A special report by Hal Bernton, Mike Carter, David Heath and James Neff · June 23 - July 7, 2002

Ahmed Ressam The terrorist		George Tenet CIA director was concerned about millennium attacks		Madeleine Albright Secretary of state gave assurances about the home front
Belkacem Ressam A war hero who hoped his son would go to college		Michael Sheehan Chief of counterterrorism demanded bin Laden be turned over		Osama bin Laden His al-Qaida was plotting attacks for New Year's Eve
Abu Zubaydah At 25, Osama bin Laden's director of operations		Real Genest Spotted Ressam's fake passport		Denis Buron Immigration lawyer is stood up by Ressam.
Fateh Kamel Name in the electronic organizer of a French terrorist; Ressam's friend and mentor		Jean-Louis Bruguière The world's most prominent terrorism investigator		Philippe Tete Department-store detective spotted shoplifting routine
Abderraouf Hannachi Recruiter for al-Qaida camps		Jim Corcoran Canadian intelligence official		Abu Doha Ringleader for the Algerian cells
David Gendron This Mountie didn't get his man		Mourad Ikhlef His bombing of Algiers airport was a blueprint		Samir Ait Mohamed Proposed detonating gasoline truck in Jewish neighborhood
Mokhtar Haouari Would provide money for bombing plot		Abdelmajid Dahoumane Would help Ressam build the bomb		Abdelghani Meskini Was to help carry out the plot; waited in Seattle for Ressam
Diana Dean Customs inspector found something wrong with the Canadian getting off the ferry		Mark Johnson Inspector discovered processing Ahmed Ressam was anything but routine		Fred Humphries Recognized suspect's French as Algerian
Patrick Gahan Called for help from Port Angeles		Kate Pflaumer U.S. attorney went to Paris for "Terrorism 101"		John O'Neill Put the young American and the wily Frenchman together
Jo Ann Oliver Federal public defender tried to minimize role of Ahmed Ressam in terrorist cell		John Coughenour Judge decided whether to allow terrorist-tracker's testimony		Zacarias Moussaoui Alarmed flight instructors with questions about how to steer but not land a jetliner
Enrique Ghimenti The Paris-based FBI agent was investigating a U.S. flight-school student