BOMB SUSPECTS TIES TO INMATE PROBED (WASHINGTON POST)

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Body:  THE W
 Stanley Brezenoff, executive director of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, right, testifies at House
 subcommittee hearing on World Trade Center bombing. At left is New York City Police Commissioner Raymond W. Kelly.
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 Salameh, Elgabrowny .Remain Chief Focus of .N. Y: Investi~atian
 By William Sposato
 Reuter
 NEW YORK, March 9-The investigation into the
 bombing of the World Trade Center is focusing more
 closely on the two men already charged in the case and
 their ties to a prisoner who was jailed on charges stem-
 ming from the 1990 killing of Rabbi Meir Kahane, in-
 vestigatorsand news reports said today.
 Mohammed A. Salameh is charged with taking part in
 the Feb. 26 bombing that killed five people and injured
 more than 1,000. He rented the van believed used to
 deliver the bomb to the underground garage of the low-
 er Manhattan landmark.
 Ibrahim Elgabrowny, arrested for scuffling with au-
 thorities as they searched his apartment, also has been
 called a suspect in the case by prosecutors.
 The two are known to have ties to Sayyid A. Nosair,
 who is in prison on charges stemming from the killing of
 Kahane in New York. Nosair was convicted of gun pos-
 session and assault in the case, but cleared of murder
 charges.
 The New York Times reported today that Salameh
 and Elgabrowny are now thought to be pivotal figures in
 the case.
 In Washington, FBI Director William S. Sessions said
 today that the bombing should not be seen as an indi-
 on
 ``d
 of a corning wave of terrorist acts.
 ~~
 ~~
 thisl4:~_American public should always be vigilant, but
 ApRgQ~f
 bane case that those responsible would be involved it
 other such acts.
 Observers at Nosair's 1991 trial said that Sa]amer-
 was among those who regularly attended and New York
 newspapers today showed pictures of Nosair with
 someone who appeared to be Salameh.
 Prison authorities said today that Nosair is part of
 the investigation, although his passible role was not
 disclosed.
 According to news reports, Nosair's cell at Attica
 prison in upstate New York has been searched for any
 documents connected with the bombing.
 Officials say Salameh and Elgabrowny have links to a
 fundamentalist Muslim group whose spiritual leader is
 Omar rlbdul Rahman.
 Abdul Rahman has said repeatedly that he had noth-
 ing to do with the bombing. "I do not condone nor do I
 incite such acts of violence,' he said in a statement is-
 sued by his lawyer.
 At the same time, investigators are also looking into
 whether the bombing involved Middle East terrorist
 groups.
 James Fox, New York head of the FBI, told Reuter
 that he believed those responsible for the blast were
 part of an organized operation.
 "They may just be an ad hoc group, but my gut feel-
 ing tells me it's not the case;' Fox said in the interview.
 "We're looking pretty closely at a possible ]ink between
 these guys and the old-line terrorist groups." .
 Fox also said he expects more searches for evidence
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