Relatives of suspects react to investigation

AL-MARJ, Lebanon -- The Lebanese family of a man named as one of Tuesday's hijackers described him as a secular-minded student who had a girlfriend and drank alcohol -- not someone who would be inspired to terrorism by Islamic fundamentalism.

As an investigation into the terror attacks spread internationally on Saturday, information about the suspected hijackers was surfacing in Lebanon, Germany, the United Arab Emirates and other countries.

Three of the 19 hijackers whose names were released by the FBI on Friday were Arabs who had lived in Hamburg, Germany in recent years. Two of the three were from the United Arab Emirates and the other was from Lebanon.

In Germany, investigators said Saturday that police found "airplane-related documents" at the home of the Lebanese suspect's girlfriend. And in the United Arab Emirates, a relative of another suspect said he was a loner and very religious.

The family of the Lebanese suspect said they found it inconceivable that he would be involved.

"Concerning Ziad Jarrah, whose name was mentioned by news agencies, we cannot imagine that this boy would ever carry out such an act," said his uncle, Nazem Jarrah. He was interviewed in the Jarrah family home in the village of Al-Marj, 30 miles east of Beirut in the Bekaa Valley.

The FBI said that one of the men who helped commandeer four planes used in Tuesday's attacks was named Ziad Jarrahi; U.S. aviation authorities listed a Ziad Jarrah as holding a pilot's license.

The difference in spellings of the last name could not be immediately reconciled. Differences are common when Arabic names are written in English.

Earlier, an official Lebanese statement issued in Beirut quoted a security source as saying that Ziad Samir Jarrah, 26, had been in Hamburg, Germany, for the last four years studying flight engineering.

"Lebanon, its government and people have no link whatsoever with the developments in the United States," said a separate Lebanese government statement. Lebanon has repeatedly condemned the attacks, and its leaders have said they would cooperate with U.S. investigators if called upon.