WHAT'S HAPPENING \ War on terrorism
The latest developments in the war on terrorism:
U.S. and European officials signed an agreement Friday for sharing information on airline passengers, saying the new policy addresses concerns about privacy. During a signing ceremony, Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge, European Union Ambassador Gunter Burghardt and Irish Ambassador Noel Fahey, representing the EU presidency, said the agreement is key to guarding against terrorism. The agreement, which takes effect immediately and is to last 31/2 years, gives U.S. authorities access to information about passengers on flights flying to or from the 25 European Union countries. The information will be checked against U.S. databases to determine if any travelers are terrorist threats.
Two closed-door meetings are planned for families of the passengers and crew of the four aircraft used in the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks so they can hear tapes of phone calls from the planes and see other government evidence of what happened during the hijackings. The invitation-only briefings will be held next Friday in Princeton, N.J., and July 14 in Boston, Justice Department spokesman Charles Miller said. The Boston session also will be broadcast via closed-circuit television to sites for family members in Washington, D.C., and Los Angeles.
A Saudi thought to have indirect ties to two of the Sept. 11 hijackers was arrested on immigration charges and could face deportation, authorities said. Hasan Saddiq Faseh Alddin, 34, was a roommate of a close friend of Saudi hijackers Nawaf Alhazmi and Khalid al-Midhar in the 1990s, the Department of Homeland Security said in a news release. The two hijackers died aboard the American Airlines jet that crashed into the Pentagon on Sept. 11, 2001. Alddin's onetime roommate left the United States the day before the terrorist strikes, officials said. A Homeland Security spokeswoman, Lauren Mack, declined to elaborate or identify the roommate.
Source: Associated Press