Local Witnesses In New York For Hearing

SAN DIEGO -- A grand jury investigation has brought three San Diego college students to New York, to learn what the three know about the men suspected of committing the Sept. 11 attacks.

Osama Awadallah (pictured, left), Mohdar Abdullah and Yazeed Al-Salmi arrived in New York Monday and were to appear before a federal magistrate Tuesday attorney Randy Hamud said Monday.

For hearings in San Diego last week, a courtroom was cleared and proceedings were held in secret. A gag order was imposed on Hamud and prosecutors.

The name and phone number of at least one of the students was found in a Toyota Corolla registered to suspected hijacker Nawaf Alhazmi, according to published reports.

The car (pictured, left), registered to Alhazmi at a San Diego address, was towed from Dulles International Airport after a man identified as Alhazmi and four others hijacked American Airlines Flight 77 and crashed it into the Pentagon.

Awadallah, Abdullah and Al-Salmi were questioned at length about the contents of the car at Dulles, Hamud (pictured, right) said.

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However, the men were never shown any documents and the attorney said that he believes it was an interrogation tactic.

Hamud flew to New York Monday night to represent his clients at Tuesday's hearing. None are suspected of a crime, he said.

They may be interviewed by federal prosecutors or they could be called to testify before a federal grand jury, he said.

The three men have not been charged with any crimes.