FBI drops alert over foreigners

FBI agents are no longer looking for the five

The United States Government has called off a search for five foreign men, amid questions about the reliability of the informant who told US agents that the men entered the country illegally last month.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) says the names of the men and their photos will be removed from its website.

Asghar suspects forger used his photo

On 29 December the bureau sought the public's help in locating the five - who were believed to have been smuggled into the US around Christmas Eve.

The information came from Michael John Hamdani, a suspected immigrant smuggler who has been detained in Canada since October.

In its alert message, the FBI said it had no specific information linking the five to any potential attack - but that it wanted to find them.

At the time the FBI acknowledged that it was not certain of the names and birth dates of the men - or of the fact that they had entered the country.

That concern was highlighted last week, when a Pakistani man, Mohammad Asghar, said his photo had been wrongly included among the wanted group, and speculated that it might have been stolen by document forgers.

Extradition

Also last week, the FBI decided against releasing further names and pictures provided by Mr Hamdani, because of their dubious quality.

On Tuesday Mr Hamdani is expected to be extradited to the United States - where he faces charges of trafficking in forged documents.

Forgery charges against him in Canada have been dropped, clearing the way for the transfer.

US officials say Mr Hamdani might have invented the names, in an attempt to receive a lighter sentence in the US case.

Correspondents say having him in custody will enable the American authorities to question him more thoroughly about his alleged smuggling ring.

US law enforcement agencies were placed on a heightened state of alert over the holiday period, because of possible terror attacks.