DATE=1/19/2000
TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT
TITLE=TERRORIST INDICTMENTS (L ONLY)
NUMBER=2-258206
BYLINE=MARTIN BUSH
DATELINE=NEW YORK
CONTENT=
VOICED AT:


INTRO:  A Federal grand jury in New York has indicted 
two Algerian men on charges of planning a terrorist 
bomb attack somewhere in the United States.  V-O-A's 
Martin Bush has further details in New York.


TEXT:  Federal prosecutors have charged Mokhtar 
Haouari (Mokh `tahr  Hah oo `ah ree) with conspiring 
with Abdel Ghani Meskini (Ab `dool `Ghah nee Mes `kee 
nee) to commit terrorist acts.  The two Algerian men 
are suspected of planning a bomb attack in the United 
States at an unspecified location. 

In an indictment unsealed in New York, Mr. Haouari is 
charged with overseeing the smuggling of explosives 
and bomb parts from Canada into the United States at a 
border crossing near the city of Seattle, Washington.  
The indictment also accuses the 31-year-old Algerian 
with supplying false identification documents, such as 
foreign passports and U-S Immigration identity cards.

Mr. Haouari is in a Canadian prison in Montreal, 
pending extradition to the United States.  His alleged 
co-conspirator, Abdel Ghani Meskini, is being held 
without bail in a federal jail in New York City.

Mr. Meskini - who was living as an illegal immigrant 
in Brooklyn, New York - was arrested on December 30th 
and is charged with providing "material support" in 
the alleged bomb plot.  According to the indictment, 
Mr. Meskini, as ordered by Mokhtar Haouari, traveled 
to the Seattle area to meet with Ahmed Ressam (Ahkh 
med  Reh `sahm)

Mr. Ressam, a 32-year-old Algerian, was arrested on 
December 14th at Port Angeles in Washington state for 
allegedly using an automobile to smuggle bomb 
materials from Canada to the United States.

Another individual who may be tied to the alleged plot 
is Lucia Garofalo (Loo `see ah  Gah `roaf ah lo).  She 
is a Canadian woman who was arrested in mid-December 
for allegedly trying to smuggle an Algerian man from 
Canada into the American state of Vermont.

Federal authorities say if Mokhtar Haouari is found 
guilty of the conspiracy charges against him, he may 
be imprisoned for up to 25 years. (SIGNED)

NEB/NY/LSF/MAB/JP




19-Jan-2000 11:04 AM EDT (19-Jan-2000 1604 UTC)
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Source: Voice of America
.