DATE=12/20/1999
TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT
TITLE=BOMB SUSPECT INVESTIGATION (L ONLY)
NUMBER=2-257335
BYLINE=MIKE O'SULLIVAN
DATELINE=LOS ANGELES
CONTENT=



VOICED AT:

INTRO:  Authorities in the United States and Canada 
are trying to determine if an Algerian man had 
accomplices in a suspected millennium bomb plot.  
Thirty-two-year-old Ahmed Ressam was charged Friday 
with trying to bring explosives into the United States 
near the U-S border city of Seattle.  As Mike 
O'Sullivan reports, police in Canada are looking at 
possible links between the suspect and an Algerian 
terrorist group.

TEXT:  Canadian investigators say the Algerian man may 
be linked to a theft ring in Montreal, which the 
authorities suspect of providing funds to a radical 
organization called the Armed Islamic Group.  But a 
spokesman says Montreal police have not confirmed any 
links between Mr. Ressam and specific terrorist 
organizations. 

Last week, the Montreal Police Department announced 
the arrests of eleven suspected members of the theft 
ring.  Eight of them are Algerian.  Mr. Ressam lived 
in Montreal, and police say he was arrested there last 
year for stealing laptop computers and cellular phones 
from cars.

The Royal Canadian Mounted Police have confirmed that 
no explosives were found in a van registered to Benni 
Norris, an alias of Mr. Ressam.  Meanwhile, 
authorities are stepping up their search for a 

possible accomplice, who is believed to have stayed 
with Mr. Ressam at a motel in Vancouver.   

Security has been tightened along the U-S borders with 
Canada and Mexico, as officials warn of a heightened 
risk of terrorism at New Year's.  (Signed)

NEB/MO'S/KL




20-Dec-1999 14:10 PM EDT (20-Dec-1999 1910 UTC)
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Source: Voice of America
.