WASHINGTON - With zero-hour fast approaching for the turn of the millennium, federal agents across the country are conducting interviews with people who may have information about possible terrorist attacks, the FBI said yesterday.

While the questioning proceeded, authorities in New York yesterday charged a man with aiding Ahmed Ressam, an Algerian who was arrested Dec. 14 on explosives charges as he entered Washington state from Canada.

Abdel Ghani, who authorities said is in his 30s, was arrested at his Brooklyn apartment and charged with concealing his material support of Ressam and conspiracy to traffic in, and use, fraudulent bank and credit cards. Authorities said he planned to travel with Ressam to Chicago and other places to raise money for an unidentified terrorist organization.

The complaint said that when Ressam was arrested Dec. 14, authorities found a piece of paper bearing the name "Ghani" and a phone number that led to Ghani's Brooklyn address.

The complaint also said Ghani had stated that he was aware that Ressam and others were part of a "well-organized group." It said Ghani had been in Seattle from Dec. 11 to 16, traveling under the name Eduardo Rocha, and was supposed to meet with Ressam there and travel to Chicago, among other places, to raise money for the group.

The US attorney's office in New York said the arrest was "part of efforts to pursue all information regarding the risk of any planned attacks but has not suggested any specific and credible threats against any particular targets, either in New York or elsewhere."

Information stemming from the Ressam investigation also led to the arrest of five Algerian nationals in the Boston area yesterday. However, the charges were related to immigration issues and not terrorism.

The questioning of "fewer than 100" individuals nationwide is part of the ongoing investigation of Ressam, who was arrested 17 days ago as he crossed into the United States with explosives material, said FBI spokesman Jim Davis. The interviews may go beyond the Ressam case to involve other potential bombings or attacks, he said.

But Davis cautioned that the questioning "is not a sweep," and added that "the fact that we're interviewing these people doesn't mean they're suspects."

The interviews were conducted yesterday in Massachusetts, New York, Washington state, Texas, and California, Justice Department spokesman Myron Marlin said.

The questioning "sends a little bit of a message that the FBI is watching here," Marlin said.

Fear of a possible New Year's terrorist attack has lent a grave undercurrent to what is meant to be a festive occasion, although law enforcement agencies insist they have no credible evidence of any specific threat.

Still, concerns of a terrorist assault have been fueled by the arrests of Ressam and two others later detained at the Vermont border. Authorities say Ressam and one of the individuals arrested Dec. 19 at the Vermont border, Lucia Garofalo, a Canadian, have links to an Algerian extremist group.

But Muslim Americans bristled at the questionings, accusing the FBI of singling out Algerian-Americans who are Muslim. Bouabide Chamchi, who was arrested with Garofalo, is an Algerian national.

"Muslims have been made the bogeyman of the day," said Ibrahim Hooper of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, based in Washington, D.C. He said he had received "scattered reports" of Muslim Americans complaining they were intimidated by overzealous FBI agents.

"We just hope this thing will blow over," Hooper said.

Federal authorities allege that Ressam and Garofalo are connected to the Armed Islamic Group, known by its French initials, GIA.

The GIA, considered a terrorist group by the State Department, is the major Islamic extremist group involved in Algeria's nearly eight-year civil war.

The group has not, however, claimed responsibility for any attacks in the United States, State Department and academic experts said. The GIA's wrath is generally aimed at pro-secular government forces in Algeria, and at France, which the GIA perceives as being sympathetic to the Algerian government.

With large New Year's Eve celebrations planned across the United States, law enforcement officials aren't taking any chances on security.

FBI Director Louis Freeh met yesterday in Washington with Canadian law enforcement officials to "ensure continuing close coordination on law enforcement and intelligence issues," said an FBI statement. A Justice Department official played down the meeting as any kind of master planning session to fight terrorists.

"If it was something big, they wouldn't tell you about it," the official said.

In New York, police sealed manholes, and removed mailboxes and newspaper dispensers near Times Square, possible targets of would-be terrorists. Such precautionary measures, however, are taken every New Year's Eve, said New York Police Department spokesman officer Chris Cottingham.

For this year, the city is putting 8,000 police on the streets to patrol the dropping of the ball at midnight - an event expected to draw millions of revelers.

Four people were arrested in Brooklyn yesterday by a joint antiterrorism task force of the New York police and the FBI. Both the complaint and the charges against the four were sealed by a federal judge in Manhattan.

The streets of Washington were quiet yesterday, as police readied the area around the National Mall for the concert, film, and light show planned for tonight's capital celebration. President Clinton and Hillary Rodham Clinton are planning to participate in the outdoor event as scheduled.

Material from the Associated Press was used in this report.

This story ran on page A01 of the Boston Globe on 12/31/1999.
© Copyright 1999 Globe Newspaper Company.