Three arrested in US terror attacks

Federal investigators in the US have arrested three men in connection with Tuesday’s terrorist attacks in New York and Washington.

One man is being detained in New York as officials believe he may have information highly relevant to the investigation.

Investigators are releasing only limited information, but they say the man is a relevant witness and he is not cooperating with police.

According to reports emanating from the US, two men have also been arrested in Dallas, Texas. The two men, both Arabs, are also thought to have useful information.

When they were picked up by police, they were said to be in possession of false papers, a large amount of cash and box knives, similar to those used by the suicide bombers, who hijacked the planes on Tuesday.

Initially, it was suspected the men may have been involved in drug offences.

Progress of the investigation so far:

-Investigators recover both sets of black box recorders from the Pentagon and Pennsylvania crash sites.

-19 suspected hijackers named out of 50 people identified by the FBI as possibly being linked to the attacks

-Thousands of tip-off calls to FBI hot line and special website

-About 4,000 FBI special agents with 3,000 support staff in biggest manhunt in US history

The FBI has received over 36,000 leads in its investigation, and has issued a list of 100 people as part of a massive search for people, who assisted the hijackers.

The list has been circulated to thousands of local police departments, the Federal Aviation Administration, border patrols and FBI field offices, said Attorney General John Ashcroft.

"We believe they may have information that could be helpful to the investigation," said Mr Ashcroft.

A law enforcement source said the first man arrested on Friday was the same person who was detained a day earlier at Kennedy International Airport after showing a false pilot's licence.

Authorities have not identified the man, or revealed, where he was arrested.

A material witness arrest warrant allows investigators to hold someone in connection with an investigation without charging them with any crime.

Authorities believe there may have been a vast network of people who plotted and carried out Tuesday's attacks.

FBI Deputy Director Tom Pickard is leading the investigation.

More than 4,000 FBI agents are working with police in many different countries in the biggest manhunt in US history.

Hundreds of subpoenas have been issued, more than 30 search warrants have been searched and investigators have seized computers and other documents.

German police are questioning a man arrested in Hamburg

Meanwhile, investigators have found the cockpit voice recorder from the hijacked airliner which crashed near Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, a day after the flight data recorder was discovered at the crash site.

Investigators have also recovered voice and data recorders from the plane which crashed into the Pentagon.

FBI Director Robert Mueller said the data recorders from the Pentagon attack had yielded some information, but the voice recordings had not yet revealed anything.

Hijackers named

On Friday, the FBI named 19 men it suspects of being the hijackers in Tuesday's attacks as police forces around the world help track down the organisers.

The Justice Department said many of the 19, who all had Middle Eastern names, had had pilot training. They had lived in Florida, New Jersey, California, Massachusetts and Arizona.

In Belgium, local authorities are investigating possible links between a man detained during an anti-terrorism sweep in the capital and the chief suspect in the attacks, Osama Bin Laden.

Two suspects are in custody in Brussels after weapons were found during a house search, said a spokeswoman for the city's prosecutor's office.

In a related operation, Dutch police made four arrests of suspected Islamic militants in Rotterdam.

In Switzerland, the authorities said they were searching for evidence that the hijackers may have used the country as a transit point.