New Charges in Terrorism Case Planned

NEW YORK —  Prosecutors plan to rewrite an indictment to add charges against a man accused of aiding a plan to smuggle explosives into the United States from Canada.

Assistant U.S. Atty. David Kelley did not describe the nature of the new charges against Abdel Ghani Meskini, 31, of New York.

Meskini pleaded innocent in January to charges of providing and concealing support for Ahmed Ressam, an Algerian national accused of trying to sneak explosives into the United States just before the New Year.

Kelley told U.S. District Judge John F. Keenan on Friday that the new charges would stem from evidence already collected in the case.

Meskini has been held without bail since his December arrest in Brooklyn. No trial date has been set.

Ressam was arrested Dec. 14 after allegedly trying to smuggle timing devices and a powerful demolition explosive into Washington from Canada. The arrest came amid heightened security aimed at making sure terrorism did not mar millennium celebrations.

Ressam, who has pleaded innocent to nine charges including possessing and transporting explosives with the intent to cause damage or injury, had Meskini’s phone number in his pocket when he was arrested.

Another alleged accomplice, Mokhtar Haouari, 31, remains in Montreal as the United States seeks to extradite him to be tried in New York.

An indictment against Haouari and Meskini accuses them of conspiring since October 1997 to support members and associates of a terrorist group. Haouari allegedly provided various forged identification documents while Meskini went to Seattle to assist Ressam.