DUBAI, United Arab Emirates, Dec. 13 -- Authorities in the United Arab Emirates earlier this year detained and questioned one of the hijackers who crashed a plane in rural Pennsylvania on Sept. 11, an Emirates official said today.
According to the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, Ziad Samir Jarrah arrived in the Emirates from Pakistan on Jan. 30 after two months in Afghanistan and Pakistan.
"He arrived here from Pakistan, in transit, was questioned at the airport, and let go, and he flew to Europe," the official said.
It was not clear how long Jarrah was questioned, but the official said he left the next day, Jan. 31, for Hamburg, via Amsterdam.
The official would not say why Jarrah was questioned.
The Chicago Tribune reported today that Jarrah was detained at the Dubai International Airport at the request of the U.S. government. The U.S. Embassy in Dubai declined to comment on the report.
Jarrah, a Lebanese citizen, has been identified as one of four hijackers on United Airlines Flight 93 that crashed in western Pennsylvania with 44 passengers and crew on board. Everyone on the flight was killed.
There have been other reports that Jarrah also may have been stopped in the United States before the attacks.
On Wednesday, a Maryland official said one of the Sept. 11 hijackers had been stopped by a state trooper for a traffic offense just days before the hijackings. The Baltimore Sun quoted unnamed enforcement officials who identified the man as Jarrah.
At least one of the hijackers was a citizen of the United Arab Emirates, and U.S. investigators have said that tens of thousands of dollars were transferred to the hijackers through Emirate banks to finance the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon.
