Baja Jihad

Wed, Jun 22, 2005 at 6:21:43 pm PDT

Mexico Detains Man Thought Tied to Terror.

CABO SAN LUCAS, Mexico - A Lebanese-born man detained this week on Mexico’s Baja California peninsula is believed linked to extremist organizations with ties to the Sept. 11 terror attacks, Mexican prosecutors said.

Amer Haykel told acquaintances he was a pilot who was wandering the world on a tight budget. He seemed like “a straightforward person,” said Gabriel Garcia of the Cabo San Lucas fire station, where Haykel had sought shelter for several days.

Mexico’s federal attorney general’s office said late Tuesday that U.S. authorities linked the Lebanese-born British citizen “to extremist groups believed to be involved with the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, in New York.”

It did not say if he faced any charges or if he was believed to be personally involved in any terrorist actions.

On Wednesday, Mexico’s attorney general’s office said officials were trying to determine Haykel’s legal status. He was being held in Mexico City by immigration authorities.

In Washington, White House spokesman Scott McClellan referred questions to the Mexican government. Britain’s Foreign Office and London’s Metropolitan Police said they had no details on Haykel.

Haykel was arrested on Monday at the volunteer fire station of Todos Santos, a small town on the Pacific coast about 35 miles northwest of Cabo San Lucas that is known as a haven for U.S. expatriates.

Garcia said Haykel “went off all day and returned at 7 in the night to sleep” at the station. Haykel told the firefighters he was a pilot and “found himself traveling around the world, but he was doing it without money, seeking rides,” Garcia said.