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American Morning
Jeweler Says FBI Photo is of Him
Aired January 02, 2003 - 07:32 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.
LEON HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: Speaking of unhappy new year's, there's an unhappy new year for a certain man in Pakistan. We want to talk about that right now. The FBI wants to talk with him. He is a 33- year-old jeweler and he's part of a widening probe. And, however, this man says that the FBI mistakenly placed his photo on its Web site as one of the five men who are being sought for questioning here in the U.S.
Now, CNN interviewed the Pakistani jeweler yesterday. We want to get more on that right now from our Islamabad bureau chief, Ash-Har Quraishi. He is standing by in Islamabad and he joins us now with some of the comments from that frightened man -- hello and happy new year, Ash-Har.
ASH-HAR QURAISHI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Happy new year, Leon.
Well, Mohammed Asghar says he was surprised earlier this week when he opened up a local newspaper here in Pakistan only to find his picture listed with four others that the FBI wanted to question. Now, he says that while the picture is his, the name that was listed, Mustafa Khan Owasi, is not his. He says that he contacted the local media to find out what was going on, but he says he is sure that this picture is his.
Now, he says he has no links to terrorism and he does not know who the other four men are who FBI officials believe crossed into the United States illegally around December 24. And he also tells CNN that he has no idea how his picture ended up in the hands of the FBI.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MOHAMMED ASHGAR, JEWELER: I'm here and they are saying that I'm in the USA. How can this be true? I don't know anything about the picture. Maybe someone gave it to them or someone had the picture on a Web site. What can I say about this? I'm here in Lahore, a resident of Pakistan. How can I be there when I'm here in Lahore?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
QURAISHI: Now, Ashgar, who has an uncanny resemblance to the photograph that was listed on the Web site by the FBI, says that he would like to get to the bottom of this. He says that he has never traveled to the United States and that he's never tried to travel to the United States. But he does admit to having forged documents, a forged U.K. passport, which was made for him so that he could travel there in November. He was looking for a job, he says, in London. But he says that when he got to Abu-Dhabi, the officials there found out that he had forged documents and deported him back to Pakistan.
And he also says that while he's afraid of talking to the FBI, who is interested in questioning him and who says that they will question him, he says that he would like to clear his name, or rather, his face -- Leon.
HARRIS: Yes, I'm sure.
Ash-Har, did he say exactly where he was, because the FBI is saying that whoever is in that picture, whether it's him or not, they're saying that this person crossed the U.S.-Canadian border back on December 24, on Christmas Eve. Did this man say where he was on Christmas Eve?
QURAISHI: He said he was in Lahore. He pointed to a relative who was nearby and said I was with him all day in Pakistan. And he says he's never televised outside of Pakistan except for the one time that he was trying to go to the U.K. So there seems to be obviously some confusion here.
Now, the FBI has to determine whether or not this picture is him and whether or not the identity matches this picture or matches another picture. So he says he'd just like to clarify the situation as it stands -- Leon.
HARRIS: It sounds like the FBI may have as much explaining to do as this man does.
Thanks, Ash-Har.
Ash-Har Quraishi reporting live for us from Islamabad.
Happy new year, friend.
We'll talk to you later on.
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 January 2, 2003 - 07:32 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
LEON HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: Speaking of unhappy new year's, there's an unhappy new year for a certain man in Pakistan. We want to talk about that right now. The FBI wants to talk with him. He is a 33- year-old jeweler and he's part of a widening probe. And, however, this man says that the FBI mistakenly placed his photo on its Web site as one of the five men who are being sought for questioning here in the U.S.
Now, CNN interviewed the Pakistani jeweler yesterday. We want to get more on that right now from our Islamabad bureau chief, Ash-Har Quraishi. He is standing by in Islamabad and he joins us now with some of the comments from that frightened man -- hello and happy new year, Ash-Har.
ASH-HAR QURAISHI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Happy new year, Leon.
Well, Mohammed Asghar says he was surprised earlier this week when he opened up a local newspaper here in Pakistan only to find his picture listed with four others that the FBI wanted to question. Now, he says that while the picture is his, the name that was listed, Mustafa Khan Owasi, is not his. He says that he contacted the local media to find out what was going on, but he says he is sure that this picture is his.
Now, he says he has no links to terrorism and he does not know who the other four men are who FBI officials believe crossed into the United States illegally around December 24. And he also tells CNN that he has no idea how his picture ended up in the hands of the FBI.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MOHAMMED ASHGAR, JEWELER: I'm here and they are saying that I'm in the USA. How can this be true? I don't know anything about the picture. Maybe someone gave it to them or someone had the picture on a Web site. What can I say about this? I'm here in Lahore, a resident of Pakistan. How can I be there when I'm here in Lahore?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
QURAISHI: Now, Ashgar, who has an uncanny resemblance to the photograph that was listed on the Web site by the FBI, says that he would like to get to the bottom of this. He says that he has never traveled to the United States and that he's never tried to travel to the United States. But he does admit to having forged documents, a forged U.K. passport, which was made for him so that he could travel there in November. He was looking for a job, he says, in London. But he says that when he got to Abu-Dhabi, the officials there found out that he had forged documents and deported him back to Pakistan.
And he also says that while he's afraid of talking to the FBI, who is interested in questioning him and who says that they will question him, he says that he would like to clear his name, or rather, his face -- Leon.
HARRIS: Yes, I'm sure.
Ash-Har, did he say exactly where he was, because the FBI is saying that whoever is in that picture, whether it's him or not, they're saying that this person crossed the U.S.-Canadian border back on December 24, on Christmas Eve. Did this man say where he was on Christmas Eve?
QURAISHI: He said he was in Lahore. He pointed to a relative who was nearby and said I was with him all day in Pakistan. And he says he's never televised outside of Pakistan except for the one time that he was trying to go to the U.K. So there seems to be obviously some confusion here.
Now, the FBI has to determine whether or not this picture is him and whether or not the identity matches this picture or matches another picture. So he says he'd just like to clarify the situation as it stands -- Leon.
HARRIS: It sounds like the FBI may have as much explaining to do as this man does.
Thanks, Ash-Har.
Ash-Har Quraishi reporting live for us from Islamabad.
Happy new year, friend.
We'll talk to you later on.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
