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New Arrests in Connection with Shoe Bomb Investigation

Aired November 26, 2002 - 10:59   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


CAROL LIN, CNN ANCHOR: Up first on CNN, new arrests in connection with the shoe bomb investigation. French police say they've detained six people who may be associates of Richard Reid. Now he has pleaded to trying to set off a shoe bomb on a trans- Atlantic December.
CNN's Jim Bittermann joins us live from Paris with today's developments.

Jim, What do you know?

JIM BITTERMANN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Right you are, Carol.

In fact, they have arrested the six Algerians and Pakistanis in a northern Paris suburb in a raid this morning. It was quite a well planned out raid. They brought in a company of riot police just in case, because it was kind of a tough neighborhood, north of Paris.

In any case, they arrested the six people without incident. One of the six is an Imam (ph) at a mosque that is located in the north of Paris. It's not clear exactly how these men may be connected with Richard Reid, but you'll remember that Reid spent some weeks in Paris before he took that flight from Paris to Miami, and a number of people have been arrested in connection with what they may have done while Reid was here.

In fact, there were other arrests last week, five arrests last week in Paris, of other people who may have been associated with Reid while he was here.

Now these six will be taken into custody and will be closely questioned over the next 96 hours, which is what the police have the right to do.

One of the people who was arrested is someone the police have been looking for a number of months now, a man named Suman Kowtawi (ph) who is believed to be one of the Frankfurt group, as it's called, a group from Frankfurt, Germany, who were plotting to blow up the cathedral in Straussberg (ph), France, in December of 2000. So he is quite a get, as one might say in the police language, and they're quite happy to have him in custody.

With him at least, there may be some charges to follow -- Carol.

LIN: Jim, do you anticipate there will be any more arrests in this case then? BITTERMANN: Well, it's pretty tough to tell. The police say and the investigators say that this is an ongoing investigation. And I think one of the things we've seen over the last several months is that as they've investigated, as they've picked up one group or another group, they get names and leads that lead them on to another group of individuals that they may want to question. So it's been a continuing series of arrests ever since Reid was first arrested in Boston when stepped off that plane -- Carol.

LIN: Thank you very much, Jim Bittermann, live in Paris.

At the White House, more talk of the Saudi money trail. This morning, in their informal briefing, White House officials said Saudi Arabia can do more to battle terrorism.

CNN national correspondent Frank Buckley joins us live with that story.

Frank, is that meant to be a direct criticism of Saudi Arabia then?

FRANK BUCKLEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, let's back up for a second and explain. It's a response by Ari Fleischer to an article in "The Washington Post" that everyone here is very interested about. "The Washington Post" reporting that a task force of the National Security Council is considering issuing an ultimatum to the Saudis that would threaten some sort of unilateral action against Saudi Arabia if they don't take more action in the war on terror.

Ari Fleischer saying there is an interagency group, working group, but it is a very low-level group, below the deputy level here in Washington, and that the views expressed anonymously in this article may be the views of one particular person on this working group and don't necessarily represent the views of everybody else on that group.

Having said that, Ari Fleischer did say that Saudi Arabia is a good partner, as he put it, in the war on terror, but is a partner that could do more in the war on terror.

Now, separately, sources tell us there is some frustration within the administration of those who are looking into exactly what Saudi Arabia could be doing in the war on terror, but there's nothing before the president. Again, this is below the deputy level of study, and any threat of an imminent threat to the Saudis is overblown -- Carol.

LIN: This morning, President Bush signing another terrorism- related bill. Critics have said this is only meant to benefit insurance companies who don't want to cover losses in case of another high-rise terrorist attack, but President Bush was saying this is really about creating jobs.

BUCKLEY: Yes, the president turning that slightly and saying ever since the attacks on 9/11, various construction projects have stalled across country because businesses couldn't get affordable insurance. Premiums went up or simply weren't available at all. This is simply going to protect the insurance industry in the event of a future terror attack. It doesn't cover losses for 9/11 losses or losses below $5 million. We're talking about catastrophic losses that could take place in another potential attack.

The president saying businesses will now be able to restart these construction projects, construction at a six-year low in the U.S. The projects can get back under way, and hard hats, as the presidents likes to call them, can get back to work.

LIN: All right, thank you very much, Frank Buckley, live at the White House.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com






Aired November 26, 2002 - 10:59   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL LIN, CNN ANCHOR: Up first on CNN, new arrests in connection with the shoe bomb investigation. French police say they've detained six people who may be associates of Richard Reid. Now he has pleaded to trying to set off a shoe bomb on a trans- Atlantic December.
CNN's Jim Bittermann joins us live from Paris with today's developments.

Jim, What do you know?

JIM BITTERMANN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Right you are, Carol.

In fact, they have arrested the six Algerians and Pakistanis in a northern Paris suburb in a raid this morning. It was quite a well planned out raid. They brought in a company of riot police just in case, because it was kind of a tough neighborhood, north of Paris.

In any case, they arrested the six people without incident. One of the six is an Imam (ph) at a mosque that is located in the north of Paris. It's not clear exactly how these men may be connected with Richard Reid, but you'll remember that Reid spent some weeks in Paris before he took that flight from Paris to Miami, and a number of people have been arrested in connection with what they may have done while Reid was here.

In fact, there were other arrests last week, five arrests last week in Paris, of other people who may have been associated with Reid while he was here.

Now these six will be taken into custody and will be closely questioned over the next 96 hours, which is what the police have the right to do.

One of the people who was arrested is someone the police have been looking for a number of months now, a man named Suman Kowtawi (ph) who is believed to be one of the Frankfurt group, as it's called, a group from Frankfurt, Germany, who were plotting to blow up the cathedral in Straussberg (ph), France, in December of 2000. So he is quite a get, as one might say in the police language, and they're quite happy to have him in custody.

With him at least, there may be some charges to follow -- Carol.

LIN: Jim, do you anticipate there will be any more arrests in this case then? BITTERMANN: Well, it's pretty tough to tell. The police say and the investigators say that this is an ongoing investigation. And I think one of the things we've seen over the last several months is that as they've investigated, as they've picked up one group or another group, they get names and leads that lead them on to another group of individuals that they may want to question. So it's been a continuing series of arrests ever since Reid was first arrested in Boston when stepped off that plane -- Carol.

LIN: Thank you very much, Jim Bittermann, live in Paris.

At the White House, more talk of the Saudi money trail. This morning, in their informal briefing, White House officials said Saudi Arabia can do more to battle terrorism.

CNN national correspondent Frank Buckley joins us live with that story.

Frank, is that meant to be a direct criticism of Saudi Arabia then?

FRANK BUCKLEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, let's back up for a second and explain. It's a response by Ari Fleischer to an article in "The Washington Post" that everyone here is very interested about. "The Washington Post" reporting that a task force of the National Security Council is considering issuing an ultimatum to the Saudis that would threaten some sort of unilateral action against Saudi Arabia if they don't take more action in the war on terror.

Ari Fleischer saying there is an interagency group, working group, but it is a very low-level group, below the deputy level here in Washington, and that the views expressed anonymously in this article may be the views of one particular person on this working group and don't necessarily represent the views of everybody else on that group.

Having said that, Ari Fleischer did say that Saudi Arabia is a good partner, as he put it, in the war on terror, but is a partner that could do more in the war on terror.

Now, separately, sources tell us there is some frustration within the administration of those who are looking into exactly what Saudi Arabia could be doing in the war on terror, but there's nothing before the president. Again, this is below the deputy level of study, and any threat of an imminent threat to the Saudis is overblown -- Carol.

LIN: This morning, President Bush signing another terrorism- related bill. Critics have said this is only meant to benefit insurance companies who don't want to cover losses in case of another high-rise terrorist attack, but President Bush was saying this is really about creating jobs.

BUCKLEY: Yes, the president turning that slightly and saying ever since the attacks on 9/11, various construction projects have stalled across country because businesses couldn't get affordable insurance. Premiums went up or simply weren't available at all. This is simply going to protect the insurance industry in the event of a future terror attack. It doesn't cover losses for 9/11 losses or losses below $5 million. We're talking about catastrophic losses that could take place in another potential attack.

The president saying businesses will now be able to restart these construction projects, construction at a six-year low in the U.S. The projects can get back under way, and hard hats, as the presidents likes to call them, can get back to work.

LIN: All right, thank you very much, Frank Buckley, live at the White House.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com