in court later this month. Federal officials said they have not been linked to a terrorist organization.

Investigators also found a CD-ROM with the words “Gainesville,” a town in Florida, and “flight school” written on it. The disk was found in the car of a fifth Norfolk-area suspect, Saudi national Saeed Alhajri, 27, who has already returned to Saudi Arabia.—AFP