QUINCY —The author of a book on the Oklahoma City bombing says a homeless man arrested in Quincy on Wednes day is the same man identified by several witnesses to the bombing as having been with Timothy McVeigh before the deadly attack.
But an FBI spokesman, Greg Comcowich, said the man, Hussain Al-Hussaini was "thoroughly investigated" and "found to not have any role whatsoever in the attack on the Murrah Federal Building in 1995."
Comcowich did confirm Al-Hussaini had been seen with McVeigh prior to the bombing.
Quincy Police on Thursday spoke with the author and notified the FBI of the arrest of Al-Hussaini for slash ing a man’s face with a beer bot tle.
Capt. John Dougan said the man arrested in Quincy on Wednesday has the same name as a man featured prominently in the 2004 book “The Third Terrorist: The Middle East Connection to the Oklahoma City Bombing.”
Both Dougan and the author of the Oklahoma City book said the man arrested in Quincy also has a tattoo on his arm that matches the description of one on the arm of the man in the book.
“His age, his name, the picture, the mug shot, that’s him,” the author of “The Third Terrorist,” Jayna Davis, told The Patri ot Ledger in a telephone interview.
Davis said she saw the Al-Hussaini she wrote about during depositions for a libel suit he brought against her.
Davis said the Al-Hussaini she wrote about is a former Iraqi solider who was seen with McVeigh in the weeks before Oklahoma City and on April 19, 1995, the day of the bombing, which killed 168 people.
McVeigh was executed for his role in the bombing. The Al- Hussaini seen with him was never charged.
The Al-Hussaini arrested by the Quincy police is 45 years old and is being held on $500 bail on a charge of assault and bat tery with a dangerous weapon. He is also being held for a pro bation violation.
He was ordered to have no contact with the victim and to stay away from the Father Bill’s homeless shelter.
The victim, a 37-year-old homeless man, told police Al- Hussaini struck him with a beer bottle near 1250 Hancock St. in Quincy Center around 7:30 a.m. Wednesday.