Captured Americans Have al Qaeda Links

The five young American Muslims picked up in Pakistan on Wednesday met with representatives of a group linked to al Qaeda, but were turned down because they lacked references from other militants, according to a Pakistani law-enforcement official. The men disappeared from the Washington, D.C., area in November. The police chief of the city where they were picked up tells the Associated Press that they are “directly connected” to al Qaeda and “they are proudly saying they are here for jihad.”