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CNN Live At Daybreak

Fugitive Suspected As Intended Fifth Hijacker of Flight 93

Aired November 16, 2001 - 05:35   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.
CATHERINE CALLAWAY, CNN ANCHOR: A global manhunt for a terrorist suspect has taken on increased significance, and as CNN's Eileen O'Connor reports, U.S. investigators now believe the fugitive may be the suspected September 11th hijacker who never showed up.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

EILEEN O'CONNOR, CNN CORRESPONDENT: This is the man U.S. investigators believe was supposed to have been the 20th hijacker on September 11th. His name, Ramsi Binal-Shibh.

JOHN ASHCROFT, U.S. ATTORNEY GENERAL: Binal-Shibh is a is a Yemeni citizen who lived with Atta.

O'CONNOR: Suspected hijacker Mohammed Atta and Binal-Shibh lived in this apartment in Hamburg. Investigative sources say Atta tried to get the Yemeni into the United States several times. Ziad Jarra, another roommate and suspected hijacker, also tried to help.

ASHCROFT: Hijacker Jarra attempted to enroll Binal-Shibh in flight school in Venice, Florida.

O'CONNOR: Huffman Aviation says Binal-Shibh never turned up for the training. Because United Airlines Flight 93, which crashed in Pennsylvania, had only four hijackers, one less than on the other seized planes, investigators always wondered, what happened to the fifth man?

At first investigators focused on Zacarias Moussaoui, a Frenchman of Moroccan descent, in custody at the time of the hijacking on a passport violation. Moussaoui had raised suspicions of a flight school in Minnesota, which alerted authorities. Initial reports said he wanted to learn to fly, but not land or take off. Those reports are inaccurate.

A search of his computer, sources say, found no evidence linking him to September 11th, but there was material on crop dusting and the dispersion of chemicals. FBI Director Robert Mueller told prosecutors that prompted the grounding of crop dusters for a time. Moussaoui remains in custody, as a material witness, sources say, under suspicion of planning another attack.

Meanwhile the FBI and German investigators are working together to determine the full extent of the role of Binal-Shibh and two other associates in Germany, now wanted for mass murder.

KLAUS MEIDHARDT, GERMAN FEDERAL CRIMINAL POLICE: We don't know everthing about them, but they are real suspects.

ASHCROFT: Binal-Shibh left Germany on September the 5th of this year, 2001, and is an international fugitive.

O'CONNOR: And so far investigators admit, they have no clue where he is to be found.

Eileen O'Connor, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

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