PICTURES - Buffalo, NY area (Lackawanna) 9/13 Al Qaeda related bust.

Martin | 9/14/2002 | Martin

[Gulliverseyes]

http://www.pbase.com/alqaeda/hunt

[dawn53]

Hope you don't mind. Thought this would make it easier

LINK TO PHOTOS

[GVnana]

I'll go for a purp walk on this one!

[Bad~Rodeo]

I was just about to ask....thanks

[Fitzcarraldo]

http://www.wben.com/news/localstory.cfm?newsID=636163

Mayor Reacts to Arrests

Friday, September 13, 2002
By Tom Puckett

Lackawanna, NY (WBEN)--Lackawanna's mayor says residents should rest easy after hearing of the arrests of five suspected Al-Qaida members.

John Kuryak tells WBEN's Tom Bauerle he's confident his city is safe following the arrests and is urging calm among residents.

He says he's been in on the case for several months, being filled in little by little.

Kuryak says since 9-11, nothing surprises him, and the arrests are no exception.

[Mixer]

All of these captures and cell busts are really becaoming a good sign. I know we have a long way to go but I am sure once terrorists know that they will have to spend the rest of their lives with butch and bubba they will think twice about becoming a terrorist.

Doing Allah's Deed - 72 Virgins

Suidide Bombing in Israel - $10,000 From the Saudis

Seeing the look on prisoners faces when they bring in Abdullah and Mohammad for a life sentence - PRICELESS

[Fitzcarraldo]

More photos at:

http://search.news.yahoo.com/search/news?c=news_photos&p=lackawanna

Dr. Khalid Qazi, President of the WNY American Muslim Council, answers questions from the media immediately after evidence was removed by the FBI from a suspected terrorist cell safehouse on Wilkes Barre Avenue in Lackawanna, N.Y. on Friday, Sept. 13, 2002. Dr. Qazi said he was told the investigation started when the local Muslim community reported suspicious activities to the FBI. (AP Photo/Don Heupel)
- Sep 13 11:37 PM ET

[Fitzcarraldo]

http://www.lasvegassun.com/sunbin/stories/nat-gen/2002/sep/14/091407691.html

Today: September 14, 2002 at 6:20:03 PDT

N.Y. Terror Suspects to Be Charged

By JOHN WAWROW
ASSOCIATED PRESS

LACKAWANNA, N.Y.- The mayor of the city where five men were arrested for allegedly operating a terrorist cell said the FBI told him six months ago it was investigating a national security matter in the area.

U.S. officials in Washington, speaking to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity, said the Justice Department planned to charge the men, all of Yemeni descent, with providing material support and resources to terrorists.

The five were arrested Friday night after federal agents raided several houses and an Arab social club. Agents were seen taking two boxes and a blue cooler from an apartment above an Arabian foods deli.

The men were held at a federal detention center and were to be arraigned Saturday in Buffalo.

"When you first hear about it, you do get that initial shiver," said Lackawanna Mayor John Kuryak. "You almost tell yourself, 'Not in your back yard. Not in my community.' But that was for a split second. ... No one can be that naive or take anything for granted these days since 9-11."

Lackawanna Police Capt. Ronald Miller confirmed there were arrests, but would only say those arrested were American citizens.

FBI spokesman Paul Moskal wouldn't disclose the men's identities, but some relatives of the men spoke about the arrests.

Albaneh Mosed said FBI agents burst into his home and arrested his 24-year-old brother, Shafal Mosed. He denied his brother had any links to the al-Qaida terrorist network.

"If he was a terrorist I'd be the first to know," Albaneh Mosed said. Mosed said his brother, who is married with a 3-year-old child, attended community college and recently got a job as a telemarketer.

"He's a peaceful person. The whole neighborhood loves him and every person that's ever met him loves him," Mosed said. "I would put my life on the line just to prove they're innocent."

Ahmed Jamil, who was painting at one house raided by the FBI, said 10 to 12 agents appeared at about 6 p.m. Friday, looking for a man in his 20s. The man was not home, said Jamil, who lives in the neighborhood. He said the house belongs to the man's father-in-law.

Jamil said the agents searched for a half-hour and left the house a mess. He said the son-in-law occasionally filled in for the leader at the Lackawanna Islamic Mosque two blocks away. Jamil said he didn't believe any of the men had ties to al-Qaida.

Phone messages at the mosque were not immediately returned.

"They went to Pakistan, and I'm absolutely sure their purpose was to further their Islamic education because sometimes they led the prayers in the mosque," Jamil said. "And they have no other intentions besides that." Dr. Khalid Qazi, president of the American Muslim Council of Western New York, said he was told the investigation started when the local Muslim community reported suspicious activities to the FBI.

---

Associated Press writer John Lumpkin in Washington contributed to this report.

[spald]

As a native of Buffalo NY, I'd assume these Yemani men crossed the border from Canada some years ago. We used to see busloads of Hindis and Muslims coming over to Niagra Falls on tourist excursions. Thing was, they just stayed in the US. Lackawanna was always a working-class neighborhood, populated by Irish, Poles and Italians. They worked at Lackawanna steel plant (Bethlehem Steel) and the district was always heavily Democratic and overwhelmingly Catholic. There's a Democrat machine running Lackawanna with heavy ties to the Arm.

[artios]

"...when the local Muslim community reported suspicious activities to the FBI"

that is a good sign too - first I have heard of muslims policing their own.

[JCG]

"...when the local Muslim community reported suspicious activities to the FBI"

that is a good sign too - first I have heard of muslims policing their own.

You probably believe Islam is "a religion of peace," too.

America's Fifth Column ... watch PBS documentary JIHAD! In America
New Link: Download 8 Mb zip file here (60 minute video)

[justsomedude]

i'm really beginning to detest that swirly arabian lettering...sorry. I'm not really prejudiced against anyone. I just don't think it belongs here. If you want write in Hindustani or whatever it is, go home and do it. No, I don't think there should be a law against it when it's on private property. It just doesn't seem right. It seems like a slap in the face. /rant

[BfloGuy]

"As a native of Buffalo NY, I'd assume these Yemani men crossed the border from Canada some years ago"

I don't think we can blame Canada (or the democrats, much as I'd like to) on this one.

The Yemeni population in the Buffalo area has grown to some 15,000 to 20,000 (2% of the total population at most)-- largely since the steel plant closed in the early eighties. They arrive here mostly from NYC.

Buffalo's Arab population isn't particularly large when compared to most northeastern cities, although the large concentration of Arabs in Lackawanna is high relative to its population.

By and large the Arabs run retail stores in parts of the city where the former white owners have fled (as was the case with the guys arrested).

That said, I'm very pleased to see that the FBI was on the job, here.

[Squantos]

when the local Muslim community reported suspicious activities to the FBI

I like it. If the good muslims don't get a handle on the bad muslims quick they ain't gonna like the confused angry American publics response IMHO........

Stay Safe !!

[Diogenesis]

Does anyone know what Dr. Khalid Qazi's nom de guerre is?

[RnMomof7]

It is a growing population...there is an international Madras in the inner city of Buffalo..

My eldest daughter had a friend with ties to the Muslim community in Lakawanna 20 years ago..I nursed their kids in OLV hospital 15 years ago...they have been here forever..BUT there is a large change in the population with the decision to favor 3rd world immigration over European. Thus we now have our own Madras.right here in RC Buffalo

Seeing woman in scarves is nothing out of the ordinary now..does it concern me? Sure does especially when you consider we are a major border crossing ...

[montrose]

These arrests were obviously timed to draw attention away from the embarrassing Florida incident on Alligator Alley.

The Yemenis were being tracked starting five months ago, so the arrest's timing last night is suspicious, to say the least. Particularly when the details released about their activities are so tame.

If the government is attempting to play the people like a fiddle, we can only be grateful that it is very bad playing.

Maybe next month the government can release figures on CNBC's Morning Call that the charge against the Buffalo Yemeni Five "has been revised downward to overtime parking."

[alrea]

obviously timed to draw attention away from the embarrassing Florida incident on Alligator Alley

unlike politicians and journalists, the bomb dogs don't lie. alligator ally was not embarrassing. if the dog is upset, then we got to figure out why quickly. especially if we also see...let's just say "folks with funny names and hats."

[MagnusMat]

Hello Freepers!

I just came from the crime scene at Lackawanna. . Reporters, and cameraman still interviewing Muslim leaders and people walking in the streets. It is very tense there. Very poor community, but the Mosque is in very good shape. The famous Catholic shrine build by Father Baker is just one mile away – Our Lady of Victory. Apparently most of the Muslims are from Yemen. Family & friends are denying that the five suspects had anything to do with al Qaeda. For those of you not familiar with the Buffalo area, Buffalo has four bridges connecting to Canada. Here are the fact I gathered from several resources:FBI arrested 5 Muslims (of Yemeni descent) in Lackawanna, suburb of Buffalo - men graduated from Laden's Terrorist Camp.
Lived above a deli in Lackawanna.
Age range, 25-35
Dr Quazi, Muslim leader of Buffalo, stated on WBEN that local Muslims informed police.
AP saying, however, that cell was discovered by communication interceptions.
This area has been under suspicion since the early ninties because of abnormal money transfers to the middle east.
FBI have been invesitigating this cell for six to nine months.
FBI seen carrying four boxes from apartment.
It was because of this terrorist cell in Buffalo that President Bush went to code orange.
Several Mosques in this small Lackawanna community.
This community in Lackawanna all summer long noticed several planes hovering over the area.
Three of the terrorist suspects were born here in Lackawana at Mercy Hospital, one born outside the area, the fifth a naturalized citizen.
Once again, Muslim leaders are cooperating.
These five men were well known in the Muslim community, known to be hard working.
Lackawanna Mayor Kurynak was in the FBI loop for several months.
Leader of Cell, at large, probably in Yemen.
Buffalo has a large Muslim population!
Buffalo is an easy access point because of four bridges connected to Canada and miles of unattended waterways.
Terrorist suspects will be arraigned in federal court in Buffalo, NY.
At least one being held in Bativa NY at an Immigration and Naturalization detention center.