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Olympics Bomb Suspect May Be in Custody MURPHY, N.C. (AP) -- Sheriff's deputies arrested a man early Saturday believed to be Eric Rudolph, the man charged with the 1996 bomb blast in Centennial Olympic Park and in bomb attacks at a gay nightclub and an abortion clinic, the FBI said. Deputies stopped the man in the mountains of western North Carolina about 4:30 a.m., said Special Agent John Iannarelli in Washington. He said the man was digging in a trash bin in Murphy and appeared to be homeless, but the deputies believed he was Rudolph. Authorities were doing fingerprint analysis on the man Saturday morning to determine if he was Rudolph and expected to have the results by afternoon, he said. A law enforcement source in North Carolina who has been trying to track Rudolph for years said he had seen the suspect arrested Saturday morning and he believes it is Rudolph. "There's a number of things that have to be done ... confirmation of fingerprints, other things. We have a lot of work to do," the source said, speaking on condition of anonymity. Rudolph, a 36-year-old Army veteran and experienced outdoorsman, hasn't been seen since July 1998 after he allegedly stole supplies from a health store owner in North Carolina. His truck had been spotted there early that year. Authorities spent months searching the rural mountains and caves of North Carolina. They ran across some camping sites believed to be Rudolph's and found cartons of oatmeal and raisins, jars of peanuts and vitamins, and cans of tuna they said were the same brands Rudolph ate. Rudolph is believed to adhere to Christian Identity, a white supremacist religion that is anti-gay, anti-Semitic and anti-foreigner. Some of the four bombs Rudolph was charged with planting included messages from the shadowy "Army of God." On July 27, 1996, authorities believe, Rudolph placed a bomb hidden in a knapsack in Atlanta's crowded Centennial Olympic Park. The explosion at the park filled with summer Olympics crowds killing one woman and injured 111 other people. Rudolph was charged in 1998 with the Olympic bombing and three others - at a gay nightclub in Atlanta, an office building north of Atlanta and an abortion clinic in Birmingham, Ala., where a police officer was killed. In all, the bombings killed two and wounded more than 150 people, according to the FBI. Rudolph eluded a massive manhunt and remains on the FBI's 10 Most Wanted list. The FBI also had offered a $1 million reward for his capture. Western North Carolina has long had a reputation as a haven for right-wing extremists. Many there mocked the government's inability to find Rudolph with bloodhounds, infrared-equipped helicopters and space-age motion detectors - and some said they would hide him if asked. xponent Dirty Deeds Maru rob _______________________________________________ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
