Author helped expose Canada terrorists

WND ^ | 6-5-06

[STARWISE]

Williams worked with authorities on al-Qaida links

When Canadian law enforcement authorities busted a Toronto terrorist plot with al-Qaida connections, they acted with the benefit of briefings and research developed by American investigator Paul L. Williams, author of the new WND Books release "Dunces of Doomsday: 10 Blunders that Gave Rise to Radical Islam."

Canadian police last Friday arrested 17 suspected Islamic terrorists, mostly in Toronto, who were allegedly planning to unleash a string of attacks in Ontario in retaliation for the country's support of the U.S. in the War on Terror.

Williams has long been investigating the link between terrorist operatives and Canada's McMaster University. Williams' research has unveiled a complex, highly connected group of radical Islamic professors – many of whom earned their advanced degrees from McMaster – strategically recruiting radical Islamic jihadists and converted sympathizers who enrolled as students under aliases for terrorist training and to steal radioactive material from the university.

In late May, Williams traveled to Canada to investigate his McMaster University findings. By his third day in Ontario, Williams was a guest of the government "because of the leads I was providing to the Ontario police," he says.

"When I spoke to the Ontario police, they were investigating some of the students, and I was investigating the faculty," he said. "You have a virulent nest of al-Qaida operatives who have been there since 1996.

[STARWISE]

"In the "Dunces of Doomsday," Williams writes, "At McMaster University, where the al-Qaida agents registered under fictitious names, wanted terrorist Adnan el-Shukrijumah and friends wasted no time in gaining access to the nuclear reactor and stealing more than 180 pounds of nuclear material for the creation of radiological bombs."

Now, in addition to the members of the terrorist network arrested last Friday, Williams says, "We believe we found Adnan el-Shukrijimuah in the Toronto area and, if not, we've found his double."

Williams describes the latest series of events as "the tip of the iceberg," with the worst yet to come. He asserts that the United States is in danger of a looming attack, made possible by years of top-level administration avoidance and lax security.

"When you hear of a nuclear spillage (missing radioactive material) … the last one – the only one – I've heard of was Chernobyl. That's huge. They cannot deny it," Williams says. "

[STARWISE]

Ping!

[Jonah Hex]

Holy shiite...

[Jet Jaguar]

BTTT.

[Dog]

If he found Adnan el-Shukrijimuah it would be huge news..

[STARWISE]

That one gives me the jeebeeheebies.

[jokar]

look up later. BTTT

[TomGuy]

That FBI bolo was posted on FR when it was first released.

Wasn't that issued for Adnan el-Shukrijimuah about the time that upper NY state terrorist cell was bused a couple of years ago?

I remember the info on Adnan el-Shukrijimuah being posted along with a half-dozen or more other bolo's.

[STARWISE]

1. Several months ago, according to KGRV TV, two IEDs and components for 33 more were discovered in Laredo. It won’t be long before we face here in America, what our brave soldiers face every day in Iraq. And IEDs may be the least worrisome. If it’s a simple matter to smuggle 3,000 pounds of drugs across the border, as the sheriff mentioned, how much easier is it to carry across a suitcase bomb - a dirty nuke?

“Several al-Qaeda leaders believe operatives can pay their way into the country through Mexico and also believe illegal entry is more advantageous than legal entry for operational security reasons,” Deputy Secretary of Homeland Security Admiral James Loy testified on February 16 before the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence. “At home, we must prepare ourselves for any attack, from IEDs (improvised explosive devices) to Weapons of Mass Destruction…from soft targets like malls to national icons.”

2. A terrorist jacket, with patches depicting an Arab military and 9/11, was found in Hebbronville, TX. Finding terrorist garb is nothing new. In 2005:

Ms. Garner, who grew up here in Naco, population 7,000 says…”It is more dangerous and pernicious, with a growing number of people of different nationalities coming across the border, including from the Middle East, India, and Afghanistan.”

The evidence of that comes in Islamic prayer rugs found in the desert dust, Arabic literature left by still-warm campfires, and Afghani head garb caught on cactus quills. The FBI also recently found a drug tunnel beneath the bedroom of a schoolmate of one of the Garner girls, with $250,000 cash hidden inside.

3. In November 2005, a confirmed al Qaeda operative was arrested near the Mexican border and turned over to the FBI. He had been living in Mexico for six months and making notes of the movement of people and police officers.

4. Also in November of last year, A congresswoman from NC went on the record as noting that three al Qaeda operatives were being held in a jail in Texas, after being apprehended on the U.S.-Mexican border.

5. In 2005, in southern Texas alone, 51 suspected terrorists were captured while crossing the border [from the KGRV news report]. They came from countries such as Iran, Egypt, Syria, Iraq, and Pakistan, and were arrested on various charges of gun smuggling and illegally wiring large sums of money. We do not know where they are today. That’s a problem. 7. In 2004, a high-level al Qaeda operative (comparable to Khalid Sheik Mohammed, the mastermind of 9/11) was arrested in McAllen, Texas attempting to make her way to New York after illegally crossing the border by swimming the Rio Grande. Though she was on a terrorist watch list, she had illegally entered into America at least 250 times before being caught!!!

[STARWISE]

It was before the Lackawanna gang's interception, I believe. Shukrijumah is a deadly, stone cold terrorist, and has been allegedly spotted in FL, Central America, Mexico, CA and .. if this is true .. Canada.

[HoustonCurmudgeon]

Adnan el-Shukrijumah and friends wasted no time in gaining access to the nuclear reactor and stealing more than 180 pounds of nuclear material for the creation of radiological bombs."

Damn! Just Damn ...

[Conservative4Ever]

Williams explained all this on CoasttoCoast radio show one night not too long ago. It was scary to hear him then, guess this proves he knows what he is talking about.

[DariusBane]

Paul Williams needs to pay particular attention to his personal security. If he has a family, he needs to secure them as well. He is now a target, and it is no mystery as to how brutally he could be dealt with by Islamic zealots. I just hope the governments of Canada and the U.S. will show their appreciation by providing security personnel or funds to enable him to hire top tier security.

[T. Buzzard Trueblood]

a complex, highly connected group of radical Islamic professors – many of whom earned their advanced degrees from McMaster – strategically recruiting radical Islamic jihadists and converted sympathizers who enrolled as students under aliases for terrorist training and to steal radioactive material from the university.

Fascinating.

[VOA]

Williams' research has unveiled a complex, highly connected group
of radical Islamic professors – many of whom earned their advanced
degrees from McMaster

Nice to see Canada is catching up with America's fine tradition of
extending tenure to terrorists.
(E.g., Angela Davis, Bill Ayers, etc.)

[STARWISE]

Apparently, some believe this Ciro guy is Shukrijumah .. he doesn't look like him to me, unless he had plastic surgery.

Adnan El Shukrijumah alias confirmed!

Building super identifies terrorist Adnan El Shukrijumah as McMaster’s student Ciro Vitolo

By Judi McLeod- Monday, May 8, 2006

A photograph of Al Qaeda terrorist Adnan El Shukrijumah, aka "Jafar the Pilot"--posted to the Internet by the FBI--has been identified as Ciro Vitolo by the former superintendent of the Hamilton apartment building where he lived.

"I can verify that yes, that’s him in the third photograph," Neil Train told Canada Free Press, (CFP) Saturday night.

Train, who was the superintendent of the David Apartments at 47 Duke St., Hamilton, Ont., where El Shukrijumah lived between 1995 and 1998 as Ciro Vitolo, said he had no doubt about making the identity, exclaiming upon seeing the FBI-posted photo, "That’s him, that’s my tenant!"

"He was always sweating and had these shiny ears. The ears are even shiny in the photo", Train said.

Last Sunday evening, (CFP) discovered a photograph identified as "Ciro Vitolo"--a dead ringer for El Shukrijumah--in a framed picture with the graduating engineering Class of 1998 on display in the hallway of the third floor in McMaster University’s John Hodgin’s engineering building.

CFP had been following up on a story heard at last weekend’s Washington, D.C. symposium on terrorism, sponsored by America’s Truth Forum in association with Basics Project.

There’s a $5-million bounty on the head of El Shukrijumah, who is being sought by the FBI and CIA in connection with a plot to detonate a dirty bomb--a conventional explosive laced with radioactive material. El Shukrijumah has been described as "the next Mohammad Atta" by American authorities.

First to report that an FBI informant had tipped off authorities that El Shukrijumah had been spotted in Hamilton, Ont., in 2002, posing as a student at McMaster University, which has a 5-megawatt research reactor on campus, was Bill Gertz, national security reporter for the Washington Times.

"In addition, the informant said at least three other al Qaida terrorists were seen in Hamilton in 2002. They include Anas al-Liby, one of the FBI’s most wanted terrorists, Jaber A. Elbaneh and Amer El-Maati," Gertz wrote on Oct. 17, 2003.

McMaster’s online student records for the Year 2000 list BSc graduate Ciro Vincente Vitolo studying Physics at the Faculty of Science. The word `Lost’ appears in brackets beside his name. Vitolo’s record is the only one marked `Lost’ among the ones viewed.

The Vernon Director at Hamilton Public Library shows Ciro Vitolo as a resident of 47 Duke St. between 1995 and 1998, and shows no record of his address after 1998.

CFP was able to trace Train through a Hamilton Spectator story in a Lexis Nexus search.

El Shukrijumah, who lived at 47 Duke St. as Ciro Vitolo, was the only tenant who paid his rent directly to landlord Frank Tofano. Tofano sold the building in late 1998. Train is now retired.

"When I was super at the David Apartments, Ciro, who told me his name was Richard, had a wife and a couple of kids. He was the only tenant who paid his rent directly to Frank," Train said. "She (his wife) had a nickname for him. She called him Jaf."

"He was always very cordial with me and I had no reason to be suspicious of him. He never seemed to work, but he did tell me that he had some sort of association with McMaster. "

Train recalled both tenants as chain smokers.

"They lived in the basement apartment and he had lots of male, Middle-Eastern visitors, who never seemed to stay very long when they visited him. He would come and find me if I happened to be working in the basement area and ask me, politely to leave. When I asked him why, he told me he had friends coming over and had something to talk over with them privately. If I had to take my time with something I was working on, they wouldn’t talk while I was there."

Vitolo-Richard-El Shukrijumah-Jaf spoke fluent English, and once when he fell behind in the rent, the landlord asked Train to collect it.

"Frank (Tofano) had taken over the top two floors of the building while waiting for a new home to be built. I asked him why he couldn’t just ask for his rent as the landlord and he told me, the only way I’ll get it is if you collect it, because this guy will never go to court." "I don’t know why he tried to keep in touch," said Train. "But he always had been ingratiating with me, and when I asked him why he was calling, he told me, `You’re the best Canadian I met."

Forty-seven Duke St. is a four-storey, eight-unit building within easy walking distance of the downtown Hamilton Musalla Mosque.

Described by the Spectator’s Jon Wells as "architecturally appealing", featuring dark brick, wood-pane windows, and blue-gray awning over the front door, 47 Duke had a poor record with the local fire department.

There were $11,000 in fire code fines, dating back to 1994 registered against Frank and Sylvia Tofano when they owned the building.

A Province of Ontario Corporate Profile on the building indicates that the property is now owned by 1315734 Ontario Inc., with Lisa Marie Borkovich, of Hamilton and Kimberley A. Squissato, of Copeland, Ont. Listed as administrators of the numbered company.

When the Washington Time’s Bill Gertz began asking questions about El Shukrijumah attending classes at McMaster University, he was given the proverbial bum’s rush by university administration.

"Jane Johnson, a spokesperson for McMaster University, declined to comment on whether El Shukrijumah was ever a student at the school," said Gertz. "She said such information was confidential."

McMaster officials also told the Toronto Sun they have no record of a suspected Al Qaida operative posing as a student or casing their nuclear reactor facility.

"Adnan El Shukrijumah never enrolled under that name or any of his aliases," a school official told The Sun.

Problem is, terrorist Adnan El Shurkijumah seems to have enrolled at McMaster University’s engineering and physics departments under the name, Ciro Vitolo.

[Dog]

Hairline is different.

[STARWISE]

Adnan "Jafar the Pilot" El Shukrijumah - Ciro Vitolo comes forward

Ciro Vitolo

By Judi McLeod - Friday, May 12, 2006

Ciro Vitolo has come forward to say he is not the FBI-hunted Al Qaeda terrorist Adnan "Jafar the Pilot" El Shukrijumah, who is believed to have posed as a student at Hamilton’s McMaster University.

At the request of Judi McLeod, Ciro Vitolo--whose picture appears with McMaster’s graduate engineering Class of 98-- checked into Canada Free Press’s Elm Street office, late Thursday afternoon.

In real life, Ciro Vitolo--who admits that he bears a striking resemblance to terrorist El Shukrijumah--is a limo driver, whose next door neighbour says puts in 12-hour shifts working at Toronto’s Pearson International Airport.

"Your missing Ciro Vitolo is not married, does not have children, did attend McMaster and currently drives a limo," Vitolo’s next-door neighbour, York Region school board trustee, Marg Aldridge wrote in an email to CFP. "He can be reached at (telephone number), please prepare your apology."

Aldridge did not identify herself as an elected public official when CFP responded to her email, but described herself only as "a friend of Ciro Vitolo’s family".

CFP, who found it odd that a neighbour would complain on behalf of the Vitolos, asked Aldridge to have Ciro Vitolo telephone CFP himself.

"At first I thought it was a joke," said Vitolo, who said a friend had emailed him that his McMaster’s graduation photo had been posted on the CFP website alongside three FBI photos of El Shukrjumah, who has a $5 million bounty on his head. "Then I got angry."

Vitolo identified himself in photo number four in the rogue’s gallery, but stressed that the eerie resemblance to the elusive terrorist ends there. Vitolo also said that a photograph that appeared in the Toronto Sun’s Night Scrawler column by Joe Warmington was he even though CFP maintained in its story (and still does) that the picture seems that of a much older man.

Vitolo explained that the picture might not have looked like him because it had been taken from the back seat of a vehicle, making it difficult to pose for the picture.

Meeting Vitolo in the flesh and seeing different pictures of him made it obvious that he has many different looks. Having a striking resemblance to El Shukrijumah, at a time when it is believed that he may have posed as a McMaster student with other Al Qaeda agents is unfortunate.

"I’m a chameleon," the look-alike said during his interview in CFP’s office. "But I’m happy to just look like me."

Vitolo, the limo driver, did attend classes at McMaster for five years. "But I didn’t finish," he said. He did, however receive a Bachelors of Science degree two years later in 2000.

Vitolo readily admitted that he was a resident at 47 Duke St., Hamilton, where he said he was a tenant in the basement, with two Sikh roommates,

"But my name was never on the lease and Manny dealt with Frank (Tofano). Frank Tofano was the owner of the eight-unit low-rise, known as "The David Apartments" when Vitolo lived there in the mid-`90s.

CFP wrote on May 2, "If Ciro Vitolo is not Osama bin Laden’s field commander Adnan El Shukrijumah, then it’s his twin. If the Ciro Vitolo-El Shukrijumah look-alike truly walks among us, and if it is just a coincidence that he looks like the terrorist on the FBI terrorist list, check in with CFP for a prompt and abject apology."

But Vitolo’s coming forward seemed to bring as many questions as answers.

Although Vitolo says he was a two-year resident at 47 Duke, building management of the day, who viewed a picture Vitolo emailed to CFP on Wednesday night, say they’ve never seen him before.

"There was only ever one family living in the two basement apartments at 47 Duke, and only one of the two basement apartments was rented. Those tenants were a married couple with two children. The male was called "Richard" and his wife called him "Jaf".

But Vitolo told CFP he had left 47 Duke in 1996 and commuted to McMaster from a variety of different addresses after moving out. Vernon’s Directory at Hamilton Public Library lists him as a resident of 47 Duke for 1996, 1997 and 1998, perhaps in error.

When Vitolo was asked whether someone had possibly assumed his identity during the five years he spent at McMaster University, he responded, "That’s a loaded question."

Vitolo did say, however that he may have lost some personal effects 10 years ago and said someone had stolen his wallet from his car five years ago.

Vitolo was polite and courteous during our office interview, indicating, "it would be just my luck" if the terrorist moved into 47 Duke after his departure.

Meanwhile, The Dunces of Doomsday author Paul L. Williams says El Shukrijumah and other Al Qaeda members may have posed as students at McMaster. "In preparation for this mission (American Hiroshima) he, along with fellow Al Qaeda agents Anas al-Liby, Jaber A. Elbaneh and Amer el Maati, was sent to McMaster University in Hamilton, Ont., a facility that housed a 5 megawatt nuclear research reactor, the largest reactor of any educational facility in Canada. At McMaster University, where the Al Qaeda agents may have registered under fictitious names, Shukrijumah and friends wasted no time in gaining access to the nuclear reactor and stealing more than 180 pounds of nuclear material for the creation of radiological bombs."

The reality of terrorists in Canada was outlined in the prepared remarks of Janice L. Kephart, former Counsel, 9/11 commission to the House of Representatives last November.

…"The Canadian Security Intelligence Services (CSIS), indicate the threat of terrorist infiltration from Canada is real and dangerous. In July 2005, it was reported that CSIS stated that at least 50 terror groups have a presence in Canada. All types of terrorist activities go on in Canada, including terror financing, weapon and equipment procurement, "manipulating immigrant communities and facilitating travel to and from the United States and other countries."

"Canadian Intelligence is concerned about 350 jihadists in Canada. But these numbers do not necessarily include recent reporting that over 50 terrorist organizations are active in Canada nor that last year saw a sharp rise in terror financing coming from Canada–about 32 cases–through March 2005 worth about $2 billion, two and a half times the $70 million of the previous year. Much of this money came from one large business in Canada owned by a Mid East individual with terrorist ties."

And as for the elusive El Shukrijumah and McMaster University? "There are also reports that El Shukrijumah attempted to procure radioactive material from McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario," said Kephart. This one’s for the FBI.

[nwctwx]

To: Cindy; nwctwx

Thanks, Cindy.
I don't think Vitolo and Shukrijumah are one and the same.

New link with a video of Shukrijumah:
http://amw.com/fugitives/video_photos.cfm?id=27869

1,083 posted on 05/02/2006 12:49:59 PM PDT by Velveeta

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1617489/posts?page=1083#1083

---

To: Velveeta; Cindy

I don't believe it is the same person either.

Thanks for the ping Velveeta, I have gone back to dig up my old archive on him from 2004. I will have to get back to work on it some more:

http://www.ianlivingston.com/archived/2004/shukrijumah.htm

1,093 posted on 05/02/2006 7:34:47 PM PDT by nwctwx (Everything I need to know, I learned on the Threat Matrix)

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1617489/posts?page=1093#1093

---

I agree with both of you.
I don't think it is the same person, either.

I played around with the name on various searches
and checked some other things after gardening today.

I'd need more info to change my mind on this.

1,094 posted on 05/02/2006 8:17:24 PM PDT by Cindy

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1617489/posts?page=1094#1094

[GLDNGUN]

Williams explained all this on CoasttoCoast radio show one night not too long ago. It was scary to hear him then, guess this proves he knows what he is talking about.

Yes, he told the host, George Noory, that arrests in Canada were imminent, and he was obviously correct. He said this operation wasn't involving a handful of terror suspects, but a "hive", as in many handfuls. I hope that's all he's correct about, as I believe he says there are already suitcase nukes in the U.S.

God help us.

[RightWingAtheist]

This so eerie for me. I was born in Kingston, home to two of the terrorists, and my parents met there while attending Queens University. It's a beautiful city, smaller than most but just lovely. My mom attended teacher's college at McMaster, and exactly a year ago, I was there on a philosophy conference. Another beautiful city...

[Velveeta]

It is possible that Shukrijumah used Vitolo's identification.

But they aren't one and the same, IMO.

[Strategerist]

I hope Vitolo sues Williams and everyone involved in propagating the story for every penny they have.

[Conservative4Ever]

Yep...you must have heard him too. God help us indeed.

[piasa]

Nabil al Marabh was a Boston cabbie as I recall- who also at one point lived in Detroit.

2001 : (TORONTO, CANADA : HASSAN ALMREI & NABIL AL MARABH SHARE AN APARTMENT - See AL QAEDA, BIN LADEN) Hassan Almrei, 28, is a Syrian national like [Nabil] Al-Marabh. Almrei has been [as of Jan 31, 2002] declared a "threat to national security" by Canada's National Intelligence Service and is being deported. Authorities say Almrei's honey and perfume business in the Middle East, helped finance Osama bin Laden's terrorist network. Last year [2001], the two men [Hassan Almrei & Nabil Al-Marabh] lived in an apartment in a Toronto high rise where Almrei's name is still on the directory. "This is one of the addresses that did come up in our investigation and we thought that there might be some evidence in one of those residences that might assist us in our investigation," said Constable Howard Adams, Royal Canadian Mounted Police. Following 9-11, Canadian investigators raided the apartment. Authorities say they confiscated computers and disks that held information about bin Laden, diagrams of plane cockpits and military weapons, and copies of passports and official ID's. ------ "Chicago's Ties to Terrorism," Chuck Goudie, ABC7 I-Team , Part 1 aired jan 31, 2002 , part 2 aired feb 1, 2002 http://abclocal.go.com/wls/news/013102_ss_tiestoterrorism.html.

[piasa]

JULY 2001 : (NIAGARA, NY : NABIL AL MARABH IS RELEASED FROM JAIL) [Nabil] Al Marabh was released from the Niagara jail last July on $10,000 bail paid by his uncle, Ahmed Shehab. Shehab owns a Toronto copy shop whose paper stock, laminates, and ink, according to Canadian investigators, exactly match those used in identification papers left behind by the September 11 hijackers. Shehab is also the principal of Toronto's Al-Qura Islamic elementary school. Al-Qura's previous principal, "Mahmoud Jaballah," shares a set of fingerprints, according to Interpol, with one Mahmoud Said, a leading figure in Islamic Jihad, the Egyptian terrorist organization founded by Ayman al Zawahiri, Osama bin Laden's longtime number two man.
Telephone records link al Marabh with Nageeb Abdul Jabar Mohamed al-Hadi, the mysterious Yemeni man who was arrested on September 11 after attempting to fly into Chicago with three different passports and a Lufthansa flight crew uniform in his bags. Telephone and banking records link [Nabil] al Marabh with September 11 hijackers Ahmed Alghamdi, Satam al-Suqami, Marwan al-Shehhi, and even Mohamed Atta himself. -------- "Due Process for Terrorists?," by David Tell, for the Editors,The Weekly Standard, 07/01/2002, Volume 007, Issue 41

[piasa]

FEBRUARY 15, 2005 or earlier : (PAKISTAN : OSAMA BIN LADEN ATTENDS THE WEDDING OF ZAYNAB KHADR - See CANADA, TORONTO CELL) Zaynab Khadr claims she didn’t know that terrorist Osama bin Laden would attend her wedding in Pakistan. Now the 25-year-old says she didn’t know clips of bin Laden’s voice calling for the killing of Americans were on the laptop computer seized by the RCMP at Pearson airport when she returned to Canada last February [2005]. ----(Excerpt) Read more at canadafreepress.com ..."RCMP allege clips of Bin Laden's voice on confiscated laptop," by Judi McLeod, Canada Free Press, June 15, 2005

FEBRUARY 15, 2005 : (TORONTO, CANADA : PEARSON AIRPORT : ZAYNAB KHADR RETURNS, MOUNTIES SEIZE A LAPTOP FROM HER WHICH CONTAINED CLIPS OF BIN LADEN CALLING FOR THE MURDER OF AMERICANS - See TORONTO CELL, OSAMA BIN LADEN) Zaynab Khadr claims she didn’t know that terrorist Osama bin Laden would attend her wedding in Pakistan. Now the 25-year-old says she didn’t know clips of bin Laden’s voice calling for the killing of Americans were on the laptop computer seized by the RCMP at Pearson airport when she returned to Canada last February [2005].
----(Excerpt) Read more at canadafreepress.com ..."RCMP allege clips of Bin Laden's voice on confiscated laptop," by Judi McLeod, Canada Free Press, June 15, 2005

[piasa]

I suspect Shukrijumah is tied in with Trinidad and Tobago's Jamaat al Muslimeen group- it is or was supported financially through rhe Islamic Call Society's office in ... guess where....

Canada.

(Islamic Call is Libyan in origin - don't forget Abdurahman Alamoudi's Libyan money gathering thing- he's the guy who was in tight with Sami Al Arian in Florida and his family is involved in the Joe Wilson Plame CIA leak thing via the Rock Creek Corp. ) Jamaat al Muslimeen members were involved in an effort to smuggle guns in Miami.

[STARWISE]

Thanks.



OCTOBER 15, 2004
WWW.USDOJ.GOV
CRM
(202) 514-2008
TDD (202) 514-1888

ABDURAHMAN ALAMOUDI SENTENCED TO JAIL
IN TERRORISM FINANCING CASE

WASHINGTON, D.C. - A U.S. citizen has been sentenced to 23 years in jail on charges related to his activities in the United States and abroad with nations and organizations that have ties to terrorism, the Department of Justice announced today.

Aldurahman M. Alamoudi, a naturalized U.S. citizen who was born in Eritrea, was sentenced to 276 months in jail by District Judge Claude M. Hilton in federal court in Alexandria, Virginia, this morning. On July 30, 2004, Alamoudi pleaded guilty to three federal offenses: one count of violating the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA), which imposes terrorism-related sanctions prohibiting unlicensed travel to and commerce with Libya; one count of false statements made in his application for naturalization; and a tax offense involving a long-term scheme to conceal from the IRS his financial transactions with Libya and his foreign bank accounts and to omit material information from the tax returns filed by his charities.

As part of a plea agreement, Alamoudi agreed to cooperate fully and truthfully in any and all investigations, including an ongoing investigation into a plot to assassinate an ally in the war against terrorism. Under the terms of that plea agreement, Alamoudi also agreed that he should be sentenced under the terrorism provision of the federal sentencing guidelines, and he agreed to forfeit all proceeds from his illegal dealings with Libya, which total at least $910,000, including $340,000 seized from him in the United Kingdom.

Alamoudi became a naturalized citizen in 1996. He is the founder and former executive director of the American Muslim Council (AMC), the founder of the American Muslim Foundation (AMF), and was an influential member of other Islamic political and charitable organizations.

http://www.usdoj.gov/opa/pr/2004/October/04_crm_698.htm

[piasa]

The press by and large claims he is anything but Iraqi, but his wife claims he told her he was Iraqi.

1996 late or early 1997 : (ALMARABH ENTERS THE US FROM CANADA- See DETROIT CELL, TORONTO CELL, BOSTON CELL, TAMPA CELL) Almarabh's Vietnamese-born wife, Huyn T. Van, told the New York Times that her husband entered the U.S. from Canada in late 1996 or early 1997. ...Almarabh's wife said he told her he was Iraqi and that his mother and two brothers live in Kuwait. She said Almarabh was questioned by the FBI in Boston in August. ------- "IN CUSTODY IN DETROIT: Shadowy new name emerges in probe ; Jilali may be responsible for fake IDs; 3 Detroit suspects stay jailed , " BY JACK KRESNAK AND JIM SCHAEFER, [DETROIT] FREE PRESS STAFF WRITERS , September 22, 2001 Sat

[piasa]

JUNE 27, 2001 : (NIAGARA FALLS AREA : LEWISTON, NY : AL MARABH IS CAUGHT WHILE HIDING IN THE BACK OF A TRACTOR TRAILER RIG - See DETROIT CELL, TORONTO CELL, BOSTON CELL, ... TAMPA CELL?) According to Canadian immigration records obtained by the Free Press, Almarabh was caught June 27 moving between the two countries [US & Canada] while hiding in the back of a tractor-trailer rig. Almarabh, 34, tried to enter the United States through the Queen's Lewiston Bridge at Niagara Falls when U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Services officers discovered him in the truck on the U.S. side of the border. They returned him to Canadian officials who found a fraudulent Canadian passport, a fake Canadian citizenship card and fraudulent social insurance number in Almarabh's possession. ...------- "IN CUSTODY IN DETROIT: Shadowy new name emerges in probe ; Jilali may be responsible for fake IDs; 3 Detroit suspects stay jailed , " BY JACK KRESNAK AND JIM SCHAEFER, [DETROIT] FREE PRESS STAFF WRITERS , September 22, 2001 Sat

[piasa]

Al Marabh seemed to have some issues with his origins:

Perhaps Laurie Mylorie might find that a familiar thing like with the 1993 WTC ringleaders, one of whom appeared to have questionable ID obtained during Iraqi occupation of Kuwait.

JUNE 29, 2001 : (CANADA : IMMIGRATION HEARING : ALMARABH REFUSES TO ANSWER QUESTIONS ABOUT HIS CITIZENSHIP- GETS UPSET AT THE SUGGESTION HE MIGHT BE DEPORTED TO SUDAN - See DETROIT CELL ) When asked by Canadian Immigration Officer John Glengarry what country he was a citizen of, Almarabh said, "I'm stateless," according to a transcript of a June 29 immigration hearing. He later told Canadian authorities that he was born in Kuwait to parents who were from Syria. Published reports have said Almarabh's mother was Palestinian and his father was a Syrian running a business in Kuwait. [* My note: His wife says he told her he was Iraqi with relatives in Kuwait] Almarabh told Canadian authorities that he would not leave their country. When an officer suggested he may have to be deported to Sudan, Almarabh became upset and said, "I won't leave." It is unclear from the transcript why he might be deported to Sudan. Almarabh told the officer to "put me back in a cell so I can die," according to the transcript. ------- "IN CUSTODY IN DETROIT: Shadowy new name emerges in probe ; Jilali may be responsible for fake IDs; 3 Detroit suspects stay jailed , " BY JACK KRESNAK AND JIM SCHAEFER, [DETROIT] FREE PRESS STAFF WRITERS , September 22, 2001 Sat

[piasa]

More issues with his orogins - this time the claim is he is not Syrian, nor Sudanese but Kuwaiti [* IMHO, I still vote for "Iraqi" with a Kuwaiti cover story. ] :

Nabil al Marabh was born in Kuwait in 1966. In the late 1980s, he [Nabil al Marabh] moved to Massachusetts and took a driver's job at the Boston Cab Company. Using that city as a base of operations, he almost immediately began establishing multiple "residences"--and acquiring multiple identification documents--there, in Florida, in Toronto, and eventually in Detroit.
Al Marabh also, probably in 1994, spent some time in a terrorist training camp in Afghanistan; he later showed his sometime Boston girlfriend, Laura Phillips, photographs of the place.
In Afghanistan al Marabh met Raed M. Hijazi, whom he brought back to Boston and found work for at the cab company. The two men lived together briefly, until Hijazi moved in with yet another Boston Cab employee, Bassam Kanj. Kanj would later be killed while leading an al Qaeda attack against a Lebanese army division in the mountains outside Tripoli. Hijazi is the millennium bomb plotter mentioned by the Post. Al Marabh is known to have made thousands of dollars in overseas wire transfers to Hijazi as that plot was being planned.
-------- "Due Process for Terrorists?," by David Tell, for the Editors , The Weekly Standard, 07/01/2002, Volume 007, Issue 41

[piasa]

Toronto Cell, al Marabh & Mahmoud Jaballah :

TORONTO - The FBI in Chicago has arrested a man named Nabil al-Marabh, a Boston cab driver who lived in Toronto for six years and was charged in Canada with carrying a fake passport. But there are at least two other Toronto connections. CBC News reported earlier this week that two Egyptian men are in custody in Toronto, accused by the Canadian Security Intelligence Service of being members of a terrorist organization. Now CBC News has learned that CSIS has given evidence to the Federal Court that seeks to link these men to the extremist group Al Jihad, to Osama bin Laden, and even to Iraqi intelligence.
The evidence comes from court records in the 1999 case of Mahmoud Jaballah, a father of six who's being held in maximum security in Toronto. According to Jaballah's testimony, he's a devout Islamic teacher, but with a curious history. He says he was "persecuted" in his native Egypt, arrested seven times, then fled to Saudi Arabia on a pilgrimage, then to Pakistan, then to Yemen on a false Iraqi passport. Jaballah testified: "I thought to leave Pakistan with a false passport and I travelled from there to Yemen." He testified he had come from Iraq. Finally, Jaballah came to Canada on a false Saudi passport in May 1996. He won refugee status, saying he'd worked in Pakistan for the International Islamic Relief Organization. But CSIS says that organization is linked to Osama bin Laden. The purported link is a man called Ayman Zawahiri. Zawahiri is on the FBI's terrorism watch list and he's said by Israeli intelligence to be a key contact for bin Laden's Al Qaeda organisation with Iraqi intelligence. Jaballah's lawyer says his client is in jail while none of these allegations have been proved. Jaballah won't get a hearing on all that until the end of October. ------- "More Toronto connections to terror attacks," CBC News [Canada], Last Updated Fri, 21 Sep 2001 15:51:17 EDT

[piasa]

Nabil al Marabh is allegedly the nephew of another interesting Toronto figure:

In several conversations with the [Ottawa] Citizen since his nephew's arrest, Ahmad Shehab, a Toronto-based Islamic cleric and special adviser to the United Nations, has expressed shock. "He led an ordinary, normal life. He loved people and he loved animals. I pray for his innocence," Mr. Shehab told the Citizen last night. "He's just a kid. Nobody would let him know any secrets. He is the last person on earth that would be involved with terrorism," Mr. Shehab said.
---- "Canada released 'key' al-Qaeda operative: Freed on bail in July, man held in Chicago is accused of having ties to suicide pilots," by Gary Dimmock, The Ottawa Citizen, 2001.10.17- via http://www.sfn.saskatoon.sk.ca/~ab133/Archives/Digests/v04n200-299/v04-n202.txt

You just knew I was going to get the UN inolved some way... =:-O

[Cindy]

Wowser piasa.
You're on a roll.
I scanned your posts/pings.
Keep on going.
I'm in the middle of searching stuff and then
I'll go back and read all your posts.
FYI.

[piasa]

Nabil al Marabh is of course connected to Jaballah- in this case through Ahmed Shehab, all mentioned above.

No mention was made at the hearing that the uncle [of Nabil alMarabh], Ahmed Shehab, shared control of the school with Mahmoud Jaballah, a man Canadian authorities had long suspected to be associated with an Egyptian terrorist group. When Jaballah was arrested in Toronto last August for being in Canada with forged immigration papers, documents filed in court by the Canadian Security Intelligence Service stated that he was a member of the extremist group Al Jihad, and had supported and ''will engage in terrorism.''-------- http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/fr/548211/posts

[Velveeta]

Thanks, Piasa.
Interesting that Shukrijumah is back in the news this week:
http://news.google.com/news?hl=en&q=shukrijumah&tab=wn&ie=UTF-8&scoring=d

[piasa]

(There's something jveritas may be able to clear up at the end of this post)

Fitz - yes, we know him well -

2002 late : (FITZ DRAFTS INDICTMENT AGAINT NABIL AL MARABH BUT DOJ DECLINES TO PROSECUTE) In late 2002, U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald drafted an indictment against al-Marabh on multiple counts of making false statements in his interviews with FBI agents. Justice headquarters declined prosecution. Fitzgerald then tracked down [Ahmed Y. ] Ashwas, the Jordanian who had spent time with al-Marabh in a federal detention cell in 2002.

So, after Fitz gets ahold of Ashwas [Ashwas was a Jordanian informant who told the FBI in Chicago what he had heard from Nabil alMarabh while they were in prison]...

Ashwas tells what he learned from Nabil alMarabh, which amounts to this:

Al-Marabh said he aided [Millenium plotter] Raed Hijazi's flight from authorities and sent him money. Hijazi was a Boston cab driver convicted in Jordan for plotting to blow up a hotel in Amman in 1999, according to FBI and Justice documents. Al-Marabh and Hijazi were roommates at Afghan training camps and later in the United States.
A mystery figure in Chicago, known only as "al Mosul," asked al-Marabh to attend a driving school in Detroit with Arabic instructors so he could get a commercial truck driver's licence.
Al-Marabh said he and Hijazi planned to steal a fuel truck and detonate it in the heavily travelled Lincoln or Holland tunnels, but the plan was foiled when Hijazi was arrested. [New York Tunnel Plot]
Al-Marabh acknowledged he had distributed money — as much as $200,000 U.S. a month — to various training camps in Afghanistan in the early 1990s. ----- FBI: Terror suspect plotted fuel attack ; Al-Marabh planned to blow up tunnel ; Jail informant reported `martyr' bid JOHN SOLOMON ASSOCIATED PRESS

[* My note: Notice the line I put in bold about "al Mosul?" I don't know Arabic but given that the tag "al Tikriti" seems to mean someone came from Hussein's hometown of Tikrit, and "al Amreeki" means some wannabe jihadi yankee came from the USA, if I'm not being too bold I would think this "al Mosul" means "of Mosul," as in the Iraqi city of Mosul... but one news report by John Solomon of AP says "al Mosul" just means "boss" and doesn't mention it might mean the mystery guy in Chicago who told Nabil al Marabh to go to trucking school is from Mosul, Iraq.]

[piasa]

Thank you for that link

[Cindy]

Yes, it is interesting.

It seems he is in the news because of 1 LA Times article and all the rest of news sites are quoting and/or spinning off the 1 LA Times article.

[piasa]

Nabil al Marabh and Hijazi are from Boston; it is worth noting that Boston is where Abdurahman Alamoudi was among those who founded the "Islamic Society of Boston" , at least one of whose trustees is involved in the SAFA group terror charity cases of Northern Virginia. Another boardmember is Qatar-based al Qaradawi, a supported of Hamas and member of Muslim Brotherhood. The ISB received the land for their wahabbi mosque at bargain basement prices from the city of Boston.

[Alamo-Girl]

Thanks for the ping!

[PA Engineer]

BTTT

[Cindy]

OFF TOPIC... Speaking of Canada, I wonder whatever happened to this guy?

http://www.fbi.gov/terrorinfo/elmaati.htm

----

http://www.cbc.ca/news/background/ussecurity/fbi_wanted.html

"Wanted – again
Canadians on an FBI terror list"
CBC News Online | May 27, 2004

ARTICLE SNIPPET: "Possible aliases: Amro Badr Eldin Abou El-Maati, Amro Badr Abouelmaati

Born May 25, 1963, in Kuwait. He was last known to have been in Toronto in November 2001. He had a Canadian passport, issued in Pakistan in 1998.

El-Maati came to Canada as a teenager and went to high school in Toronto. He moved to Montreal where he went to university. After graduation, he went to Afghanistan and Pakistan to fight with the mujahedeen against Soviet forces occupying Afghanistan."

ARTICLE SNIPPET: "El-Maati first attracted attention in November 2001 after several documents bearing his name were found in an al-Qaeda safe house in Kabul. Among them was a letter notifying him that he had been granted Canadian citizenship."

ARTICLE SNIPPET: "Later that month, El-Maati’s brother, Ahmad Abou El-Maati, became the first of four Canadians to be jailed in Syria in the span of a year. His arrest came a few months after he was stopped at the Canada-U.S. border while working as a truck driver. Border guards found a map of Ottawa marking government buildings and nuclear research facilities. Ahmad Abou El-Maati returned to Canada earlier this year after spending two years in jail in Syria and Egypt."

[piasa]

My post at #16 and 17 mentions el Shukrijumah, and his haunt of Guyana and Trinidad :

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/873337/posts?page=16#16

[Cindy]

Thanks Piasa, let me make that link clickable:

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/873337/posts?page=16#16

[piasa]

ping

[backhoe]

Thankee...

[Peach]

An advisor to the UN involved in terrorism? Doesn't surprise me a bit. Not one single bit.