15 minutes ago

Add U.S. National - AP to My Yahoo!

By PAUL CHAVEZ, Associated Press Writer

LOS ANGELES - An Egyptian immigrant who opened fire inside Los Angeles International Airport committed an act of terrorism, but he did it alone and was not tied to any terrorist organizations, federal officials have determined.

Hesham Mohamed Hadayet, 41, killed two people at the ticket counter of El Al, Israel's national airline, and wounded several others in the July Fourth attack before he was fatally shot by an airline security guard.

The Department of Justice (news - web sites) had withheld characterizing the shooting while federal agents launched a worldwide probe. They determined it was terrorism related to the Israel-Palestinian conflict, said Matthew McLaughlin, an FBI (news - web sites) spokesman in Los Angeles.

"The investigation developed information that he openly supported the killings of civilians in order to advance the Palestinian cause," McLaughlin said.

The FBI findings, made several months ago, were recently approved by the Justice Department (news - web sites). McLaughlin said Friday that his office was told not to issue a news release but was given permission to confirm the finding if asked.

The investigation found that Hadayet had become increasingly militant in recent years. Just weeks before the shooting, he bought the weapons used in the attack, closed his bank accounts and sent his family overseas. At the time, Hadayet, who lived in Irvine, was $10,000 in debt, and his limousine businesses was struggling, authorities said.

Hadayet had applied for asylum in the early 1990s, but his application was rejected. He became a permanent U.S. resident after his wife won her residency in the U.S. visa lottery program.

In a 1993 interview for asylum, Hadayet told U.S. immigration officials that Egyptian authorities had arrested and falsely accused him of involvement with Al-Gamma'a al-Islamiyaa, an Islamic group that was waging a violent effort to topple the secular Egyptian government. The group is now on the State Department's terrorist organization list.

The FBI investigation found that Hadayet had no ties to any terrorist organization and acted alone in the airport attack, McLaughlin said. The shooting killed Yaakov Aminov, 46, and Victoria Hen, 25.

Email Story   Post/Read Msgs (3)   Print Story Ratings: Would you recommend this story? Not at all 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5 Highly