Saudi Man Arrested for Overdue Videos,
Suspected of Terrorist Links
A Saudi Arabian man who pleaded guilty in May to seven counts of grand larceny involving the theft of eight videotapes from the Boston Public Library is now under investigation for possession of materials “possibly related to planned acts of terrorism.” Saleh Ali Almari, 24, of Falls Church, Virginia, was accused June 25 of fraudulently taking at least 50 English-language proficiency tests to help foreign student-visa holders remain in the country illegally. Almari is currently being held in an Alexandria jail awaiting a deportation hearing.
Fairfax County police had obtained a search warrant for Almari’s apartment in December as part of their investigation into the test-taking scam, but alerted federal detectives when they discovered numerous items seemingly related to terrorism, among them a day planner with an entry for September 11 that contained a cryptic reference to the World Trade Center attack.
Almari’s attorney Robert L. Jenkins Jr. said in the June 28 Boston Herald that prosecutors overreached with their library-theft charges. “Mr. Almari rented some videos from the Boston area which were overdue,” he said. “The videos were discovered in another individual’s apartment and that led to the government filing a criminal complaint.” He did not know what the videotapes contained.
U.S. officials told the Herald that they have not been able to connect Almari to the September 11 attacks, but have not ruled out the possibility that he may have terrorist ties.
Posted July 1, 2002.
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