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CNN Live Saturday

Five Men Suspected of Being Part of al Qaeda Arraigned Today

Aired September 14, 2002 - 17:01   ET

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

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Western New York state is the scene of an intense investigation into terrorism. Five men with suspected ties to an al Qaeda terrorist cell were arraigned today. CNN national correspondent Bob Franken joins us from Buffalo, New York with the latest on the investigation. Hi there, Bob.
BOB FRANKEN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hello, Fredricka. And the preliminary pleading was "not guilty." There will be more court proceedings on Wednesday. The arraignment took a couple of hours. It was mainly just to decide who got which lawyer.

Now, as for what they did -- first of all, the FBI director says we do not fully know the intentions of those arrested today. They were, of course, arrested yesterday, last night, arraigned in their homes in Lackawanna, which is a suburb of Buffalo. It's a suburb that has about a 5 percent Muslim population, a large Muslim population. These men were charged, said officials, because of a training camp they attended, an infamous training camp in Afghanistan, the year 2001.

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LARRY THOMPSON, DEPUTY ATTORNEY GENERAL: These individuals received weapons training, including the training in the use of Russian assault rifles, handguns and long-range rifles. While they were at the camp, Osama bin Laden visited and delivered a speech, instructing the approximately 200 trainees in anti-American and anti- Israeli sentiment, as well as al Qaeda doctrine.

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FRANKEN: Now, officials say that, in fact, although all of them have pleaded not guilty, one of the five, quote, "stated that he and his friends had attended terrorist training," acknowledged, as a matter of fact, that the crime had been committed, at least the crime in the eyes of the government. The crime -- the charge would be providing material support and resources to an illegal terrorist organization. It was a charge that was levied similarly against the so-called American Taliban John Walker Lindh. He, of course, was also supposed to have been at that training camp.

One other point, Fredricka: All the officials who spoke today said that there was a tremendous amount of cooperation within that Muslim community, cooperation that began, they said, when they got a tip. The FBI got a tip that these men were engaged in activities that might be dangerous -- Fredricka. WHITFIELD: Instrumental, they say, in those arrests. Thanks very much, Bob Franken from Buffalo.

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