American Airlines Flight 77 crashed into the US military headquarters, killing 184 people, after it was hijacked as part of an al-Qaeda plot.

The release of the video, taken from a Pentagon security camera, comes after a Freedom of Information Act request.

Judicial Watch said it would release the footage as soon as it could, but it was not clear when that would be.

'Conspiracy theories'

Stills released in 2002 showed the moment the hijacked plane crashed into the Pentagon, killing 125 people in the building and 59 passengers and crew.

WHAT IS JUDICIAL WATCH? Describes itself as a conservative, non-partisan educational foundation Has repeatedly sued US government agencies to obtain information Forced release of documents on subjects ranging from RU-486 "abortion pill" to lobbyist visits to White House Special focus on monitoring illegal immigration and Hillary Clinton fundraising Source: www.judicialwatch.org

The crash came shortly after two other hijacked airlines were flown into the twin towers at the World Trade Center in New York.

Judicial Watch filed the freedom of information request in 2004, but the Pentagon refused to release the video because it was part of the investigation involving al-Qaeda plotter Zacarias Moussaoui, the group said.

Judicial Watch filed a lawsuit this February, arguing that there was "no legal basis" for the refusal.

Earlier this month Moussaoui was jailed for life for his role in the 2001 attacks.

Judicial Watch said it wanted to obtain the video because "it was very important to complete the public record" on the attacks.

"Finally, we hope that this video will put to rest the conspiracy theories involving American Airlines Flight 77," President Tom Fitton said.

Some theorists have questioned the official account of the Pentagon attack.

French author Thierry Meyssan alleged that Flight 77 did not crash into the Pentagon and suggested a truck bomb or missile caused the damage.

Such views are challenged by eye-witness testimony at the scene of an aircraft fitting the description of Flight 77 crashing into the site.

"This list takes us one step closer to our goal of fully reporting who has been swept into U.S military custody in Guantanamo, and how they and their cases are being handled," said David Tomlin, the AP's assistant general counsel, adding that the Pentagon did not give all the information the AP sought in a Freedom of Information Act request.

Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman said the names of all detainees held at Guantanamo Bay Naval Base were previously kept classified because of "the security operation as well as the intelligence operation that takes place down there."

In a briefing in Washington, he did not explain why the Pentagon did not contest the AP's request for the release of the names, as it did with previous Freedom of Information Act requests for prisoner information. Just last month, the Pentagon released 558 names of current and former detainees to AP.

The release will help lawyers and other advocates track who has been held at the base and find former detainees to help investigate allegations of abuse, said Priti Patel, an attorney for New York-based Human Rights First.

While the release of Guantanamo names is welcome, human rights groups also want to learn the identities of all those held in
Iraq,
Afghanistan and secret locations, Patel said.

"There's still much more in darkness," she said.

For example, the United States has not disclosed where it is holding Khalid Shaikh Mohammed or Ramzi Binalshibh, who allegedly plotted the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, and other captured top al-Qaida figures. The list released Monday also does not specify what has happened to former Guantanamo Bay detainees.

The fate of some is documented. All British nationals held at Guantanamo Bay, for example, were transferred back to Britain. But what has become of dozens of other detainees was not known.

Some could be free. Others could be in secret U.S. detention centers, or in torture cells of prisons in other countries.

Jumana Musa, an official with Amnesty International's Washington office, said there have long been rumors that the
CIA has a secret prison at Guantanamo Bay, an isolated base along the Caribbean which Cuba granted to Washington by treaty a century ago.

But Peppler, in an e-mail to the AP, emphatically ruled that out.

"Absolutely not," Peppler said. "There are no other detention facilities other than those under DoD control in Guantanamo Bay.

The AP sought the names, photos and other details of current and former Guantanamo Bay detainees through a Freedom of Information Act request on Jan. 18. After the Pentagon didn't respond, the AP filed a lawsuit in March seeking compliance.

The Pentagon later agreed to turn over much of the information. Motions are pending in court for additional information, including the height and weight of the roughly 480 detainees still at Guantanamo Bay to assist with news coverage of a hunger strike.

The Pentagon refused to release that information, arguing that medical records are private. The military said the hunger strike began in August and has involved a maximum of 131 detainees.

The Pentagon also argued that releasing photos of current detainees would damage U.S. intelligence gathering. Releasing pictures would make it easier for al-Qaida to retaliate against detainees suspected of cooperating with interrogators, said Paul B. Rester, the director of the Joint Intelligence Group at Guantanamo. That would make it harder for the U.S. to collect intelligence, Rester said in a May 10 affidavit filed in response to the AP's Freedom of Information Act suit.

"No human intelligence sources interested in cooperating with the United States officials under any hope of anonymity will be willing to do so if their photographs and names are publicly released," he said.

The U.S. military says 759 detainees have been held at Guantanamo Bay since the detention center began taking prisoners in the U.S. war on terror in January 2002. About 275 have been released or transferred.

The U.S. has filed charges against 10 detainees.

The Pentagon says another 136 detainees at Guantanamo have been approved for release or transfer, but their departure in some cases has been delayed as Washington tries to persuade their home countries to accept them and receive assurances they won't be treated inhumanely.

In April, the Department of Defense released to the AP the names of 558 detainees who had a Combatant Status Review Tribunal, which determines whether they are "enemy combatants" who should be held.

That list, however, did not include about 200 detainees who were released or transferred before the Combatant Status Review Tribunals began in July 2004. Those names were among those listed Monday.

"We do not yet have full control of the border and I am determined to change that," Mr Bush said in prepared remarks. "I am calling on Congress to provide funding for dramatic improvements in manpower and technology on the border." Last night's address was intended to disarm conservative opposition to legislation coming before the Senate this week for a guest worker programme that would allow many of the 11 million illegal immigrants already in the US a chance at becoming citizens. Mr Bush plans to follow up his address with a visit on Thursday to the border in Arizona to further press his case. He is also expected to call on immigrants to learn English if they want to gain US passports. In addition to the national guard, which will play a supporting role to the border patrol forces, the plan unveiled by Mr Bush last night calls for an increase in detention centres for illegal immigrants. The tough talk on border security was intended to reassure conservatives who have agitated for harsher treatment of illegal immigrants. But Mr Bush faced a delicate balancing act, reeling in his conservative base while not alienating the increasingly important Hispanic voting bloc. "We will fix the problems created by illegal immigration and we will deliver a system that is secure, orderly and fair," Mr Bush said. Earlier yesterday Karl Rove, the White House adviser, reached out to both constituencies. In a speech to a conservative thinktank, he said: "We have got a border that is so porous, who knows whether that is simply an illegal immigrant looking to get a job in a landscaping company, or somebody who wants to do something worse?" But he went on to say a guest worker programme was a necessity. Last night's speech marked the first phase of a concerted effort by the White House to shore up a conservative base whose support for Mr Bush has declined from 80% to 50%. But Democratic as well as Republican leaders lined up to express their doubts. "The national guard already is stretched to the limit by repeated tours in Iraq and Afghanistan, as well as from providing disaster assistance in their own states," said Edward Kennedy, the Democratic senator from Massachusetts. Although Mr Rove was upbeat yesterday about the Republicans' prospects in next November's elections, he admitted that Mr Bush's popularity had declined. Asked about the Republican party's prospects in the midterm elections, Mr Rove said: "Look, we're in a sour time. Being in the middle of a war where people turn on their TV sets and see brave men and women dying is not something that makes people happy and optimistic and upbeat." In an attempt to turn things around, Mr Bush will hold a signing ceremony at the White House for an extension of his tax cuts later this week. Next month Congress is expected to return to the controversial issue of gay rights, with a vote on a constitutional amendment banning same sex marriages.

Tightening security at the Mexican border will take "dramatic improvements in manpower and technology," Bush told a national television audience on Monday night. He called for 6,000 troops, new fences, cameras and unmanned aerial vehicles to stem the flood of illegal immigrants.

The National Guard would be deployed while thousands of border guards are trained.

"We do not yet have full control of the border and I am determined to change that," Bush said.

"The border should be open to trade and lawful immigration and shut to illegal immigrants as well as criminals, drug dealers and terrorists."

The plan would also create thousands of beds so more illegal immigrants can be detained at the border

And while Bush confined his televised comments to the Mexican border, the Canadian Press reported that administration officials said state governors on the northern frontier might ask for similar security measures.

Canada and the United States set out their security arrangements shortly after the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks in the "smart border agreement." It aims to co-ordinate security at the border while facilitating trade.

Concern has been raised in Ottawa about a U.S. plan to require a passport or special ID card at land crossings by Jan. 1, 2008. There are worries that it would hurt the tourism and commerce industries.

In his speech Monday, Bush also proposed a plan to give some of the estimated 12 million illegal immigrants in the United States a chance at citizenship, without offering them blanket amnesty.

Reaction to the speech in Mexico was muted.

Late night newscasts buried the story, reporting on the latest drug-trafficking murders, worker protests and the upcoming hurricane season before mentioning Bush's speech.

Mexican President Vicente Fox phoned Bush on the weekend when he heard of the plan, and went public with his concerns about militarizing the border - something Bush explicitly said he didn't plan to do.

Tuesday morning, a Fox spokesman said Mexico might not like Bush's plan, but can do little more than protest.

On Monday night, the Mexican Foreign Ministry issued a statement declaring its concern about the quick troop deployment on the border, considering the slow pace of immigration legislation in Washington.

The ministry also promised that its consulates in the United States would increase their efforts to protect the rights of Mexican workers, whether they are in the country legally or not.

Hundreds of thousands of immigrants have taken to the streets across the United States in recent weeks to demand better treatment.

Angelica Salas of the Coalition for Immigrants' Rights said she is appalled by what she heard Monday night.

"We have gone in the millions out in the streets in a peaceful manner. And to have our president respond in a military manner is disgraceful," she said.

But others believe Bush should have sent more troops.

"The intention of the president is to give us the illusion of security by throwing a handful of national guardsmen on the border," said Jim Gilchrist, founder of the Minutemen, a southern California-based group that organizes volunteer border patrols.

"The concern that has been expressed by a number of people to us a is whether we can meet the timelines that are set out in the legislation," said Wilson, Canada's ambassador to the United States.

The legislation will require everyone crossing U.S. borders, including U.S. citizens returning from Canada or Mexico, to carry either a passport or a special border crossing identification card beginning Jan. 1, 2008.

Wilson stressed Canada and the United States must work together in introducing new border identity cards to ensure "that they can be distributed in a way that people will be ready to take advantage of them when the time comes for implementation."

On his first visit to New York since being named ambassador, Wilson called upon the United States to undertake a careful analysis of the potential economic consequences of the passport initiative, warning of a possible "cooling effect" on cross-border travel and commerce.

Wilson's comments came ahead of a major speech to be delivered Monday night by U.S. President George W. Bush, who was announcing plans to beef up security at the U.S.-Mexico border, including the deployment National Guard troops.

Border security has become a major topic of discussion as the U.S. Congress debates ways to normalize the status of millions of illegal immigrants in the United States.

Despite anxiety in Mexico over the U.S. debate, Wilson told reporters he was not concerned about any new action from Bush.

Asked what he thought the implications for Canada would be in Bush's speech, Wilson said he didn't expect to hear anything that would be specifically directed at Canada. He cautioned reporters not to misinterpret any new initiatives announced by Bush as applying to both borders.

With oil and energy prices at record highs, Wilson talked up the potential that the oil sands in Alberta held in enhancing U.S. energy security.

The oil sands have the potential of achieving output levels of two billion barrels per day, he noted. "This supply is safe, secure and right next door, and subject to normal market conditions and not from some cartel or unstable regime."

Wilson assured the U.S. business community Prime Minister Stephen Harper would continue economic policies that contributed to Canada's strong economic performance. He urged the Canadians in the audience to pass this message on to their American colleagues.

"I think that it's an important message for you to take to people in the United States that there's a continuity here, there's a continuity that started from the '80s into the '90s now into this century, that speaks to the significance of good economic policies in Canada."