State police release tape of hijacker's traffic stop

PIKESVILLE, Md. -- A videotape of one of the Sept. 11 hijackers being pulled over for speeding two days before the attacks was released Tuesday by Maryland State Police, who said there were "no red flags" to justify detaining the man.

Ziad S. Jarrah was "extremely calm and cooperative" during the stop, and Trooper Joseph Catalano saw no reason to keep him, said Col. David B. Mitchell, the superintendent of state police.

"There were no circumstances to question the gentleman more than we did," Mitchell said.

The tape, which was filmed from a camera mounted on the officer's dashboard, is fuzzy and focuses on the rear of Jarrah's rental car. Catalano can be seen telling Jarrah he was pulled over for going 90 mph in a 65 mph zone.

After a few minutes, Catalano returns and tells Jarrah the fine is $270, gives him a few instructions on how to pay the fine and tells him he is free to go. Jarrah is never seen in the tape.

"No red flags at all," Catalano said. "It was a routine traffic stop."

FBI agent Michael Clemens said Jarrah was not on any federal lists of suspected terrorists at the time of the stop.

Jarrah, identified as one of the four hijackers on United Airlines Flight 93, which crashed in Pennsylvania, had a valid visa, Clemens said. Mitchell also said Jarrah had a valid Virginia driver's license.

The license indicated Jarrah lived in Springfield, Va.

In their only verbal exchange, Catalano asked Jarrah if he still lived at the address. State police said Jarrah answered yes, though his response cannot be heard on the tape.

After the attacks, FBI found the citation in the car that Jarrah had rented, which was parked at the Newark, N.J., airport.

He spent some time in Maryland before the attacks. Jarrah, a Lebanese citizen, had been detained and questioned in the United Arab Emirates in January 2001 after spending two months in Afghanistan and Pakistan.