Washington, D.C.
The FBI concluded that a tip that five Middle Eastern men had infiltrated the United States on Christmas Eve was a hoax, ABC News reported this week. Sources told ABC that an informant, Michael Hamdani, fabricated the story after he was arrested in Canada last October and charged with dealing in forged passports. He faces similar charges in the U.S., and allegedly hoped to avoid jail by squealing. American authorities launched a national search for the five suspects, identified as Abid Noraiz Ali, 25; Mustafa Khan Owasi, 33; Iftikhar Khozmai Ali, 21; Adil Pervez, 19; and Akbar Jamal, 28. The FBI posted mug shots on the Internet. A jeweler in Pakistan said he was the man in one of the photos, although he had never traveled to North America.
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