JUNE 5, 2003 : (LASHKAR-E-TAIBA : IBRAHIM AL-HAMDI, SON OF YEMENI DIPLOMAT, PLEADS GUILTY TO LESSER WEAPONS CHARGE IN EXCHANGE FOR TESTIMONY--- See VA JIHAD/PAINTBALL CELL) The son of a prominent Yemeni diplomat pleaded guilty June 5 to a weapons charge and has agreed to testify before the grand jury. - "12 Washington-area Muslims investigated for alleged terrorist ties," By Karen Branch-Brioso, St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Thu, Jun. 12, 2003
JUNE 12, 2003 : (USA : 12 MEN UNDER INVESTIGATION -- See PAINTBALL CELL/VA JIHAD, LeT) - WASHINGTON - The FBI and a federal grand jury are investigating at least 12 Muslim men from the Washington area whom the government suspects of sharing ties to terrorists. The men and their attorneys say they are the victims of overzealous agents who are attributing sinister motives to activities as innocent as the men's participation in paintball games.
Several searches of the men's homes turned up a mixed bag of evidence, according to inventories of the seized items. The items included what agents described as a "terrorist manual" and a "printout of the FBI headquarters building" in downtown Washington, as well as an array of paintball equipment. But one of the inventories listed a "grenade launcher" that a prosecutor said he thinks is a flare gun.
... All of the men were students of Ali Al-Timimi, an Islamic scholar whose home was also searched. The group includes the son [Ibrahim al-Hamdi] of a prominent Yemeni diplomat, and a St. Louis native who converted to Islam.
----- "12 Washington-area Muslims investigated for alleged terrorist ties," By Karen Branch-Brioso, (KRT) via St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Thu, Jun. 12, 2003
JUNE 2003 a Friday : (VA JIHAD ARRESTS) The US authorities on Friday detained eight people [named as Randall Todd Royer, 30, Ibrahim Ahmed al-Hamdi, a Yemeni; Masoud Ahmad Khan, 31; Yong Ki Kwon, 27, a naturalised American born in South Korea; Mohammed Aatique, a 30-year-old Pakistani; Hammad Abdur-Raheem, 35; Donald Thomas Surratt, 30; and Caliph Basha Ibn Abdur-Raheem, 29. ] they accused of supporting Lashkar-e-Taeba, which has been engaged in terrorist activities in the state Jammu and Kashmir. Another three people [Khwaja Mahmood Hasan, 27, a Pakistani-born American; Sabri Benkhala, 28; and Seifullah Chapman, 30 ] said to be living in Saudi Arabia were arraigned with the eight. All were accused of conspiring to help violence by Muslim terrorists in Kashmir, Chechnya, the Philippines and other countries. Anti-terrorist raids were carried out in three states in the Washington region [Maryland, Virginia and Pennsylvania], the justice department said in a statement. The eight detained "have been indicted on conspiracy, firearms and other charges for their alleged roles in a conspiracy to train and participate in jihad in Kashmir," said US Attorney Paul McNulty. The 11 who face charges include at least two men born in Pakistan, one Yemeni and one from South Korea. They were to appear in court in Alexandria, Virginia, in the Washington suburbs.- "11 Lashkar terrorists arrested in US," Hindustan Times, June 28 2003
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Nine Americans were among 11 men charged today with conspiring to train on U.S. soil for a "violent jihad" overseas. According to an indictment issued by the federal government, the men belong to the Islamic militant group Lashkar-e-Taiba, or "Army of the Righteous," which seeks to drive India out of the disputed Kashmir province, Fox News reported. .----(Excerpt) Read more at worldnetdaily.com .GLOBAL JIHAD Americans charged in 'holy-war' plot (Religion of Peace Alert) WorldNetDaily.com ^ | June 27, 2003 | WorldNetDaily.com
JUNE 27, 2003 : (USA : 9 AMERICANS, 2 FOREIGNERS CHARGED : AHMED ABU-ALI IS BEING HELD IN SAUDI ARABIA, CASE RELATED TO MAY 12 SAUDI BOMBINGS --See PAINTBALL CELL / VA JIHAD & LeT) Nine Americans were among 11 men charged today with conspiring to train on U.S. soil for a "violent jihad" overseas. According to an indictment issued by the federal government, the men belong to the Islamic militant group Lashkar-e-Taiba, or "Army of the Righteous," which seeks to drive India out of the disputed Kashmir province, Fox News reported. The Islamic group is on the State Department's list of terrorist organizations. India, which is in a conflict with Pakistan over Kashmir, accuses the group of launching suicide attacks against officials and civilians in the province.
"These indictments are a stark reminder that terrorist organizations of various allegiances are active in the United States and these groups exploit America's freedom as a weapon to recruit and position themselves on our shores, in our society," U.S. Attorney Paul J. McNulty told reporters. After the Sept. 11 attacks, said McNulty, "Virginia jihad network members were told that it was time to engage in violent jihad."
One suspect, Ahmed Abu-Ali, is being held in Saudi Arabia by officials probing the May 12 bombings in Riyadh that killed nine attackers and 25 other people. ----- "GLOBAL JIHAD : Americans charged in 'holy-war' plot : Accused of conspiring to train on U.S. soil for battle overseas," WorldNetDaily.com , June 27, 2003
AUGUST 2003 : (LeT CHIEF MOHAMMED HAFIZ SAID SERMON EQUATES SADDAM HUSSEIN OF IRAQ WITH THE PROPHET OF ISLAM) Anti-Western rhetoric was fairly typical of Islamic extremist groups in 2002 and 2003. But in an August 2003 piece for “Pakistan Today,” author Tashbih Sayyed quotes Said LeT's former chief, Mohammad Hafiz Said] as equating Saddam with the prophet of Islam in an August 2003 Khutbah (Islamic sermon). Much of LET’s rhetoric about fighting the infidels in Iraq could easily be dismissed as empty threats. ------ "Eichenlaub: Indian Islamist terror group had ties to Saddam," Commentary by Mark Eichenlaub , Insight, www.insightmag.com - Issue Date: July 25-31, 2006, Posted On: 7/25/2006