ST JOHN'S, Antigua -- When two Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) agents begin their probe in Antigua, they will be exploring if there were any links between US sniper suspect, John Allen Muhammad, and the man known as the shoe bomber, Richard Reid, a source close to the investigation revealed last night.

Special agents John Groesher and Norman Embry arrived in St John's yesterday and will meet with Truehart Smith, Antigua's police commissioner, this morning to work out the parameters of the investigation.

Attorney-General Gretel Thom, who set up a four-man team to investigate how Muhammad obtained an Antiguan passport by allegedly falsifying his US birth certificate and that of an Antiguan woman, said Groesher and Embry "will work along with local officials in relation to Muhammad's activities while in Antigua" between 2000 and 2001.

The possible link with Reid will be examined because the final destination on Reid's airline ticket was Antigua before he was overpowered by passengers on an American Airlines flight from Paris to Miami last December when he attempted to detonate a bomb in his sneaker.

However, Thom last night said she had no specific information that could lead to a conclusion of a relationship between Muhammad and Reid -- the latter an Englishman who has a Jamaican father.

"It is difficult to say at this time if there is any connection between Muhammad and Reid but if there is a link it will be a natural follow," Thom said.

Lee Boyd Malvo, the 17-year-old boy who was arrested with Muhammad for the murder of 10 persons in the Greater Washington area, is a Jamaican who also lived in Antigua. Nathaniel Osbourne, who co-owned a car which prosecutors say Muhammad used during his alleged killing spree, is also Jamaican.

People in Antigua who knew Muhammad while he lived on the island claimed that he ran a passport racket that smuggled illegal aliens into the United States.

Although there has not been any comment from the Lester Bird administration, sources say nothing is being ruled out in the investigation.

Two police officers have been assigned to work with Groesher and Embry.

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