Man Accused of Document Falsification

Federal prosecutors Monday confirmed the arrest in Phoenix of a Middle Eastern man who had been detained briefly in Europe as part of an anti-terrorism crackdown after the Sept. 11 attacks.

Malek Seif, charged with five counts of making false statements on applications to federal agencies, was secretly indicted Thursday in Arizona. He was arrested the following day and remains in custody pending a hearing this week before a federal magistrate, said First Assistant U.S. Atty. Mike Johns.

In the indictment, Seif, 36, is not accused of involvement in last month’s terrorist attacks. But his name has appeared in records listing hundreds of individuals sought by federal agents for questioning.

Seif, believed to be a native of Djibouti, is charged with making false statements about his place of birth when applying for a Social Security card. He also allegedly listed a fraudulently obtained Social Security number on a medical form required for pilot training.

Seif took flight training in the Phoenix area in the same period at the same school as Lotfi Raissi, an Algerian being held in Britain in connection with the probe of the U.S. hijackings, according to confidential federal investigative records. Raissi, indicted in Phoenix last month on charges of making false statements in his FAA application, is suspected of overseeing pilot training of some of the hijackers.

In federal records, Seif is described as having radical Muslim views. They also note that he left the country shortly before Sept. 11.

French authorities detained Seif this month as part of an anti-terrorism crackdown, a law enforcement official in France told The Times. However, Seif was released after two days because of a lack of evidence of a connection to terrorist activity, the official said.

Johns declined to discuss the circumstances of Seif’s Phoenix arrest or whether it grew out of the FBI’s anti-terrorism probe. It could not be determined Monday whether Seif has an attorney.