Government reveals terror suspect names

Associated Press

WASHINGTON — The Bush administration identified two Canadian citizens Friday as linked to al-Qaida terrorists and distributed their photographs while asking for help in locating them.

They may be traveling together and were known to have been in Canada several months ago, officials said.

Attorney General John Ashcroft said U.S. investigators recovered a photograph of one of the men, Al Rauf bin Al Habib bin Yousef Al-Jiddi, amid the rubble of the Afghanistan residence of Mohammad Atef, believed to have been Osama bin Laden’s military chief. Also found was an August 1999 suicide letter from Al-Jiddi, 36, pledging to give his life in the battle against infidels.

Al-Jiddi, whose last known address was an apartment building in Montreal, arrived in Canada in April 1991 and obtained citizenship there in October 1995, officials said. His name as it appears on his passport is Abderraouf Jdey, and he also is known as Farouq Al-Tunisi.

Ashcroft said Al-Jiddi may be traveling with Faker Boussora, 37, though their precise relationship is unknown. Both men are Canadian citizens born in Tunisia. The two had lived in Canada "for some years," said a Justice Department spokeswoman.

Ashcroft declined to say where officials had obtained the grainy photograph of Boussora, though it apparently came from a videotape.

"We do not have information about a suicide letter from him," Ashcroft said.

Authorities do not know where the men are, but they are not believed to be in the United States, officials said. Even so, warnings about the men were sent to law enforcement agencies across the country, and U.S. immigration officials pored over records.

"We think that individuals who make suicide videos and write suicide letters are dangerous individuals," Ashcroft said.

Canadian Prime Minister Jean Chretien said Friday that Al-Jiddi was no longer in Canada. The Canadian Broadcasting Corp. said the Canadian Security Intelligence Service notified U.S. authorities Thursday night with information on the man’s identity.

The Justice Department last week released videos and photos of five suspected members of al-Qaida, including one shown cradling a rifle and one of a Yemeni man who authorities believe was supposed to take part in the Sept. 11 attacks.

The government had tentatively identified four of the men as Abd Al-Rahim, Muhammad Sa’id Ali Hasan, Khalid Ibn Muhammad Al-Juhani and Ramzi bin Al-Shibh. The fifth man was not known until Friday, when he was identified as Al-Jiddi.