The Associated Press
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) -- A man suspected of associating with al-Qaida and having knowledge of some of the activities of Zacarias Moussaoui was arrested Tuesday in Minneapolis, the Star Tribune reported Wednesday.
The man’s name was not released. The newspaper said it learned of the arrest from a law enforcement official who spoke on condition of anonymity.
FBI spokesman Paul McCabe declined to comment on the report. U.S. Attorney Tom Heffelfinger didn’t immediately return a call from The Associated Press.
The Star Tribune source said the detainee has confirmed some of investigators’ suspicions about Moussaoui, who was arrested while learning to fly a Boeing 747 jet at an Eagan flight school two years ago. The official told the newspaper that the jailed man has described Moussaoui’s activities at an al-Qaida training camp in Afghanistan several years ago.
Members of the FBI’s local Joint Terrorism Task Force made the arrest after a lengthy investigation, the official said. But the detainee’s identity was kept off the public roster of inmates at the Hennepin County jail.
Roseann Campagnoli, a spokeswoman for the Hennepin County Sheriff’s Office, referred calls Wednesday to the U.S. attorney’s office.
The Star Tribune’s source said the suspect was served with an arrest warrant Tuesday and brought before U.S. Magistrate Judge Earl Cudd, but the proceedings were sealed.
Moussaoui, 35, was indicted on Dec. 11, 2001. He is charged with a broad conspiracy that includes -- but is not limited to -- the Sept. 11 attacks. His is the only U.S. criminal case spawned by the suicide hijackings.