Posted on 12/10/2002 8:47:34 PM PST by JohnathanRGalt
Of about 370 suspects on the list, 24 are associated with Texas addresses.
"We had a watch list - it was not called a watch list, it was called Project Lookout," FBI spokesman Steven Berry said by phone. "We exhausted it. We got all the information from individuals on the list."
Berry would not talk about current aspects of the investigation.
A form of the FBI list was published online in October 2001 by the Finnish government, which reportedly believed the United States had already released it. It details names and, in some cases, addresses and phone numbers of U.S. terrorism suspects.
The FBI appeared to have particular interest in Saudi Arabian Airlines' office in Houston. Eleven Middle-Eastern men on the list were identified with the airline's offices in Houston.
"Any people who were involved in the investigation are not here at this time," an employee at the airline office said.
News reports show that Mustafa Ahmad Adin Al-Husawi is suspected of slipping $500,000 from al-Qaida to the Sept. 11 hijackers. The watch list indicates that he lived, among other addresses, at a house in Sugar Land.
A phone number could not be found for the address in local phone books or online listings, and phone numbers given for him in Massachusetts and New York are not currently assigned to him.
Tareq Al-Jahini, whom the FBI watched for years, according to The (Portland) Oregonian, is listed at 147 McCue St. in Houston. But four online map search engines show that the address does not exist.
Bob Dogium of the Houston FBI field office declined comment on individuals the bureau has watched.
"There were certainly people here whose names popped up on lists," Dogium said. "The bottom line, though, is that nobody in Houston was taken into custody or arrested by the FBI because of having any connections to terrorist threats or terrorism."
But the Immigration and Naturalization Service, as well as the FBI, has handled detentions and arrests. Dogium conceded the INS had taken in suspects in Houston.
Houston previously was the base for a group of militant Islamic Web sites, including www.azzam.com, which some believe is controlled by al-Qaida.
Investigators have watched the progress of militant groups' online skills. Testifying before Congress in February, Steven Emerson, a journalist, listed nonprofit groups such as the Qatar Charitable Society and Al-Rashid Trust that used Web sites, he believed, to solicit contributions to terrorists.
One of Azzam.com's recent incarnations, which had U.S. and European components, contained narratives praising soldiers of the Taliban.
Many of the Texas sites are down, but their domain names still are registered. A search on Azzam and its alias, www.qoqaz.net, shows that both domains are listed with a Houston Internet company. The same company provided space to www.taliban-news.com and www.qassam.org. What happened to these sites remains unclear.
Starting in the 1990s, counterterrorism investigators in Dallas stepped into a circle of strange happenings involving a Richardson Internet company, a huge Islamic charity and a pro-Palestinian organization.
The FBI had kept track of the Holy Land Foundation for Relief and Development since at least 1993. Investigators said the HLF, which claims to be the biggest Islamic charity in the United States, has numerous and deep connections to the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas.
The foundation was a client of InfoCom, a Richardson Internet company that gives space to several Islamic sites and owns the online country code for Iraq.
The Islamic Association for Palestine was also a client of InfoCom. Its Web site operated on InfoCom space, though the site is now based in Virginia.
The North Texas Joint Terrorism Task Force raided InfoCom's offices on Sept. 6, 2001. The reasons for the search still sleep in a sealed affidavit.
Ihsan Elashi, who ran InfoCom with his brothers, is serving a four-year prison term for violating a trade restriction imposed the day of the raid.
His brother Ghassan Elashi, the company's vice president for marketing, said that he did not know why federal agents would search the offices.
But at the same time as the raid, two InfoCom bank accounts had been frozen. The reason, investigators told the company, was that those accounts contained money from Nadia Elashi Marzouk, the wife of a Hamas political leader.
Months later, President Bush announced that he had frozen HLF's assets because of links to Hamas. The foundation waded into a series of court battles, which continue.
Ghassan Dahduli, a former InfoCom technician, is now in Jordan after running afoul of FBI interrogators. They met him in a Dallas parking lot, his immigration papers in hand, according to Karen Pennington, who represented Dahduli. Eventually, they deported him.
"These people have been very much hurt. I'm a native Texan ... I'm not anti-American, but our government has never shown enough evidence for why it is doing this," Pennington said.
It is clear what happened to them:
http://www.azfalrasas.com/ redirects to http://216.97.79.152/nuke/index.php at C.I. Host in TexasIn the statement posted Monday at an Islamist Web site, a group claiming to be the "Political Office of Qaeda al-Jihad" said it had carried out last week's attacks on an Israeli hotel and airliner in Kenya... The supposed al Qaeda message was posted in Arabic on the site www.azfalrasas.com, which roughly means "melody of gunfire," and shows an AK-47 automatic rifle and a tank.
"Interior Contracting * JoineryBut when you look a the page source, there are all kinds of links to terrorist websites such as Azzam (many more).
Architectural Aluminum Systems"
stepping back in time..NEWSFACTOR.com - NEWSFACTOR NETWORK: "FBI TERRORISM TASK FORCE RAIDS ARAB WEB HOSTING FIRM" (ARTICLE NOTE: The firm is identified as InfoCom Corporation. ARTICLE SNIPPET: "Arab leaders held a news conference to protest the FBI's actions, calling it an "anti-Muslim witch hunt." They insisted the task force, which also included the Secret Service and the U.S. Customs Service, acted on little evidence, but rather on political pressure and anti-Arab stereotypes. "While Muslims understand the FBI's mission to protect American citizens, we are concerned that the civil liberties of InfoCom's owners and their many important clients were violated by this unexpected raid," the Arab group said in a statement.") by Tim McDonald (SEPTEMBER 7, 2001)
Voices of Palestine is a local muslim & pallie terror front.
It's registered to the Mansour family and the "American Mortgage Group" in Bellevue, WA.
From #7- The Islamic Association for Palestine is hyperlinked from alaqsaintifada.org as is voicesofpalestine.org
Voices of Palestine is a local muslim & pallie terror front.
It's registered to the Mansour family and the "American Mortgage Group" in Bellevue, WA.
Notice that Hamas and al-Aqsa seem to be working together in the US.
I am curious why the Islamic Assn for Palestine site moved to Virgina after InfoCom was shut down rather than, say, California or Portland. Since Abar has mentioned that the local site Voices of Palestine is registered to the Mansour family and the "American Mortgage Group" (which probably set up safehouses) in Bellevue, WA., I'm wondering if they want to draw attention away from those areas. Or do they feel they have more official protection in Virginia? Or do they now need proximity to communicate with various Islamic embassy employees?
sakina security bump.
Infocom is still a working ISP in Richardson TX. They also host many other Arabic sites such as the Arabic satellite news channel Al-Jazera and Islami-QA which sends out fatwas telling Muslims what is permissable or not.
It appears that IAP didn't move. I still see them at 63.175.194.197 -- which is in the netblock of infocom. Perhaps the news reporter got it wrong or is repeating disinformation told to him.
Another IIRC: the name Elashi sounds very familiar and I'm thinking it related to a number of scams in Florida that our excellent net sleuths traced to a web of familiar names and organizations with connections to the 9/11 attackers.
The Commercial Appeal (Memphis)
December 16, 1990, Sunday, FINAL EDITION
BUSINESS, Pg. C1
COMMUNICATIONS; FAX EVOLVES WITH PHONE AS IT TRANSFORMS BUSINESS
Joanne Kelley; Reuters(snip) Now a handful of companies are making special cards and boards that enable owners of personal computers and printers to convert their machines to accept and send faxes.
International Computers and Communications Inc. began shipping such a new card last month.
The card, which sells for less than $ 10 and has a phone jack attached, fits into an expansion slot on the back of Hewlett-Packard Co.'s popular Laserjet computer printers. ''We see great potential in the trend toward multifunction devices and we want to take advantage of it,'' said Bayan Elashi, president of ICC, based in Los Angeles.
Moneyclips
August 6, 1996
Saudi firms offered back Internet names
By Adnan Jabir, Arab News Staff
ARAB NEWS
RIYADH, Aug. 5--The American Info Comp company has shown willingness to relinquish the names of 500 Saudi firms it had registered on the Internet.
Info Comp has submitted an undertaking to the Council of Saudi Chambers of Commerce and Industry (CSCCI) in Riyadh, offering its readiness to disclaim the names for paying the cost of registration and "the actual cost" for the process of registering the names.
Ghassan Al-Elashi, marketing manager of Info Comp who is now in the Kingdom, refused to divulge the "actual cost" of the process for registration of names. Earlier today the CSCCI announced that it had held a meeting with Al-Elashi to explain the real objectives behind registering the names of Saudi companies.
"The aim was to protect the names of these companies and establishments from using by companies and individuals who demand large amounts to relinquish such names," Info Comp's Director-General Bayan Al-Elashi was quoted as saying.
The council said Info Comp had registered on the Internet Arabic and Islamic names to use them to spread Islamic thought. But it did not give examples of such names or their current uses.
Al-Elashi refused to divulge the "actual cost" of the process for registration of names.
The authorized fee for registering one's name on the Internet is $50. This will bring total cost of registration of 500 names to $25,000. The council said the meeting in Riyadh with Info Comp representative was as per the request of the U.S. company. They had requested to meet CSCCI's President Abdul Rahman Al-Jeraisy, Secretary-General Abdullah Al-Dabbagh, his assistant Fahd Al-Silmi and Secretary-General of the Riyadh Chamber of Commerce and Industry Hussein Al-Adl.
The American company had earlier refused to disclaim the names of 500 Saudi companies. Bayan Al-Elashi had refused to pronounce the company's stand on the issue, saying that it would weaken its negotiation position.
The names of Saudi companies registered by Info Comp on Internet include SAPTCO, Olayan Group, Zagzoog, Rolaco, El-Ajou, Gazzaz, Kanoo, Nadec, Dahlawi, Spimaco, Jamjoum Group, Petrolube and Batterjee.
Moneyclips
August 7, 1996
Info Comp's claims disputed
By Saeed Haider, Arab News Staff
ARAB NEWS
JEDDAH, Aug. 6--Saudi Public Relations Company (SPRC) Executive Director Khaled Al-Maeena has disputed assertions made by the American Info Comp marketing manager that it was ready to relinquish the names of 500 Saudi companies it has registered on the Internet.
Commenting on the claims made by Bayan Al-Elashi of Info Comp, Al-Maeena said there was no guarantee that Info Comp would really relinquish the names of Saudi companies from the Internet. He questioned the motive behind registration of the names of Saudi firms on the Internet in the first place without seeking prior permission from them. The chief executive of SPRC asked why had the company registered names of Saudi firms and not Swedish companies for example.
Al-Maeena, however, lamented the fact that several Saudi businessmen remained apathetic toward the Internet. He said for the last year he had written several articles on the Internet and sent faxes to companies and individuals about it but without much response. He said such apathy essentially led vested interest groups to exploit the situation.
He also questioned the rate quoted by the Info Comp official for registration. "It is possible that $50 may be the charge for an obscure site," he said.
SPRC represents arab.net which is the largest Arab site on Internet. In the past year SPRC launched several campaigns to generate awareness about the Internet among the private sector.
PREPARED TESTIMONY OF STEVEN EMERSON, TERRORIST EXPERT AND INVESTIGATOR, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, TERRORISM NEWSWIRE, INC.
BEFORE THE HOUSE COMMITTEE ON THE JUDICIARY SUBCOMMITTEE
ON IMMIGRATION AND CLAIMS
SUBJECT - INTERNATIONAL TERRORISM AND IMMIGRATION POLICY
Introductory comments:
Good morning. Before I begin my prepared comments, I would like to take a moment to express my deepest appreciation to you, Mr. Chairman, for holding this hearing, and, equally important, for standing up to the orchestrated campaign to stop me from appearing. Because of the investigative work I have carried out as a journalist and investigator in exposing the presence of militant Islamic fundamentalists and Middle Eastern terrorists in the United States (see attached bio), I have been the subject of a sustained campaign of vilification, defamation and even a threat to my life during the past five years by militant Islamic organizations operating as self-anointed representatives of the larger Muslim population, whom they decidedly do not represent. But without access to accurate information about my real background to correct the false claims being fabricated about me, some of those who receive this information are unfortunately subject to manipulation. In the end, the aim of this campaign is to prevent me, as well as others, from speaking and writing about the threat of militant Islamic fundamentalism on American soil, and thus prevent the public from being properly informed. The very success of these organizations and their supporters, fronting under the false veneer of being "moderate" and "mainstream," in creating a chilling climate where free speech on this issue has been suppressed, has become a factor in allowing foreign terrorists to operate in the United States below the radar screen and thus avoid the scrutiny from either the media, public officials or law enforcement. Just as significantly, the tactics of various Islamic organizations do a tremendous disservice to the vast overwhelming majority of Muslim Americans who do not support violence or terrorism. Mr. Chairman, your refusal to allow these militants to suppress free speech is to be applauded and lauded.
Overview of international terrorist problem:
Thanks to the quick response of US Customs Agents to behavior deemed suspicious at the Canadian border in Port Angeles on December 14, 1999, Ahmed Ressam was caught trying to smuggle RDX explosives. A wide-ranging investigation, unprecedented in its sweep and scope, succeeded in identifying and arresting other members of the hitherto unknown terrorist cell to which Ressam belonged. A plot to bomb and destroy targets in the United States, although still not publicly identified, had been narrowly averted.
Today the United States and Canada serve as the home for a wide spectrum of international terrorist groups as well as indigenous "home-grown" groups. Certainly, today's hearing focuses our attention on the threat of international terrorism on American soil and the porous nature of US borders. While virtually all foreign terrorist organizations from throughout the world, including Latin America and Asia, have set up infrastructures in the United States, the primary threat of international terrorism on American soil stems from Middle Eastern terrorist organizations, a fact that FBI and CIA officials have repeatedly testified to. These organizations have set up fundraising operations, political headquarters, military recruitment and sometimes even command and control centers. The entire spectrum of Middle Eastern and Islamic terrorist groups now operates on American soil, including Hamas, Hezbollah, the Algerian Armed Islamic Group, the Egyptian Al Gamat Al Islamiya, the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, the Islamic Liberation Party, the PKK and Al-Qaeda, the organization of Osama bin Laden.
There are various reasons for the emergence of these groups in the United States, which include:
- Ability to operate under our political radar screen
- Ability to hide under mainstream religious identification
- Loopholes in immigration procedures
- Ease of penetration of borders
- Limitations on FBI and other agencies performing law enforcement functions, including INS and Customs
- More sophisticated compartmentalization of terrorist cells around loosely structured terrorist movements
- Exploitation of freedoms of religion and speech
- Absence of a vigilant media
- Exploitation of non-profit fundraising prerogatives and lack of government scrutiny
- Increasing cross fertilization and mutual support provided by members of different Islamic terrorist groups
- Ease of availability of student visas from countries harboring or supporting terrorism
- Failures by universities to keep track of foreign students and their spouses
- Protection afforded by specially-created educational programs
- Ease of visa fraud and the invention of false credentials, from passports, drivers licenses, credit cards and social security numbers
- Blowback from the anti-Soviet mujihadeen that the US supported in Afghanistan.
Despite passage of the anti-terrorism bill and a realization by law enforcement since the World Trade Center bombing that the threat of Middle Eastern terrorism had become part of the US and Canadian landscapes, militants and terrorists continue to use both countries as a base of operations. As water seeking its own level, terrorists will gravitate to those areas that give them the greatest freedom to maneuver. Unless choked off and stopped along the different points of entry--ranging from the visa granting process overseas to the hundreds of unmanned border crossing points between Canada and the United States--terrorists will continue to come to the United States.
The list of major international terrorists and militants allowed to enter the United States in recent years or actually granted green cards and citizenship is nothing less than staggering.
- Sheikh Omar Abdul Rahman, head of the Egyptian Al Gamat Al Islamiya, and convicted leader of an interdicted plot to bomb US landmarks, bridges and tunnels in New York
- Musa Abu Marzook, one of the top three officials of Hamas (who founded and operated a "think tank" in Chicago and Virginia Ali Mohammed, a top lieutenant to Osama bin Laden (and not insignificantly, enrolled as a Special Forces sergeant at Fort Bragg)
- Wadih el Hage, secretary to Osama bin Laden
- Ramadan Abdullah Shallah, head of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad (who served as a professor at the University of South Florida in Tampa)
- Sheikh Abdel Aziz Odeh, spiritual leader of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad and unindicted co-conspirator in the World Trade Center bombing (who visited the United States multiple times for fundraising and political recruitment without any knowledge of the INS)
- Ayman Zawahiri, leader of the Egyptian Al-Gihad organization, lieutenant to Osama bin Laden and conspirator in the assassination of Egyptian President Artwar Sadat
- Rashhid Ghannoushi, head of the Tunisian Al-Nahdah
- Artwar Haddam, a leader of the Algerian Islamic Salvation Front (FIS)
- Leith Shbeilat, a militant Islamic leader implicated in an assassination plot against Jordan's King Hussein
- Khalid Mishal, a top leader of llamas, who, in his speeches in the United States, has called for stabbings
- Kamal Hilbawi, a spokesperson for the Muslim Brotherhood, who has called for attacks on American targets and who has encouraged carrying out of suicide bombings
- Yusef Al Qaradawi, a leader of the Muslim Brotherhood and active supporter of llamas and other violent groups, who has called for suicide bombings and taking over the United States
- Qazi Hussein Ahmed, leader of Pakistani Jamaat-e-Islami, a militant group that supports violent "jihad" or holy war
- Ramzi Yousef, the top organizer of the World Trade Center bombing
- Sheikh Abdulmunem Abu Zant, a militant Jordanian Islamic cleric, who has routinely called for violence
- Ishaq Al-Farhan, a leader of the militant Islamic Jordan Action Front who has issued numerous exhortations to carry out violence
- Wagdi Ghuniem, a militant Islamic cleric from Egypt, who has called for jihad against Jews and other "enemies of Islam." (Curiously, on one of his recent visits to the United States, Ghuniem was barred from entering Canada because of his terrorist affiliations and sent back to the United States, where he continued his tour exhorting Islamic groups to carry out violence.)
(huge snip)
Terrorist fundraising in the United States
The Holy Land Foundation for Relief and Development (HLF): The Holy Land Foundation for Relief and Development (HLF) was founded as a non-profit charity in 1987. Although the Holy Land Foundation claims merely to be concerned with global crisis and with the Palestinian cause, it is an active Hamas supporter and acts as a financial conduit for Hamas. In addition, the Holy Land Foundation strives to legitimate Hamas' activities by putting a humanitarian veneer on supporting terrorist activity in the Middle East.
Connections to Hamas leader Musa Abu Marzook: Musa Abu Marzook, together with the Elashi family (his wife's family), helped to found HLF during the beginning of the Palestinian Intifadah in 1987 and 1988. Moreover, the 1993 Return of Organization Exempt from Income Tax Form 990 for the Holy Land Foundation shows that Abu Marzook donated $210,000 as a one time cash donation to the HLF in 1992. Nasser AlKhatib, who was described as Marzook's personal secretary in an Affidavit filed by FBI Special Agent Robert Wright pursuant to a civil forfeiture case presented in Chicago, Illinois against the property of individuals suspected of providing financial support for the terrorist activities of Hamas within the State of Israel, is also listed on this Return as having given a one time cash donation of $22,450 also in 1992.
Shukri Abu Baker has served as HLF's CEO since the organization was founded; however, the Abu Marzook/Elashi connection still exists through brothers Basman, Ghassan and Bayan Elashi, all of who have resided in close proximity to the HLF headquarters in Richardson, Texas.
Ronni Shaked, a former official in the Israeli General Security Service, commented on Hamas fundraising in a book he wrote based on his interviews with operatives while they were imprisoned:
The major channel for fund-raising for the Hamas organization in the United States is the Occupied Land Fund that was established in Los Angeles, California. In 1992, the organization changed its name to the Holy Land Foundation and moved to Richardson, Texas. The President of this organization is Shukri Abu Baker.25
Evidence strongly suggests that the Holy Land Foundation provides a crucial financial service for Hamas family annuities to suicide bombers. These annuities assure a constant flow of suicide volunteers and buttress a terrorist infrastructure heavily reliant on moral support of the Palestinian populace. In the words of its literature, Holy Land Foundation supports "families of detainees, deportees and martyrs." The offices of the HLF in Israel were closed by the Israeli authorities, based on the connection between HLF fundraising and support for the Hamas terrorist apparatus. HLF's Jerusalem office chairman, Muhammad Anati, was arrested and indicted on charges of aiding and abetting a terrorist organization.
Exactly whom the HLF was supporting was addressed in the Israeli interrogation of HLF Jerusalem chairman Muhammad Anati. Anati stated the following about the organization:
I remember I used to send to the United States - pictures of orphans, photos of projects that we did, photos of refugee camps and also videos that used to arrive to videotape projects, refugee camps, and photos of historical places, such as the Machpelah Caves in Hebron, Jerusalem, etc .... They used to present the movies and the photos in front of the people in the United States - invited them to conferences to show these movies. During these conferences, they used to describe the organization - The Holy Land Foundation, about the charity, they used to describe it as an Islamic organization which helps people. They did not say directly that the organization supported Hamas, they told the people that the institute - The Holy Land Foundation - is an Islamic institute, which was connected and was supporting Hamas. During these gatherings about which I spoke, in which also the adopters who support the organization and transfer money and also newcomers would come to these conferences. During these conferences, they (the attendees) would get the idea - that this is an organization that supports Hamas ....
Regarding your question, how do I know that the Holy Land Foundation institute in America supports Hamas and talks in the conferences about its support for Hamas and that in these conferences they sing songs for Hamas, my answer is that these people used to arrive in Israel and I had a chance to talk with them - people who participated in these conferences told me all about it.
The HLF Money Trail:
Donations to the HLF are transferred to a variety of organizations in the occupied territories and PA controlled areas. For example, the Israelis found a master list of payments made by the "Moslem Youth Society," one of the HLF's "charities," in Hebron. The list is divided into six columns: the name of the "martyr" (a Hamas operative who is killed), the "martyr's" chief benefactor, the benefactor's identity number, his/her relationship to the "martyr," the amount paid, and the signature of a Moslem Youth Society official. The list is extensive, illustrating the reach of HLF funds. The previous example is indicative of the way HLF transfers money to Hamas. The funds do not appear to go directly from HLF to Hamas operatives, or affiliated persons. As the example shows, the money apparently goes from the HLF to another organization (in this case the Muslim Youth Society), and from that organization to the operatives or affiliated persons.
A closer look at the list of names from the Muslim Youth Society shows that three of the names on the list are known to be Hamas activists involved in terrorism:
- Eiyad Hasin Abdal Aziz Hadid - Hamas activist, who was involved in the murder of the Lapid family on December 6, 1993. He was killed by the Israeli Defense Forces on March 24, 1994.
- Marwan Muhamad Halil Abu Ramila - He was involved in the attack of Ephraim Zarviv in November 1993. He was killed by the Israeli Defense Forces on March 24, 1994.
- Khatem Kader Ya'akov Makhtaseb - He was an activist with the Izz al- Din al-Qassam brigades of Hamas (the units of Hamas responsible for the suicide bombings carried out by Hamas) who was involved in shooting against the Israeli Defense Forces.
Another revelation given by the Israeli interrogation of the HLF's Jerusalem chairman is the fact that two families that have been supported by HLF funds have been the families of Yihya Ayyash and Imad Akel. These two individuals served as the leaders of the Izz al-Din alQassam brigades of the Hamas organization prior to their deaths.
Another organization that the HLF supports financially is the Islamic Relief Agency of Nazareth, which was shut down by the Israeli authorities on March 17, 1996. The court decision to close the Islamic Relief Agency stated:
The Islamic Relief Agency is involved in providing massive assistance to families of Hamas activists, that committed or planned to commit severe attacks and were arrested, killed or deported, and that the main funding of the Islamic Relief Agency is from donations from organizations abroad, which are part of the funding network of Hamas.
Moreover, the court documents describe the strong relationship between the Islamic Relief Agency and the HLF:
For purpose of demonstration, a list was presented that was found at the offices of the Islamic Relief Agency what was sent to it by the American foundation - The Holy Land Foundation, in this list the American Foundation itemized the amounts of money to be transferred to 28 families in the territories. A review of the documents reveals that the amounts allocated to these families are much greater than the amounts allocated by the same foundation and by the Appellant to families included in other lists. The above list was deciphered by the Shaback and the review turned up that at least 25 out of the families were families of Hamas activists that were killed, arrested or deported.
The conclusion was therefore obvious: this foundation (HLF) through the help of the Appellant (The Islamic Relief Agency), is supporting with significant amounts of money especially those families of Hamas activists...From this the conclusion was established that the main purpose of this foundation (HLF) and of the appellant (Islamic Relief Agency) is to provide massive support to the Hamas.Although the HLF purports to allocate money to the needy, a disproportionate amount reaches the hands of llamas activists and their families. The Israeli Government has stated that:
While the (Holy Land) foundation does give occasional small grants to ordinary orphans, the vast majority of its assistance goes to the families of Hamas terrorists who have been killed, deported or imprisoned. By giving the terrorists the assurance that their families will be cared for if anything happens to them, the state said, the foundation encourages and sustains terrorism.
HLF and Immigration Policy:
The Holy Land Foundation hosted, from October 15-18, 1999, a conference entitled "Rebuilding Shattered Lives" which featured representatives from a variety of foreign nations. Included among the participants in this conference were representatives of the World Assembly of Muslim Youth, based in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia; the Palestinian Fund for Relief and Development, based in the United Kingdom; and the Al-Aqsa Fund, based in the Netherlands. It is important to note that the Palestinian Fund for Relief and Development, also known as Interpal, was outlawed in Israel at the same time as the Holy Land Foundation by the Israeli government pursuant to the Israel Defense Forces Emergency Defense Regulations of 1945 Declaration of Unlawful Associations (amendment 3) from May 1997. According to HLF's December 1999 newsletter, this conference also hosted "several organizations carrying out field duties." As noted previously, "field duties" of the HLF included the activities of its surrogate organizations within the West Bank and Gaza Strip.
Prior to this conference in October, a member of HLF's Board of Advisors from Gaza, who teaches at the Gaza branch of the Egypt-based Al-Azhar University, attempted to enter the United States in Houston.
When he attempted to pass through Customs, the United States officials denied him entry into the country and sent him on a return flight. When questioned as to why he was entering the country, he told these officials that he intended to attend the HLF conference in Dallas, Texas.
Furthermore, HLF's Jerusalem Office Chairman, Muhammad Anati, answering questions posed by the Israeli authorities regarding who sponsored his visits to the United States, stated:
Shukri Abu Baker sent to me an invitation letter to arrive in order to be trained in the subject of: "Management and customs of the non- profit charitable organization." This course was intended for me only and no more people arrived to it from charitable committees in Israel and not from abroad, but only me and other employees from the fund in America were there.
In short, the Holy Land Foundation for Relief and Development has facilitated the entry into the United States of individuals representing organizations explicitly outlawed in Israel for their support of the Hamas organization. Though the HLF engages primarily in fundraising, its hosting of these individuals, in addition to others, makes their inclusion in this Immigration and Claims testimony relevant.
(snip)
FOOTNOTES:
1 Testimony of William West, Supervisory Special Agent of the INS, as a Government expert witness in the suspension of deportation proceedings in Orlando, Florida against Dr. Mazen al-Najjar, one of the founders of WISE and a former director of ICP, on July 18, 1996.
2 Shallah was identified as one of the founders of the Islamic Jihad from the early 1980s in a 1989 book published in Arabic by Dr. Ziad Abu Amr, a professor of political science at Bit Zeit University in the West Bank. The title of this book is translated as "The Islamic Movement in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip." Shallah was also a member of the editorial board of the magazine Al-Mukhtar Al-Islami in Egypt from 1979 until 1981. According to Dr. Fathi Shikaki, the leader of the Islamic Jihad prior to Shallah, this was a publication of the Islamic Jihad (Al-Liwa, October 3, 1990).
3 Nail was identified as a "venerable ideologue" of the Islamic Jihad by Thomas Mayer whose article titled "Pro-Iranian Fundamentalism in Gaza" was published in Religious Radicalism and Politics in the Middle East, edited by Emmanuel Sivan and Menachem Friedman, in 1990. Nail was a leading contributor to, and member of the Editorial Board for, two publications that were identified by Dr. Fathi Shikaki, the previous leader of the Islamic Jihad, as Islamic Jihad publications (Al-Liwa, October 3, 1990).
These publications, Al-Mukhtar Al-Islami from Egypt and Al-Taliah Al- lslamiah from England, provided Nail with a mouthpiece for his Islamic Jihad views. Furthermore, in his book entitled Hamas, Ronni Shaked, a former officer in the Israeli General Security Services (GSS), noted that Nail had been sent in the late 1980s to London to assist Shallah in the Palestinian Islamic Jihad activities there prior to each of them making their way to the United States in the early 1990s (Hamas: M'Emunah B 'Allah L'Derech Ha-Terror (Hamas: From Belief in Allah to Terror), Keter Publishing House, Jerusalem, 1994, p. 207,210-211).
4 United States District Court for the Southern District of NY, In the Matter of the Extradition of Mousa Mohammed Abu Marzook, Affidavit of Kevin Thomas Duffy, DJ, 95 Civ. 9799 (KTD) May 8, 1996. p. 1.
5 United States District Court for the Southern District of NY, In the Matter of the Extradition of Mousa Mohammed Abu Marzook, Sealed Complaint by Shirah Neiman.
6 The Muslim Brotherhood is the international Sunni Islamic extremist movement that was founded in Egypt in 1928. It is also the ideological ancestor of today's most violent Islamic extremist movements.
7 United States District Court for the Southern District of NY, In the Matter of Mousa Abu Marzook, Affirmation 95 Cr. Misc. I, p.34.
8 United States District Court for the Southern District of NY, In the Matter of the Extradition of Mousa Mohammed Abu Marzook, Sealed Complaint by Shirah Neiman To the US Magistrate Judge, p.2.
9 Ibid. p. 5
10 Al-Ahed weekly, October 14, 1994, p. 17.
11 Ibid. 12 Ibid.
13 This affidavit was submitted in furtherance of the extradition and later deportation proceedings against Musa Abu Marzook in 1996 and 1997.
14 The Islamic Association for Palestine has been referred to by former top FBI official, Oliver "Buck" Revell, as a "Hamas front."
15 The Star/Jordan): November 14, 1996.
16 US News and World Report: January 28, 1991.
17 The Independent (London): August 11, 1990.
18 The Washington Post: August 26, 1990.
19 Los Angeles Times: September 1, 1990. UPI News: August 31, 1990.
20 AP News: September 29, 1990.
21 The Financial Post: January 21, 1991.
22 The Guardian: November 16, 1994.
23 The Jerusalem Post,'May 18, 1995.
24 Jordan Times,' October 9, 1999.
25 Shaked, Ronni and Aviva Shabi, Hamas: M'Emunah B 'Allah L 'Derech Ha 'Terror (Hamas: From Belief in Allah to Terror;), Keter Publishing House, Jerusalem, 1994, P. 171.
26 The address and phone number on the letterhead of the FIS bureau in Washington is identical to that of the AMC.
27 Civil Case 96-2792.
28 United States District Court, District of Columbia document; December 17, 1996.
29 Mideast Mirror, Section: Palestine; Vol. 09, No. 86, May 5, 1995. 30 Paris-France Inter Radio Network, October 31, 1994.
31 Al-Sharq-Al-Awsat. Page 4, May 14, 1995.
32 Al-Nahar, November 15, 1994.
JEDDAH, Aug. 6--Saudi Public Relations Company (SPRC) Executive Director Khaled Al-Maeena has disputed assertions made by the American Info Comp marketing manager that it was ready to relinquish the names of 500 Saudi companies it has registered on the Internet.
The original article from 9/7/01 in the one link remaining open is the same one I remembered, but it's not the same thread. The responses, with huge amounts of information from you and others, must have been in the deleted thread. The deleted thread was also the original posting which is usually the one saved if the only problem is duplication.
While I'm here more often than I show by posting, I've missed large patches of time online. Obviously some of those patches were important. I missed the removal of BDD and his exposure as a liar to Congress. I learned this only from posts in the last 4-6 weeks or so. BTW, Nita, I often search on your name and thought you had dropped off the forum until I stumbled on your new/old name--which I was very happy to find.
Fred, I can't tell you how much time I've spent keying in responses to your many pings on OKC posts (pings MOST appreciated BTW). In the end I deleted them rather than post since I was contributing no new factual research and was VERY confused as to what, why, where, who was on the level and/or helping or hurting the cause of exposing the ME OKC bombing connection. I'll put the rest of this one on the proper thread.
The fine Elashi family: we have Bayan, Basman, Ghassan and their sister Mrs. Marzook. Ihsan Elashi was also at Infocom and was convicted of "credit card fraud, money laundering, exporting controlled equipment to terrorist countries and cheating a large Saudi customer in a scam". Ihsan is not referred to here as one of the brothers, but a familial relationship seems likely. It's possible he's the one we're trying to remember from Florida scams, too. At least he went to jail.
Yes, the thread that was deleted had tons of cumulative information on it, so I guess some of it was about the Elashi family. Too bad I didn't save it, but I just don't have the room nor the inclination to do so. And I dang sure don't want to look it up again! BTW, don't bother searching for or posting to Nupress anymore. The name is gone, and I won't be back long enough to bother getting it activated again so I'm just using this old one. The only reason I didn't get them to delete this name also is because I still have old FReepmail in there I wanted to look through again when I get some spare time. If I ever come back for good, I'll try to get the newer name back, but it won't be anytime soon, that's for sure. Thanks for thinking about me. You and Fred are definitely people I miss talking to. :-(
Aawwwhhh. That's a BIG loss to FR and a disappointment personally. I hope it won't be too long. Good luck and God bless in any case.
While viewing the page source I see: Virtual Hell ownZ yoU and MENDIGO WaS HeRe. Hehe, hacking for Allah rulez d00d.
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