Posted on 05/03/2007 9:03:10 PM PDT by RDTF
NEW YORK -- An FBI agent who posed as an al-Qaida recruiter in a terrorism investigation testified Thursday at a doctor's trial, recalling that a key conspirator in the case showed him how he could strangle somebody with his prayer beads.
The agent, Ali Soufan, is a key witness in the terrorism trail against the doctor, Rafiq Abdus Sabir, 52, who was charged two years ago with pledging to provide material support to al-Qaida by offering to treat the group's injured fighters.
Most of Soufan's testimony in nearly a day on the witness stand revolved around conversations he had with Tarik Shah, a martial arts expert and jazz musician who said he wanted to introduce him to Sabir. Several taped conversations from a meeting between the agent and Shah in Plattsburgh, N.Y. were played for the jury.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Karl Metzner often paused the tapes to ask Soufan to explain portions of the conversations.
During one talk, Soufan said Shah showed him long prayer beads of the type worn by martial arts masters, and said Shah demonstrated that he could strangle someone with the prayer beads _ "that he could kill with these beads."
Soufan testified the demonstration came after an earlier conversation in which he told Shah that members of al-Qaida had already used martial arts effectively in attacks "and were very successful."
Soufan said he was referring to the hijackers involved in the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks.
(Excerpt) Read more at newsday.com ...
ping
This is going to feed a narrative that there is no serious Al Qaeda presence in the U.S., because it’s all the result of government agents provocateur. Count on it.
OPINION: Generally speaking...sting operations...good deal.
‘Nuff said.
Heck, he could serve in the Senate. Senator Robert Byrd (D) is a “former” recruiter for the KKK.
The problem is that it takes a very long time to get someone close the terrorists. Naturally, it is not easy either. You can’t just use any John Doe. If they would be “outed” at the trial it put a very high cost on the process as he can no longer be used in the field operations.
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