Two wanted in Oklahoma City bombing
Death toll reaches 36, London returns suspect to United States
for questioning
By Owen Canfield
The Associated Press
OKLAHOMA CITY — Arrest warrants were issued Thursday for two
men suspected in the terrorist bombing of a federal building in
which at least 36 people died. Rescue efforts were temporarily
halted out of fear that the wrecked hulk of the building would
collapse.
The arrest warrants were announced at separate news conferences
by Attorney General Janet Reno and by Weldon Kennedy, in charge of
the FBI’s on-site investigation. Reno announced a $2 million reward
for information leading to the culprits.
Kennedy described the two suspects as white males who were
"associated with" a rented truck in which the bombing was carried
out.
He said he did not know their identities; both men were
identified only as "John Doe." But the FBI did release sketches of
the men, and Kennedy cautioned that they "should be considered
armed and extremely dangerous.”
He described both as of medium build. John Doe No. 1 was
described as 5 feet, 10 inches to 5 feet, 11 inches tall, about 180
pounds, with a light brown crewcut. The other was described as 5-9
to 5-10, about 175 pounds, with brown hair and a tattoo on his left
arm.
The government announcements capped a day of swirling rumors
about the investigation into the bombing, which is likely to be the
worst ever carried out in the United States.
The FBI commander cautiously denied broadcast reports that law
enforcement officials had arrested three men of Middle Eastern
origin as suspects in the case.
"At this point, the FBI (does not have) any suspects in custody
in this case, anywhere," he said at a late afternoon briefing when
he was asked about reports on CNN.
CNN reported that the three were arrested on immigration charges
and were being questioned today in connection with Wednesday’s
bombing. The network said the arrests occurred Wednesday night, one
in Oklahoma and two in Dallas. It did not cite its sources.
Kennedy acknowledged that a fourth man, described as a witness,
was being returned from Britain, where he had flown Wednesday.
A full day after the bomb caused horrific destruction to the
Alfred Murrah Federal Building, the confirmed death toll remained
at 36, including 12 children, Fire Chief Gary Marrs said. More than
400 people were injured.
The reports from CNN, parts of which were confirmed by a law
enforcement source in New York, were so specific as to include the
suspects’ names. Still, both the FBI and the Immigration and
Naturalization Service, denied any knowledge of the suspects or
their arrests.
CNN said the three men had stopped to ask an Oklahoma Highway
Patrol officer for directions Wednesday, and the officer was
suspicious enough to write down their car’s license plate number.
The license number was registered to a rental car  a car
other than what the men were driving, the network said.
In New York, a law enforcement source told the Associated Press
that one of the three, Asad Siddiqy of New York City, was a suspect
in the bombing. Siddiqy is a cab driver in the New York borough of
Queens.
CNN said Siddiqy was arrested in Dallas, along with Mohammed
Chafi. The network said a brother of Siddiqy was arrested in
Oklahoma.
"The FBI is unaware, at least at my level, of those arrests,"
Kennedy said. An INS official in Washington, speaking anonymously,
insisted that the immigration agency had not taken part in any such
arrests. Reno said she knew nothing about them.
In a separate development, Britain’s Home Office announced that
a man who landed at Heathrow Airport in London this morning was
being returned to the United States in connection with the case.
Reno said he was considered to be a ”possible witness.”
"There are a number of good solid leads being pursued," Justice
Department spokesman Carl Stern said. He added, ”We may have more
to say later.”