Two Sept. 12 detainees charged

12/14/2001

By LARRY NEUMEISTER
Associated Press Writer

NEW YORK — Two men arrested on a train in Texas a day after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks were charged Thursday with conspiring to commit credit card fraud.

In brief but separate court appearances, the men were advised of the fraud charges and their rights. No pleas were entered, and they did not speak in court.

The two have been detained since Sept. 12, when they were found on the Amtrak train in Fort Worth, Texas, with boxcutters and hair dye.

``Little by little, this case is fading away,'' defense lawyer Lawrence Feitell said after his client appeared in public at a court proceeding for the first time since he was taken into custody.

In the criminal complaint, Feitell's client was identified as Syed Gul Mohammed Shah, with an alias of Ayub Ali Khan, the name that had been used commonly in published reports. Shah and the other man, Mohammed Azmath, had been roommates in Jersey City, N.J.

On Wednesday, a law enforcement source, speaking to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity, said investigators no longer believe the men were connected to the Sept. 11 attacks or any other plots.

Lawyers for the men said Thursday they would consent to continued detention without bail for now on charges that Magistrate Judge James C. Francis advised could carry potential penalties of 10 years in prison and $250,000 in fines.

Edward Wilford, who represented Azmath, said he would prepare a bail package for his client to show the judge at a later date.

In court papers outlining charges, the government alleged the men were responsible for credit cards with an outstanding balance of approximately $414,000.

Feitell said his client had consented to more than 30 hours of interrogation and lie detector tests before prosecutors seemed to conclude that he was not a terrorist when he boarded a flight Sept. 11 with Azmath to move to San Antonio, Texas, to start a new job.

The flight was aborted in St. Louis when the government ordered all planes to the ground after the attacks.

The men boarded the train and were arrested in Fort Worth after police found the boxcutters, hair dye, a knife and $5,500 in cash. Investigators believe terrorists used boxcutters to hijack the airliners Sept. 11.

Investigators also said Shah and Azmath had shaved hair from their bodies, as some of the hijackers may have been instructed to do.

Feitell said a boxcutter is standard equipment for the men, who had worked at newsstands. He said the dye was to cover up gray hair.