More disturbing evidence of al Qaeda operatives exploiting lax student visa policies (via AP):

TRENTON, N.J. — A senior al-Qaida operative accused of conducting surveillance on U.S. financial buildings as possible terrorist targets got into the United States on a student visa, according to the FBI.

FBI spokesman John Conway said Thursday the agency is trying to retrace the movements of Dhiren Barot and determine whether any of his associates are still here. Barot posed as a student while conducting surveillance of several sites, according to the FBI.

Barot, 32, entered the United States on a student visa, agent Joseph Billy Jr. told law enforcement officials Wednesday.

Barot attended several institutions of higher learning in New Jersey in 2000 and 2001 while carrying out the reconnaissance operation, Billy said.

Authorities believe Barot was dispatched by Osama bin Laden to conduct the scouting mission in New Jersey, The Record of Bergen County reported in Thursday’s editions. Barot was arrested by British authorities in August and is in custody there.

He and seven others are charged with conspiring to commit murder and use radioactive materials, toxic gases, chemicals or explosives to cause “fear or injury.”

The British say Barot had reconnaissance reports for the Prudential building in Newark, the New York Stock Exchange and the Citigroup building in Manhattan and the International Monetary Fund headquarters in Washington.

Discovery of those surveys led Homeland Security officials to declare an orange alert in early August and prompted heightened security measures at the buildings.

The documents were discovered on computers and disks and in e-mail messages during a raid in Pakistan in July.

Related: How Khalid Learned his ABCs

Meanwhile, some college students are whining that increased efforts to screen and monitor foreign students is “not comforting.” Boo-hoo.

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