DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: Federal law enforcement officials are trying to determine if another Algerian man who was arrested in Washington State has ties to Ahmed Ressam, who was accused of attempting to smuggle explosives into the U.S. For now, the man is being held on immigration charges. CNN's Aram Roston has the latest on the investigation.</s>ARAM ROSTON, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It has been more than a week since Abdel Hakim Tizegha was arrested in Washington State. Court documents say he's an Algeria national who has been in the United States since the end of November. Monday, under heavy security, he was brought to federal court to face immigration charges. Federal investigators are trying to determine if he has links to a possible terrorist plot that brought fears to the U.S. The complaint charges only that he violated immigration laws. It says he first entered the United States in 1993 as a stowaway on a ship. He was denied political asylum in 1997 and was finally ordered deported in 1999. Tizegha allegedly applied for refugee status in Canada, but the charges say he snuck back over the border into Washington State. At one point, he allegedly took a bus to Seattle. After his arrest, he allegedly called his roommate and asked him to "burn the bus ticket." That is the period when Ahmed Ressam, another Algerian, was charged with entering the U.S. with explosives in the trunk of his car. Prosecutors have linked Ressam to the Armed Islamic Group, a rebel organization in Algeria that has been accused of terrorist acts, but never, so far, in the United States. On December 30, another Algerian man was arrested in Brooklyn, New York. Prosecutors alleged he had ties to Ressam. There is no evidence yet that this latest arrest has any connection to that case. Aram Roston, CNN, Atlanta.
Federal Authorities Study Latest Border Arrest for Link to Terrorism