RCMP Hand Over Suspect to FBI

RCMP Hand Over Suspect to FBI

Man was carrying 'photos of interest' when his flight landed in Toronto

by Kate Jaimet
The Ottawa Citizen
September 17, 2001

The RCMP handed over a man for questioning to U.S. authorities yesterday, after detaining him for five days in Toronto in connection with the terrorist attacks on Washington and New York.

The man is one of "several" individuals arrested when their U.S.-bound planes landed in Canada, the FBI confirmed.

The man, who is not a Canadian citizen, was travelling on an international flight bound for the United States on Tuesday, the day terrorists hijacked four airliners, using three of them to strike New York's World Trade Center and the Pentagon in Washington, D.C.

The plane was diverted to Toronto's Pearson Airport when the United States closed its airspace. When Customs officials searched the man, they found him carrying suspicious items on his person, said RCMP spokesman Greg Peters.

There have been reports that the man was carrying Palestinian Authority travel documents and a picture of himself in a flight crew uniform with a fake backdrop of the World Trade Center.

Canadian authorities said only that he was carrying photographs of interest and a flight jacket. They did not release the man's name, age, or nationality.

Immigration officials at the airport refused to allow the man to enter Canada, said Citizenship and Immigration spokeswoman Huguette Shouldice.

She would not elaborate on the grounds for detaining the man, but said that officials may detain people for attempting to enter the country on false pretenses, or for having a criminal record. Ms. Shouldice said she did not know of any charges against the man. "It is not a charge. It is a violation of our (Immigration) Act," she said.

After five days of detention in Toronto, the man was transferred to the United States with his consent, Ms. Shouldice said.

"Under the Immigration Act, a person can voluntarily agree to leave and to select a country they wish to go to," she said. "He agreed to voluntarily leave to the United States."

Mr. Peters said the man is now in custody in the U.S.

An FBI official said the United States Immigration and Naturalization Service has 25 people detained in connection with the attacks.

There have been reports that a second man is being held in Thorold, Ont., near St. Catharines, on immigration grounds, but the RCMP has not confirmed the reports.

On Friday night, a passenger on an Air Canada flight from Toronto to Calgary reportedly found a packing knife in the overhead storage compartment before takeoff. The Airbus 320 was impounded and its passengers were ordered to identify their checked baggage before they were put on another plane.

Meanwhile, Foreign Affairs minister John Manley said there is "zero indication" of a Canadian connection to anyone involved in the terror attacks.

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