A Saudi man who was prevented from entering the United States a few weeks before the Sept. 11 terror attacks may have been the plot's intended 20th hijacker, federal officials say.
The man, identified only as al-Qahtani, was turned away by a U.S. immigration agent at Orlando International Airport in late August 2001, according to two senior law enforcement officials who spoke on condition of anonymity Tuesday. ...
After his apprehension, U.S. agents put al-Qahtani on a plane back to Saudi Arabia, the officials said. He later wound up in Afghanistan, where he was captured by U.S. forces and is now being held along with other captives at the U.S. naval base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
The agent who stopped al-Qahtani, Jose Melendez-Perez, is to testify about the matter at a hearing next week before the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon The United States, better known as the 9/11 commission.
Posted by floridacracker at January 21, 2004 06:49 AM