Fire scare at Justice Dept. building

WASHINGTON, SEPT. 17. The U.S. Justice Department was evacuated today as fire alarms sounded throughout the building but it was not immediately known why the complex was cleared.

Workers were told by Justice Department personnel to go away from the building, across Pennsylvania Avenue, and stand on the sidewalk by the nearby headquarters of the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

Meanwhile 49 suspects in last week's terrorist attacks in the U.S. have been detained, the FBI chief, Mr. Robert Mueller announced today.

In Boston, from where the two planes that crashed into the twin towers took off, the Federal authorities were investigating whether a suspected terrorist toured the control tower at Logan International Airport three days before the attacks. The man, who showed a pilot's licence entered the tower unescorted, several hours after four men who appeared to be of West Asian descent, asked a controller how to gain access to the tower, The Boston Globe reported in Monday's editions.

Mosques targeted in EuropeMosques were targeted in anti-Muslim attacks as anger over the attacks surfaced in separate incidents in Europe during the weekend. Danish police arrested a man as he was about to hurl petrol bombs at a Copenhagen mosque. And a mosque in the northern Polish city of Gdansk was stoned by a group of youths.

In a related development, the U.S. Government set up a hotline to respond to increasing complaints of verbal and physical assaults against Muslims, Arab-Americans and other minorities. The hotline number is 800-552-6843.

Murder of Indian: one held

One man was arrested in connection with the murder of Balbir Singh Sodhi, the Indian immigrant gunned down in Arizona yesterday. The 42-year-old Frank Roque was charged with one count of murder, two counts of attempted murder and three counts of shooting.

Saudi 'hijacker' clarifies

A Saudi national, named by the FBI as one of 19 hijackers in Tuesday's suicide bombings, said in an interview published today that his passport was stolen in Colorado in 1995. He told the London-based Asharq al-Awsat newspaper that he had reported the loss to police in Denver, Colorado, when his apartment was robbed in 1995. He was at his Riyadh office at the time of the bombings, he said.

- AP, AFP

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