
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SUNDAY, June 27, 1993                   TAG: 9306270084
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A-2   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Los Angeles Times
DATELINE: NEW YORK                                LENGTH: Medium

EGYPTIAN INSIDER WALKED DANGEROUS LINE FOR U.S.

He kept medals from his days in the Egyptian army on his mantel, next to the Koran and a bulletproof vest. Five floors above Broadway, two continents and a decade removed from hostile fire in his native land, Emad Ali Salem still was in danger.

The man who told neighbors he had been a bodyguard for slain Egyptian President Anwar Sadat has been exposed as the FBI's key informant in what could be the most audacious terrorist plot in American history.

Salem stood at the very side of the militant sheik whose followers have emerged as principal suspects both in the World Trade Center bombing and in the latest alleged scheme of mass destruction.

Now under federal protection, Salem is being hailed as a hero by neighbors and media commentators, who say his efforts may have prevented horrific bloodshed in America's largest city.

But in mosques and immigrant Arab neighborhoods, where many feel anti-Muslim sentiment rising, there is skepticism and even scorn.

Some wonder if Salem's background as an army colonel, black-belt karate expert and one-time presidential security guard might fit the profile of a skilled intelligence operative who may have done more than observe progress of the abortive plan to blow up the United Nations, two Hudson River tunnels and the FBI's Manhattan field office.

"Maybe this guy . . . worked for the Egyptian government," said Moataz Adam, a friend of one of the suspects. "Maybe he's doing this for his country. Maybe he's doing this for money. We don't know."

Defense attorney William Kunstler declared: "I am utterly convinced that this so-called informant was an agent provocateur."

One thing seems certain: Testimony by the 43-year-old, unsuspected spy will provide central evidence in federal prosecutions of the accused terrorist ring.

According to court papers, Salem stood at the very heart of the conspiracy. He rented the house FBI technicians turned into a virtual recording studio, videotaping and bugging the meetings of the alleged terrorists.

Salem went along on missions to scout potential bomb targets. He was present for tests of detonation devices. He traveled with the suspects when they reportedly sought to obtain guns and pretended once to conduct a sweep for hidden microphones in a Brooklyn apartment where bombing the United Nations was discussed.

And Salem, apparently wearing recording devices himself, met regularly with Siddig Ibrahim Siddig Ali, Sheik Omar Abdel-Rahman's translator and the reputed mastermind of the terrorist plot.

On the night of the arrests, Salem completed his insider role by seeing a door was left slightly ajar to permit an FBI raiding team swift and easy access to the makeshift bomb factory in Jamaica, Queens.

During the previous weeks and months, Salem had tried to live an otherwise ordinary life.

Diana Randall said she had known Salem throughout the two years he was her neighbor in a 12-story apartment building on Manhattan's Upper West Side.

She recalled him as an endearing family man who lived in a meticulous, $800-a-month apartment with his German-born wife, a Zen Buddhist, and two young children, Noha, 13, and Sherif, 10.

"I just hope the FBI is doing a good job of protecting him, wherever he is," she said.

by CNB