LAS VEGAS
-- At least 34 sites in Las Vegas appear on videotapes seized
from the New York apartment of a Pakistani man arrested in North
Carolina, but the commentary on the tapes has yet to be translated
from Urdu to English, so authorities do not know whether they
represent a surveillance effort, FBI special agent Ellen Knowlton
said Thursday.
Seven videos making up "many, many hours" of footage arrived
Thursday from the New York FBI office, she said. A cursory review
of the material showed it was "similar to what someone might
bring home from a vacation," she said at a news conference also
attended by Nevada Gov. Kenny Guinn, Las Vegas Mayor Oscar B.
Goodman and other law enforcement and civic leaders.
The tapes were seized from the home of Kamran Akhtar, also
known as Kamran Shaikh, after his July 20 arrest in Charlotte
by police who were suspicious about his filming of skyscrapers
there. He was detained on a charge of being in the United States
illegally, and videotaped footage he had taken of tall buildings
in several cities was discovered.
Knowlton declined to specify which Las Vegas sites appear
on the tapes but acknowledged that several buildings are casinos.
She noted that two of the tapes had no Las Vegas sites on them
but probably were sent to her office because they showed casinos
in other cities.
Guinn said the hastily called news conference was an effort
to quell suspicion that local leaders would withhold information
from the public about a terrorist threat. Las Vegas officials
this week denied claims in internal FBI memos, reported by the
Associated Press, that they had ignored or dismissed similar
threats in the past because of fears that the threat of terrorism
could damage the tourism mecca's economy.
In another case involving an alleged surveillance tape, law
enforcement officials confirmed on Thursday the discovery of
evidence that could raise new doubts about the convictions of
members of an alleged terrorist cell in Detroit.
In a trial last year, prosecutors alleged that a videotape
showing Disneyland, Las Vegas casinos and New York landmarks
appeared to be terrorist surveillance, and it was found when
the four defendants in the case were arrested.
But after the trial, a Tunisian immigrant who appears on the
tape and who was arrested on immigration charges told authorities
that the footage was taken during a college student trip, a
law enforcement official said. The new account was turned over
to defense attorneys this summer, the official said.
The witness's account is the latest blow to the Detroit case,
which resulted in three convictions -- two of them on terrorism
charges -- and was hailed by Attorney General John D. Ashcroft
as a victory in the war on terrorism. But a special prosecutor
has since been assigned to the case amid allegations that government
lawyers failed to turn over evidence to the defense.
"New information and evidence has come to our attention that
we were obligated to share with the defense," Justice Department
spokesman Mark Corallo said.
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