Posted on 11/20/2003 8:09:21 AM PST by enraged
Prosecutors in the Portland terrorism case have filed a legal brief revealing some of the hundreds of recorded conversations between suspects and an undercover FBI informant.
The conversations ranged from inquiries about bomb making, to talk of cutting the heads off nonbelievers, to a desire to have "real" Muslim wives who would be willing to carry AK-47 assault rifles and be "ready to run and blow something up."
All six of the suspects in custody have pleaded guilty and are awaiting formal sentencing, which judge Robert E. Jones has said will not deviate from the number of years specified in plea agreements.
Prosecutors filed the 23-page memorandum Wednesday that reveals new details about the group that traveled to China in the fall of 2001 in a failed attempt to enter Afghanistan to fight against U.S. troops.
The filing comes ahead of Monday's scheduled sentencings of Jeffrey Leon Battle and Patrice Lumumba Ford, where both men may make public statements for the first time explaining why they attempted to join the Taliban.
Their attorneys have said that their trip was motivated by their religious beliefs that they would have been coming to the aid of fellow Muslims.
Yet, according to the prosecutor's filing, Battle asked about making a bomb in September 2002, after a series of conversations in which he spoke of his consideration and ultimate rejection of committing a terrorist act in the United States.
He had said he wanted to kill hundreds of Jews at a Portland-area synagogue or Jewish school.
In other details revealed in the filing, the group that has come to be known as the Portland Seven -- for the seven people indicted in the case -- called itself "Katibat Al-Mawt," which federal prosecutors say loosely translates to "Squad of Death."
One Portland Seven member, Ahmed Ibrahim Bilal, had such disdain for Jews that he referred to them as "lampshades," the document states. Battle told the informant that he wanted a "blade" to cut off the heads of "kaffirs," or unbelievers.
On an Aug. 14, 2002, wiretap recording, Ford and Muhammad Ibrahim Bilal, Ahmed's brother, spoke about wanting to marry Muslim women. Ford said he wanted to marry a "real" Muslim -- not a "fake" American one -- who carries an AK-47 assault rifle and is "ready to run and blow something up."
When Battle was arrested on Oct. 4, 2002, he initially claimed the overseas trip was for religious education, but eventually told investigators with the FBI's Joint Terrorism Task Force about the plot, naming everyone except Maher "Mike" Hawash.
Six of the seven have pleaded guilty, and one, Habis Abdulla al Saoub, was killed last month by Pakistani troops in a raid on an al-Qaida encampment.
Both Battle and Ford agreed to plead guilty to conspiracy to levy war against the United States but have not cooperated with the government's ongoing investigation into others who may have helped organize and finance the trip.
The remaining defendants agreed to cooperate with investigators in exchange for reduced sentences.
He's not the only one. I read of a Jewish girls school being cased by a Saudi. As we know from the recent Saudi bombing, these people will case a target for months. US Jewish institutes, especially ones with children present, have to be super cautious abt. people doing surveillance etc...
Some of our local Religion of Peace adherents.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.