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| Oussama Kassir |
Posted on 10/22/2003 1:07:36 PM PDT by tubavil
A militant Muslim who reportedly traveled from London to Oregon in 1999 to scout out a possible terrorist training camp has been arrested in Sweden.
The arrest yesterday of Oussama Kassir — who authorities say once boasted of being "a hit man" for Osama bin Laden — appears linked to the federal investigation into Abu Hamza al-Masri, the radical London cleric accused of sending Kassir to the United States to help James Ujaama, of Seattle, and others train for jihad.
Ujaama pleaded guilty in April to conspiracy to supply goods and services to the Taliban in Afghanistan. As part of a plea deal, he agreed to aid the government's investigation into Abu Hamza, who was Ujaama's friend and spiritual adviser.
Kassir and Abu Hamza were unnamed, uncharged co-conspirators in Ujaama's 2001 indictment on terrorism-conspiracy charges. Ujaama is serving a two-year sentence at the Federal Detention Center in SeaTac.
FBI agents recently traveled to Sweden to discuss Kassir with counterterrorism officials there, said two Department of Justice sources, speaking on condition of anonymity.
It was unclear yesterday whether Kassir's arrest is tied to his activities in the United States. A spokesman for the Swedish Security Police in Stockholm said Kassir was being held on terrorism-related charges filed by the Swedish government but declined to discuss it further.
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"I am a supporter," Kassir said. "I love al-Qaida. I love Osama bin Laden."
Kassir, a Swedish citizen born in Lebanon in 1966, lived in London for a while at the mosque in Finsbury Park where Abu Hamza was an imam.
Ujaama also lived in London and designed and ran Abu Hamza's Web site, Supporters of Shariah, which advocates jihad against the West.
Abu Hamza's fiery, anti-Western sermons and his purported ties to al-Qaida and other terrorist groups have made him a target of the British government, which is attempting to strip him of citizenship and expel him.
Abu Hamza's ties to Ujaama and incidents in Bly, Ore., are what caught the attention of U.S. prosecutors.
In 1999, Ujaama sent a fax to Abu Hamza boasting he had secured a piece of property in northern Oregon, with features similar to those in Afghanistan, that could be used as a jihad training camp, according to federal prosecutors.
Abu Hamza then sent Kassir and another man, Haroon Aswat, to Bly from London in October 1999, according to court papers and federal law-enforcement sources.
There the two men met with Ujaama and a small group of militants from the Dar-Us-Salaam mosque in Seattle's Central District, according to court papers. The mosque has since closed.
In Bly, Kassir and Aswat found rundown trailers and dilapidated facilities, but spent several days firing weapons and riding horses before leaving, according to court documents.
While there, they were stopped by police for a traffic violation and their names recorded.
In February 2000, Kassir taught the preaching of Abu Hamza in Seattle and provided "urban tactical training," according to the Ujaama indictment.
Aswat, a Pakistani citizen, was killed by U.S. troops in Afghanistan, federal agents have said.
In May, Ujaama testified before a New York federal grand jury hearing evidence against Abu Hamza.
Marvin Smilon, a spokesman for the U.S. Attorney's Office in the Southern District of New York, said yesterday his office would not comment on Kassir's arrest.
Mike Carter: 206-464-3706 or mcarter@seattletimes.com
Staff reporter David Heath contributed to this report.
'I love bin Laden ... I hate Bush': Man connected to Ujaama, hijacking suspect speaks out
The link on post #4 has some of them listed.
It closed because it was too small to hold all the terrorists. A *larger* one (Al-Taqwa) opened nearby but was damaged in an earthquake. It re-opened two blocks away and is full of terrorists to this day.
The DC sniper mohammad worshipped at the nation of islam 'mosque' a few blocks away from the other three mentioned.
The arrest yesterday of Oussama Kassir — who authorities say once boasted of being "a hit man" for Osama bin Laden — appears linked to the federal investigation into Abu Hamza al-Masri, the radical London cleric accused of sending Kassir to the United States to help James Ujaama, of Seattle, and others train for jihad.
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Bad day for Kassir, the bad guy, ping!
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Thanks Mayor Katz... Suspected Terrorists Arrested in Portland, Oregon
Thanks for the link - we have a similar situation up here.
1) Among others, there's a place where young muslim terrorists always dress in authentic robes and headgear and gather every night, long after business hours. "Crescent Cuts" it is called. It's a muslim "barber shop" It is located in the same neighborhhod where there are a lot of north african businesses. People here were seen dancing in the streets 9/11. Not much happens during the day, but night activity abounds.
2) like the Katz intern/employee relationship in Portland, James Ujaama has the full support of the black members of the Seattle City council & Executive. Ujaama's community work has won him praise in Seattle. He once was given a key to the city of Seattle. And state lawmakers declared June 10, 1994, James Ujaama Day.
Read the Michelle Malkin account:
http://www.jewishworldreview.com/michelle/malkin073102.asp
Best line in the story.
Fed Source Confirms Terrorists Being Tracked in Pacific Northwest US22 October 2003; 2000 EDT-- Network director Doug Hagmann obtained reliable information from a federal field investigator that suspected terrorists are currently under surveillance and their movements and activities are being tracked in the Pacific Northwest US -- specifically in the state of Oregon. The suspected terrorists are believed to have the electrical power grid as their target, according to the source close to the investigation. Developing....
Terror charges dropped against Swedish suspect, but weapons charges remain
By MATTIAS KAREN - The Associated Press 10/24/03 3:08 PM
STOCKHOLM, Sweden (AP) -- A Swedish judge ruled Friday that a 37-year-old man who once said he worked for Osama bin Laden could not be charged under the nation's new terrorism law, but instead could be detained for two weeks for illegally possessing weapons.
Oussama Kassir was arrested in his Stockholm apartment Tuesday and prosecutors alleged he was conspiring to commit a terror act. Prosecutor Agnetha Hilding Qvarnstroem said police confiscated several weapons in Kassir's apartment but she refused to elaborate.
Before Friday's hearing was closed to reporters, Kassir admitted having several illegal weapons in his apartment.
Judge Ann-Britt Jansson ruled there was insufficient evidence to charge Kassir under the terrorism law. That gives prosecutors two weeks to decide whether to charge Kassir for weapons possession.
Kassir was the first person arrested under a law enacted July 1 that applies harsher punishments for terror-related crimes. The law says any crime that seriously hurts a state or government institution can be considered a terrorist act.
Hilding Qvarnstroem would not say what types of terrorist acts authorities believed Kassir was planning or where he allegedly would carry them out.
She also said the law's definition of what constitutes a terrorist crime is unclear, which she believed contributed to the court's decision.
"It's hard to tell where to draw the line," she said.
Kassir's lawyer, Bengt Soederstroem, said he was not surprised the terrorism charges were dropped.
"The material presented by the prosecutors was very thin," he said.
Hilding Qvarnstroem said she did not know whether prosecutors would pursue allegations of terrorism against Kassir.
Kassir was referred to, but not named or charged, in a U.S. federal indictment issued by a grand jury in Seattle in September 2002, U.S. law enforcement officials speaking on condition of anonymity told the Associated Press. U.S. officials said there are no charges against Kassir, but he is of interest to them.
That indictment accused James Ujaama of trying to set up an al-Qaida-linked terrorist training camp in Oregon. He pleaded guilty in April.
Prosecutors allege that Ujaama showed a ranch to two alleged emissaries of Abu Hamza al-Masri, a radical London cleric known for supporting Islamic terrorism, U.S. officials said. They said one of those was Kassir, who identified himself as being employed by bin Laden, officials said.
The Lebanese-born Kassir moved to Sweden in 1984 and became a citizen in 1989. He spent several months in prison in 1998 for assaulting a police officer and possessing drugs.
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