A man convicted of bringing powerful explosives into Port Angeles in December 1999 appears to be an important informant in the investigation into the terrorist camp allegedly behind the attacks earlier this month.
Ahmed Ressam, 34, who was captured by Port Angeles Customs inspectors shortly after driving off the MV Coho from Victoria with a car containing explosives and bomb detonators, has been grilled by FBI and other agents at the federal lockup at SeaTac.
Except for his April trial in Los Angeles and testimony as a witness in the trial of an accomplice in New York in July, Ressam has been in the SeaTac prison since his arrest Dec. 14, 1999.
The exact information he has given to federal agents about the operations of exiled Saudi multimillionaire Osama bin Laden — suspected of masterminding the Sept. 11 hijack attacks against the World Trade Center and Pentagon — has not been disclosed for security reasons.
But the testimony Ressam gave two months ago as a state’s witness in the trial of an accomplice in New York sheds light into the information he’s giving the FBI now.
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