Name in Cave Leads to Detention

Federal authorities said Wednesday that they have detained a Tanzanian man and are investigating why his name was found on a document in an Al Qaeda cave in Afghanistan congratulating him on his graduation from a U.S. flight school.

But the officials cautioned that, so far, there are no indications that Issaya Nombo, described as being in his early 40s, had anything to do with any terrorist plots, including the Sept. 11 attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. Several of the suicide hijackers trained at U.S. flight schools.

Nombo was detained Monday in the small North Carolina town of Apex by Immigration and Naturalization Service officials, who say his visa had expired and that he is in the country illegally. Authorities would not describe how or why they came into contact with Nombo and detained him but said he was being held in a federal lockup in North Carolina.

Federal law enforcement officials said FBI agents have conducted a preliminary investigation, along with the INS, and have determined that Nombo appears to have some legal problems, but none that appear to stem from terrorist activities.

Nombo “doesn’t fit any of the traditional Al Qaeda stereotypes” and apparently is Roman Catholic, not Muslim, said one official who asked not to be identified.

“There was a letter found in a cave with this guy’s name on it,” another law enforcement official said. “At this point, we have interviewed him, and at the end of the day he may not be linked to terrorism. . . . He may have been targeted as a recruit.”

Authorities would not disclose details about how or where in Afghanistan the document was discovered or what it contained. But they said they planned to continue to aggressively investigate the matter and interview Nombo further.

Several officials speculated that, based on initial evidence, Al Qaeda operatives in Afghanistan may have gotten Nombo’s name from the Web site of a Titusville, Fla., flight training school, perhaps in an effort to take advantage of his flight skills.