The ticket agent reported spotting Dahoumane on December 17, three days before Ressam's arrest

December 26, 1999
Web posted at: 4:15 a.m. EST (0915 GMT)

BELLINGHAM, Washington (CNN) -- An airline employee has told federal agents he saw a man wanted in connection with explosives found at the Canadian border, a federal law enforcement source said Sunday.

Canadian police issued an arrest warrant for Abdelmajid Dahoumane on Thursday. The source told CNN a ticket agent contacted the Border Patrol station in Bellingham, Washington, north of Seattle, on Christmas morning to report seeing Dahoumane on December 17.

"The Border Patrol immediately contacted the FBI, " the source said.

A spokeswoman for Horizon Airlines, a regional carrier in the Pacific Northwest and California, told the Associated Press three employees were interviewed by the FBI Saturday. She would not comment on what was said.

Three days that sighting, another man -- Ahmed Ressam, an Algerian living in Canada illegally -- was arrested by U.S. Customs officers trying to cross into the United States in Port Angeles, Washington. A search of the rental car turned up nitroglycerin, potentially explosive chemicals and timing devices hidden in the car's spare tire well.

Ressam's arrest and the manhunt for Dahoumane have increased worries that extremist groups may be plotting to plant bombs in the United States over the holidays. Security has been tightened along the U.S.-Canadian border and at airports.

FBI Special Agent Ray Lauer told CNN that "interviews are going on all over the place. Lots of people are being interviewed. But we're not saying who we talked to." He said he "can't comment on the investigation" and "I can't say if the airline is involved."

Court records in Canada charge Ressam and Dahoumane with possessing explosive substances "with the intent to endanger life or cause damage to property."

Investigators believe Dahoumane is the man who stayed with Ressam at a Vancouver motel for three weeks before Ressam boarded a ferry and tried to enter the United States at Port Angeles.

Officials are on edge, in part, because they don't know what to expect when the New Year arrives. But all stress that there is no credible information about threats on U.S. soil.

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