Posted at 7:18 a.m. EDT Saturday, October 13, 2001

Pharmacist: suspected hijacker had skin irritants

DELRAY BEACH, Fla. -- (AP) -- A man believed to be one of the hijackers in the terrorist attacks visited a drug store in late August for medication to treat a burning sensation in his hands, a pharmacist says.

Gregg Chatterton, co-owner of Huber Discount Drugs, said Friday the man he identified as Mohamed Atta was evasive about the cause and the pharmacist asked if he'd been exposed to cleaning fluids or gardening chemicals.

``He snickered and said, 'No, I wasn't in a garden,''' said Chatterton, who described him as ``cocky.''

Chatterton said Atta was accompanied by a man the pharmacist later identified from photos as suspected hijacker Marwan al-Shehhi. The pharmacist said the second man tapped himself on the chest and said he needed cough medication. Chatterton gave him the name of a walk-in clinic in case his cold got worse.

The two men, along with suspected hijackers Wail Alshehri and Waleed Alshehri had been in the drugstore before to buy soda and candy bars, Chatterton said.

The FBI and Food and Drug Administration's criminal unit questioned him twice this week and asked whether the men had inquired about anthrax antibiotics, Chatterton said. He told them they had not.

FBI and FDA spokesmen did not immediately return phone calls for comment Friday.

The pharmacist said Atta's hands didn't appear to be chemically burned.

``They weren't cracked and they weren't burned -- just red, abnormally red,'' said Chatterton, who suggested Atta buy an over-the-counter medication for minor skin irritations.

The store is near the library, where some of the hijackers signed up to use the Internet. Some of the 19 men authorities say were involved in the Sept. 11 attacks also lived in an apartment in Delray Beach.

-- Anonymous, October 13, 2001