LOS ANGELES — Algerian security forces have arrested a fugitive who may be connected to a reputed terrorist on trial for allegedly plotting to attack U.S. West Coast targets around the time of the millennium celebrations.
A statement by Algerian authorities said Abdelmajid Dahoumane was arrested on his return from Afghanistan, where he had undergone arms and explosives training.
The statement didn't say when Dahoumane was arrested.
Dahoumane has been linked to Ahmed Ressam, who is involved in a bombing conspiracy trial in Los Angeles. U.S. officials believe the two men have ties to exiled Saudi billionaire Osama bin Laden, the alleged mastermind of the 1999 bombings of the U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania that killed 224 people.
On Wednesday, jurors in Ressam's case were shown videotapes of what would have happened if explosives discovered in his car had detonated.
In two scenes, the explosives destroyed a car similar to the one that Ressam allegedly drove onto a ferry from Victoria, B.C., to Port Angeles, Wash., in 1999, days before millennium celebrations were scheduled in the United States.
The blast with the full amount in the trunk of the car created a thunderous sound, plumes of smoke and fire and reduced the car to a pile of smoking, twisted metal.
Ressam turned his chair to face the screen on which the display was shown in the courtroom. He was expressionless while his eyes were on the screen.
Jurors have heard testimony that the trunk of the car was filled with chemical compounds and timing devices that could have been used as bombs.
Prosecutors have told the jury they do not intend to prove specific sites were targeted, but have presented testimony indicating Ressam was interested in West Coast airports and landmark buildings.
Jurors also heard from a Canadian forensic chemist who examined items found in Ressam's Montreal apartment. Elizabeth Wendy Norman of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police testified she was ordered to stay and work on Christmas Eve 1999 after Ressam was arrested and suspicions arose that explosives were involved in the case.
Among the items Norman studied were a pair of pants and a pair of shoes that she said had holes in them that looked like chemical burns.
Norman said her work suggested the holes were made by sulfuric acid. She also discussed the makeup of chemicals found in the car trunk, including RDX, which she said is a component of TNT, often used in plastic explosives.