FBI Hunts for Saudi Pilot
By KARIN MILLER
Associated Press Writer
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) -- The FBI is searching anew for a Saudi pilot they first inquired about more than two weeks before the Sept. 11 attacks, and who purchased two small planes and left Tennessee shortly before the suicide hijackings, officials said.
Khaled Alzeedi's name appears on a list of 370 people that emerged overseas earlier this month. Most are wanted for questioning in the attacks investigation, officials have said.
Since the attacks, the FBI has questioned employees of a Nashville hotel where Alzeedi stayed, as well as the broker who sold the two planes, and seized records of Alzeedi's company, Zidi Aviation.
It's at least the second instance in which the FBI is known to have asked questions in the weeks prior to Sept. 11 about someone who later became a figure in the FBI's terrorism investigation. However, a top FBI official said Sunday that the bureau doesn't believe Alzeedi had any connection to the Sept. 11 hijackings.
"The FBI wants to interview Alzeedi in connection with a matter that remains totally unrelated to the hijackings," FBI assistant director John Collingwood said in Washington. "He is not on a watch list because of any suspected involvement in, or knowledge of, the Sept. 11 attacks."
In another case, Zacarias Moussaoui, a French-Algerian, was detained Aug. 17 in Minnesota after he aroused suspicions by seeking to learn how to steer but not land planes. Moussaoui is not cooperating with investigators.
Efforts to reach Alzeedi for comment were unsuccessful. The Jeddah, Saudi Arabia telephone number listed on Zidi Aviation's Web site does not work, and e-mail sent to an address listed on the site was returned as undeliverable.
Alzeedi and two or three other men stayed about three weeks in August at the Hilton Suites hotel in downtown Nashville, according to a law enforcement source who spoke on condition of anonymity.
In the same period, Alzeedi was arranging the aircraft purchase from Outlaw Aircraft Sales of Clarksville, Tenn., about 60 miles northwest of Nashville. The company's airfield and hangars are less than a mile from Fort Campbell, Ky., home of the Army's 101st Airborne Division.
Alzeedi bought two Tampico TB-9 airplanes -- small, single-engine, European-made aircraft often used for pilot training and by flying clubs. The planes were advertised on Outlaw's Web site.
Federal Aviation Administration records show the planes were registered Aug. 16 to Zidi Aviation Corp., which Alzeedi incorporated last year in Delaware. Alzeedi moved the planes to an unknown location, the law enforcement source said.
It's unclear why Alzeedi was brought to the FBI's attention in August. The law enforcement source said only that the Hilton hotel's management alerted authorities. Hotel general manager Mark Moravec would only say that Alzeedi "acted peculiar."
FBI agents inquired about Alzeedi at the hotel in late August, law enforcement officials said. Alzeedi checked out about a week later, in the last week of August, Moravec said.
After the Sept. 11 attacks, Outlaw owner Robert Wyatt was questioned by the FBI. Wyatt was on a business trip this week and did not return several telephone calls from The Associated Press.
Moravec would not comment on what information the FBI has sought since the attacks, but said the hotel has cooperated. Hotel employees have been questioned, the law enforcement source said.
FBI spokesman Jon Stephens in Nashville said he could not comment on the bureau's inquiries there.
Sidney Garnett, executive vice president of Registered Agents Ltd. of Wilmington, Del., acknowledged his company handled the incorporation of Zidi Aviation last year. He declined to comment further on Alzeedi or Zidi Aviation.
He said an FBI agent showed up at his office two to three weeks ago with a subpoena for Zidi Aviation's records. "We turned over everything we had in that file to the local FBI office," Garnett said.
The company had a Web site that showed the cockpit of commercial jetliners and listed services including pilot training and private shuttles. The site was changed this week to a black page listing the company's name, address and phone number in white print.
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Associated Press writers John Solomon in Washington, Randall Chase in Wilmington, Del., and Amanda Kell in Baltimore contributed to this story.
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