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WASHINGTON (AP) -- Two leaders of a mosque in Albany, N.Y., were arrested on charges stemming from an alleged plot to help a man they thought was a terrorist purchase a shoulder-fired missile, federal authorities said Thursday.

The men have ties to a group called Ansar al-Islam, which has been linked to the al-Qaida terror network, according to two federal law enforcement authorities speaking on condition of anonymity.

The two arrests came as FBI, Immigration and Customs Enforcement and other agents executed search warrants at the Masjid As-Salam mosque and two Albany-area residences, officials said. The men were identified as Yassin Aref, 34, the imam of the mosque, and 49-year-old Mohammed Hoosain, one of the mosque's founders.

According to law enforcement officials, the two are being charged with providing material support to terrorism by participating in a conspiracy to help an individual they believed was a terrorist purchase a shoulder-fired missile.

The individual was in fact working undercover for the government and no missile ever changed hands. Aref and Hoosain were allegedly involved in money-laundering aspects of the plot, the officials said.

The investigation has been going on for a year and is not related to the Bush administration's decision earlier this week to raise the terror alert level for certain financial sector buildings in New York and Washington, the officials said.

In Albany, some mosque members gathered early Thursday outside the institution for morning prayers.

More details about the case were expected to be released later Thursday by the Justice Department in Washington.

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Associated Press writer Michael Virtanen contributed to this story from Albany, N.Y.

ON THE NET...

http://www.jannah.org
"ISLAM The Eternal Path to Peace Jannah.Org"

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http://www.jannah.org/masjid/
"In The name of Allah, The Most Gracious, the Most Merciful
Z Masjid As-Salaam Z
Official Website of the Central Mosque of Albany"

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http://www.jannah.org/masjid/
"Albany, New York Area Muslims Homepage"

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http://internet-haganah.us/harchives/002452.html

August 05, 2004
"Jannah.org: home of the website of Masjid As-Salaam, Albany NY"
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http://internet-haganah.us/harchives/002446.html
"Mosque raided in Albany, NY. Two arrested [the imam and the mosque's founder]"

"Two Men Arrested from Albany Mosque:"
"Two men suspected of being involved with an al Qaeda affiliate were arrested in Albany, New York, on Thursday in a scheme to launder money to buy a shoulder-fired missile, U.S. law enforcement sources said.

The sources said the arrests on Thursday night were unrelated to the raising of the terror threat level over the weekend on intelligence that al Qaeda was targeting financial centers in the United States.

Arrested were Ya Seen Arif, 34, and Mohammed Hoosain, 49, the sources said. Arif is the imam of the Masjid As-Salaam mosque in Albany, while Hoosain was the founder of the mosque, they said.

One of the men is a U.S. citizen but the nationality of the other was not immediately available.

Another source said the two were believed to be linked with Ansar al-Islam, an Iraqi militant group suspected of having ties to the al Qaeda network."

"See also:"
"Federal agents and city police raided a Muslim mosque overnight Wednesday, with armed officers sealing off a block in downtown Albany for several hours."

"Posted by aaron at August 05, 2004 07:23 AM"

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"http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20040805/ap_on_re_us/mosque_raid_3"
U.S. National - AP

"Federal Agents Raid Mosque in Albany"
Thu Aug 5, 7:26 AM ET