We have hijackers' real identities - FBI

FBI Director Robert Mueller says investigators have established the true identities of all 19 of the September 11 hijackers and have identified places outside the United States where the plot was hatched.

The identities of some of the hijackers were in question for weeks after the attacks because investigators were not sure whether some were carrying false identification when they boarded planes in Washington and Boston.

‘‘We at this point definitely know the 19 hijackers who were responsible,’’ Mueller said.

The FBI has confirmed that the hijackers’ names released in late September are the true identities of all 19 men, said a law enforcement source, speaking on condition of anonymity.

The names were those listed on the planes’ passenger manifests and investigators were certain that those were the names the hijackers used when they entered the United States.

But questions remained about whether they were the hijackers’ true identities, partly because some of their names are common in the Arab world and some of the hijackers fraudulently obtained state identification cards before the hijackings.

Investigators now believe the names released on September 28 are the hijackers’ real names.

The Saudi Institute, an independent human rights watchdog group that has researched the hijackers’ identities, said at least one of the hijackers identified by the FBI used stolen identification.

Abdulaziz Alomari was identified by the FBI as one of the hijackers of an American Airlines plane that was crashed into the World Trade Centre. Ali Al-Ahmed, the Saudi Institute’s director, said Alomari used someone else’s passport.

Investigators know some of the overseas locations where the hijacking plot was hatched and have identified overseas accomplices, Mueller said. He did not name the places or others involved.

Attorney General John Ashcroft said last month that three of the leaders of the hijackers and three accomplices were part of a terrorist network that operated at least since 1999 in Hamburg, Germany, and in the United States.

European authorities have also found evidence the hijackers and their accomplices were in Spain and Great Britain. Officials in the Czech Republic said suspected ringleader Mohamed Atta met with an Iraqi intelligence agent in Prague in April.

In other developments:

:: A Pakistani man with alleged links to at least two of the hijackers was indicted on unrelated vote fraud counts in North Carolina. Intiaz Ahmed Siddiqui, 31, was arrested in the Detroit area this week and indicted on Tuesday in Greensboro, North Carolina. Prosecutor Jane Terbush said the government had information that linked Siddiqui to at least two of the hijackers, whom she did not identify.

:: In Washington, Attorney General John Aschroft said investigators don’t think three men arrested in Michigan in connection with the hijacking investigation had knowledge of the September 11 attacks. Karim Koubriti, Ahmed Hannan and Farouk Ali-Haimoud were arrested on charges of possession of false documents. Koubriti and Hannan were indicted; charges against Ali-Haimoud were dismissed.