Washington: The United States Government missed several opportunities, including fraudulent passports, to stop many of the men responsible for the September 11, 2001 terror attacks from entering the country, according to a preliminary report of the commission investigating the strikes.

The report released yesterday (Jan 26, 2004) disclosed that as many as eight of the hijackers carried passports that showed "evidence of fraudulent manipulation", while as many as five of the passports had "suspicious indicators", media reports said.

The hearing yesterday marked a watershed moment for the 10-member bipartisan panel, known formally as the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks upon the US, which was established by the Congress in late 2002 to investigate the terror strikes.

The panel's work has been delayed by a series of battles for access to classified information held by the Bush administration, leading a majority of commissioners to favour an extension of its May 27 deadline. It plans to extend the deadline by at least two months, media reports said.

The new findings by the independent commission investigating the terrorist strikes are in contrast to the contentions of top officials, who for more than two years have portrayed the 19 hijackers as law-abiding travellers who did little to attract Government suspicion and who, in nearly all cases, entered or resided in the country legally.