FBI adds 9 more names to list of Chinese terror suspects
WASHINGTON (AP) - The FBI added the names of nine Chinese people and one other man to the list of those being sought for questioning about a possible terror plot targeting Boston.
FBI spokesman Joe Parris said Thursday the names "were developed as a result of the ongoing investigation" but did not signal credible evidence has emerged indicating such a plot actually exists. "Information is still uncorroborated and from a source of unknown reliability and motive," Parris said.
The names are part of the same anonymous tip that led authorities Wednesday to announce they are seeking to question four other Chinese and two Iraqis. The new names bring to 16 the people being sought for questioning.
A U.S. law-enforcement official in Washington, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the tip was received Wednesday by the California Highway Patrol. The tipster claimed the four Chinese - two men and two women - entered the United States from Mexico and were awaiting a shipment of "nuclear oxide" that would follow them to Boston.
The official said the nuclear oxide could be a reference to material used to make a "dirty bomb" that would spew radiation over a wide area.
U.S. Attorney Michael Sullivan of Boston said Thursday authorities had learned more background about the four but "it makes us no more alarmed this morning, this afternoon, than we were yesterday."
"They're not wanted at this point in time for any crimes because there's no evidence at this point in time that they've committed any crimes," Sullivan said.
"We're not certain exactly where they are. We can't even say for certain that they're in the country."
White House Chief of Staff Andrew Card said he discussed the manhunt with President George W. Bush during a meeting a few hours before Bush's inauguration for a second term. Card did not provide details on what was said.
The four Chinese previously named by the FBI were identified as Zengrong Lin, Wen Quin Zheng, Xiujin Chen and Guozhi Lin. Authorities said none of the names had appeared on previous watch lists of terror suspects. The bureau also released pictures of those four but not of the others being sought.
One woman was among the nine new Chinese names added: Yu Xian Weng, a woman either 40 or 41 years old. The others were all men: Quinquan or Quiquan Lin, 21; Liqiang Liang, 28; Min Xiu Xie, 27; Xiang or Xing Wei Liu, 22; Mei Xia Dong, 21; Xiuming Chen; Cheng Yin Liu; and Zao Yun Wang.
The final name on the new FBI list was Jose Ernesto Beltran Quinones, of unknown age or national origin.
Mexican officials said Thursday they have little information about the report terror suspects could have been smuggled across their border into the United States.
"There is nothing to indicate or to lead us to believe at this time that there is a possible case of terrorists," said Mexican Interior Secretary Santiago Creel.
Creel discussed border security Monday with U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge and said Thursday U.S. officials had not yet contacted his office about the case.
The spokesman for Mexico's National Migration Institute, Hermenegildo Castro, said his office has received unsubstantiated reports the suspects might have entered the United States through Tijuana or Mexicali, both Mexican cities on the California border.
While many security officials questioned the accuracy of the report, the governors of Massachusetts and New Hampshire skipped Bush's inauguration, staying home to reassure people in their states.
Since the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, the United States has beefed up security along the country's borders with both Canada and Mexico.
Mexico, too, increased security at airports and borders and tightened the granting of visas.
There have been several reports of possible terrorists trying to sneak into the United States from Mexico but none has been confirmed.
In March, a crackdown on a major migrant-trafficking ring netted 42 current and former government employees in 12 of Mexico's 31 states. They were accused of smuggling Latin Americans and Asians across Mexico's southern border and helping them sneak into the United States.
Debate about Mexico's screening international visitors increased last summer after a 48-year-old South African woman was allowed into Mexico with a passport that was missing pages. She then waded across the Rio Grande into Texas.
Farida Goolam Mahomed Ahmed was arrested July 19 while trying to board a flight in McAllen, Texas.
She pleaded guilty to illegally entering the United States, using an altered passport and making a false statement to a U.S. government agent. She was sentenced to time served Dec. 9 and is awaiting deportation.
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