Senator Biden said a further man who had been initially linked to the terrorists and had been detained in the Boston area had also been released.
‘‘His brother, totally coincidentally, lived in one of the apartment blocks that was searched,’’ said the senator.
‘‘By chance, he had his brother’s identification with him when he was stopped and he was detained. He helped the FBI and he was released.’’
The senator said he could not go into the details of secret briefings he had received but added: ‘‘People should not fear that there have been attempts at a repeat of the hijackings.’’
He revealed American legislators may pass a motion backing the use of force against the perpetrators as early as today.
‘‘I am putting the case just now,’’ he said.
‘‘You may see it passed as early as today.’’
Some kind of motion had been expected to have been passed in a special session tomorrow giving President Bush full authority to use force.
Although he already has such powers under the American constitution, the motion from Congress would be a show of unprecedented unity.