ABSTRACT
Terrorism in the United States was seen primarily as a crime, and homeland security was perceived as a problem to be addressed by law enforcement agencies and the criminal justice system. A phone record search on a telephone that agents also found in Mohammad Salameh's apartment led to more phone numbers and addresses of the suspects and revealed their activities prior to the bombing. At Salameh's apartment, the Federal Bureau of Investigation found more evidence of the World Trade Center conspiracy. The Federal Bureau of Investigation informed the Egyptian government, and soon Mahmud Abouhalima was taken into custody by the Egyptian authorities and viciously tortured because of his connections to Islamic militants campaigning against the Egyptian government. Although there had been a global manhunt to apprehend and arrest some of the World Trade Center perpetrators, as the defendants went to trial it appeared to law enforcement officials that the case was nearly over.
