Law enforcement authorities declined to disclose details of the possible sighting of Amer el-Maati, who allegedly has talked about hijacking a plane in Canada and flying it into a building in the United States. The State Police went to the Nantucket Memorial Airport at noon Thursday after the possible sighting was reported, according to Phillip Parent of the Steamship Authority, which runs ferries to Nantucket and Martha's Vineyard. Later on Thursday, the FBI distributed photographs of Amer el-Maati to airline and ferry employees, as well as island law enforcement officials. The photographs were not released to the media, but an FBI official confirmed the sighting report. A flier with the photo describes Maati as "armed and dangerous" and says he "is being sought for possible terrorist threats in the United States," said Parent, the Steamship Authority's human resources director...
Maati, also known as Amro Badr Eldin Abou, says he has Egyptian and Syrian roots, but was born in Kuwait in 1966. Maati has Canadian citizenship and is a licensed pilot, the FBI has said. For at least three years, law enforcement authorities in Canada and elsewhere have been trying to track down Maati, but no one had reported any additional sightings by late yesterday afternoon, said an FBI spokewoman and a State Police spokesman.
|