Alleged Bin Laden Aide in Custody

Since he has been in custody since Aug. 17, Habib Zacarias Moussaoui could not have played a direct role in Tuesday`s attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon.

However, the reason for his detention may have been a missed opportunity to prevent the tragedy: authorities were alerted when Moussaoui, 33, showed up at a Minnesota flight school last month offering cash for lessons on a 747 flight simulator.

He was reportedly uninterested in learning takeoffs and landings — only in how to fly the plane in a horizontal position, a desire that rang warning bells at the flight school, which then alerted authorities.

After the tip, he was taken into custody and it was learned that he had taken flight lessons earlier this year at a school in Norman, Oklahoma.

He is being held as a material witness. In addition, two men detained in Fort Worth, Texas, have been flown to New York for questioning.

Law enforcement officials say as many as 25 people picked up on immigration violations will be questioned in connection with the attacks. Most are believed to be on a list of more than 100 people the FBI wants to talk to, and officials say some have been cooperating.

The FBI made its first arrest on Friday. The suspect, whose identity was not made public, was being held as a material witness in New York after being detained at John F. Kennedy International Airport a day earlier, sources told ABCNEWS.

Material Witness at Top Bin Laden Aide?

But it is Moussaoui`s case that is drawing special interest this weekend, and an arrest warrant was issued for him in New York late Saturday.

"The idea of somebody showing up at a professional flight school and saying, `I just want to learn how to fly the plane horizontally` is absurd in the extreme," said ABCNEWS aviation analyst John Nance. "Nobody would put him in the seat."

The manager of the Oklahoma flight school said the FBI seemed very concerned about Moussaoui`s intentions.

"They didn`t really indicate anything other than, well, he did something very bad," the manager said.

It is not known whether he was supposed to have any role in the attacks, but former CIA director of counterterrorism Vince Canistraro, now an ABCNEWS analyst, said his activities should have set off warning signs.

"The information that was known in August about Moussaoui, particularly from foreign intelligence services was that he was a member of bin Laden`s organization al Qaeda, that should have been a very large warning flag if that information had been put together in Washington," he said.

Bin Laden and his organization are considered the prime suspects behind the attacks, although officials say the accused terrorist mastermind may have been acting in concert with other organizations.

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Author: ABC NEWS