Posted on 02/26/2003 1:02:19 PM PST by MD_Willington_1976
Terrorism Task Force Makes Arrest in Moscow Saudi Arabian computer science student indicted for possible terrorism connections.
MOSCOW, ID, Feb. 26 - The FBI and the Joint Terrorism Task Force arrested a University of Idaho graduate student early Wednesday morning in Moscow, Idaho for fraudulently obtaining a student visa and making false statements on visa applications and related paperwork. The raid began at approximately 4:00 a.m. when authorities executed a search warrant for the apartment of 34-year-old Sami Omar Al-Hussayen, Hussayen, who was studying for an advanced degree in computer security, is married with three children and has been on campus for years. He was taken to the Latah County Jail and was charged with seven counts of fraudulently obtaining a student visa and four counts of making false statements for failing to disclose to American authorities the significant financial and operational role he played with an organization in Detroit known as the "Islamic Assembly of North America." The indictment alleges that from October of 1998 through the present, Al-Hussayen routed thousands of dollars he received from overseas sources to IANA and also provided computer expertise and website services to the organization. The indictment also alleges that some of the websites promoted terrorism through suicide bombings and using airplanes as weapons. Other search warrants were being served at the university's engineering lab and off-campus apartment. Al-Hussayen is expected to be transfered to Boise where he will appear in federal court. Additional search warrants were being executed for more apartments in the Moscow area to search for more evidence.The United States Attorney for the District of Idaho along with special agents in charge of the Seattle and Salt Lake City divisions of the FBI and other participating agencies will hold a news conference at noon in Moscow. Stay tuned to Q6 Local News. We have a crew in Moscow, and will bring you the very latest on this story.
Probably big news up there.
Sounds like you got a live one ... watch his local network if he is for real.
That said, the papers report that this guy Sami Omar Al-hussayen is a doctoral candidate (dissertation phase) in computer science focusing on computer security and intrusion (that's hacking and counter-hacking). He was a leader of the local Islamic Center of Moscow (Idaho), the local mosque, at the time of 9-11 attacks, and is a past president of the U of Idaho Muslim Student Association.
The Feds are charging him with "seven counts of visa fraud and four counts of making false statements to the United States for failing to disclose to authorities the 'significant financial and operational role he played' with the Islamic Assembly of North America, known as the IANA." He apparently maintained six bank accounts in Indiana, Texas, Idaho and Michigan which funneled approximately $300,000 to the IANA.
There's more, but it's mostly from from AP wire service, except for local color quotes of the type like "He seemed like such a nice polite boy. Who could image he would ...{fill in the blank}."
Again, this is just reporting from the local birdcage liners.
So many bank accounts and funneling money to that one group does have a bit of a stink to it. That, plus his major in computer security, given our reliance on such technology, could add up to some pretty big conerns.
I guess we will wait until we know the exact evidence. The state attorney siad here in Boise that the evidence is compelling ... but it is sealed.
I don't like what I hear abouit this guy ... but I also don;t like the "sealed" evidence stuff either.
Guess we'll wait and see.
In an apparently unrelated story from last week, another Saudi student at the U of Idaho was visited by local police and a couple of unidentified men wearing sunglasses after he had purchased locally a couple of firearms (type unreported, but probably long guns rather than handguns since he reportedly was planning a hunting trip). The timeline in the news article was a little vague, but the jist of it is that students in campus housing, in this case married student housing, are prohibited by university policy from keeping/storing firearms in their residences. The article didn't seem to state what law if any had been violated other than a university policy which is probably in the housing rental contract.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.