Suspect in 1996 Olympic Bombing Arrested

U.S. authorities have arrested a man suspected of bombing the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta, Georgia. The U.S. Department of Justice states that Eric Rudolph was apprehended on Saturday in North Carolina. In a statement released on this occasion, Attorney General John Ashcroft said that Mr. Rudolph's arrest sends the message that the United States will never stop pursuing and capturing terrorists, whether they are domestic or foreign. Officials believe that Mr. Rudolph concealed a bomb in his backpack during the crowded centennial Olympic celebrations in the summer of 1996, resulting in one death and over a hundred injuries. Police and FBI agents had been searching for Mr. Rudolph for years in the mountains of North Carolina. U.S. officials want to ensure that Eric Rudolph, who was arrested yesterday after five years on the run for suspected terrorist activities, did not receive assistance from others. FBI agents are investigating the possibility that residents around the small town of Murphy may have helped Mr. Rudolph. Eric Rudolph is also suspected in bombings at an abortion clinic and a gay nightclub in Atlanta, as well as another abortion clinic in Birmingham, Alabama. A local police officer in Murphy accidentally apprehended the man, who is said to be a right-wing extremist, during routine patrols while he was rummaging through a dumpster behind a grocery store.