Six men indicted as government focuses on alleged U.S.-based support of terror groups

Six men indicted as government focuses on alleged U.S.-based support of terror groups

WASHINGTON - Federal grand juries charged six men with conspiring to support Osama bin Laden ( news - web sites)'s al-Qaida network Wednesday as the government escalated its efforts to stifle the flow of money and assistance from U.S. soil to overseas terrorist groups.

In Seattle, American citizen and Muslim activist James Ujaama was accused in a two-count indictment of trying to set up a "jihad (holy war) training camp" on the West Coast and providing support and resources to al-Qaida.

The indictment accused him of leading discussions about creating poison to use on the public and firebombing vehicles. Ujaama has repeatedly denied any ties to terrorism.

Separately, four men who had been in the United States since at least 2000 were charged in Detroit with operating a "covert underground support unit" and a "sleeper operational combat cell" for a radical Islamic movement allied with al-Qaida. A fifth man whose full name isn't known by the government was also named in the indictment.

Their indictment said the men plotted attacks on sites in Turkey and Jordan and possessed a videotape that appeared to case U.S. landmarks such as Disneyland in California and the MGM Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas.

"The object of the conspiracy was, among other things, to cause economic harm to U.S. businesses," the indictment charged.

Both indictments used a law barring people living in the United States from providing "material support and resources" to terrorist groups.

U.S. officials said Wednesday they expected several more such indictments in coming months as the FBI ( news - web sites), Customs Service and other federal agencies attempt to block money and operational support from the United States from reaching terror groups overseas.

"The evidence that is being developed suggests that America has been a piggy bank for certain terror organizations to the tune of tens of millions of dollars," said a senior law enforcement official directly involved in the investigation.

Agents believe they have uncovered a broad effort by U.S. residents — many who are citizens or legal residents — to use credit card thefts, illegal cigarette sales, diverted charitable funds and cash smuggled in airline luggage to enrich anti-American and anti-Israeli terror groups, the officials said.

"The material support for terrorism has to be regarded as serious as terrorism itself," said Charles Mandigo, the FBI's top agent in Seattle where Ujama was investigated.

One law enforcement official said agents also recently began investigating possible terrorist funding schemes that employ the Internet or defrauding of federal aid programs. That official said evidence so far indicates the anti-Israel groups Hamas and Hezbollah receive far more support from U.S. soil than al-Qaida.

The indictment handed up by a federal grand jury in Detroit named Karim Koubriti, Ahmed Hannan, Youssef Hmimssa, Farouk Ali-Haimoud and a man only known by the first name Abdella. Koubriti, Hannan, Hmimssa and Ali-Haimoud have been in and out of custody since shortly after the Sept. 11 attacks. Abdella remains at large.

The indictment charged the men with conspiracy to provide material support or resources to terrorists and conspiracy to engage in fraud and misuse of visas and identification documents.

Hmimssa was named at the top of the indictment, where the charges were listed, but was not further mentioned in the indictment. U.S. officials offered no immediate explanation, although legal experts said it probably signaled that the details of Hmimssa's indictment are sealed by a court.

The indictment said the men used a "coded form of communication" to speak about terrorist plans and were "involved in plans to obtain weaponry to benefit operatives overseas."

"Their planning involved specific violent attacks, including ones that targeted an American air base in Incerlik, Turkey, and a hospital in Amman, Jordan," the indictment said, citing plans found in a daybook planner.

Four of the men have been in custody for months since a raid on a Detroit apartment shortly after the Sept. 11 attacks.

The indictment suggested the men were involved with an Islamic extremist movement known as Salafiyya, which became associated with al-Qaida. (see the link below)

The indictment said the men were taking actions to "engage in or support holy war or global jihad" and that three of them had discussed in June 2001 that "Islam permitted the killing of innocent civilians."

It said the men checked Detroit's airport for gaps in security and that a federal raid on an apartment some of the men shared recovered a videotape that "appears to depict surveillance of such U.S. landmarks as Disneyland in Anaheim, California, and the MGM Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas."

Ujaama's indictment in Seattle came weeks after he was first arrested in Denver and held as a material witness in the terrorism investigation. He has maintained his innocence, and his lawyers has pressed prosecutors to either charge him or release him.

"If there's anything positive to come out of this, it renders some certainty to his situation," attorney Daniel Sears said Wednesday. "He can go about the business of defending himself against these allegations and hopefully justice will be served."

Ujaama was charged with conspiracy to provide material support and resources for al-Qaida and with using, carrying, possessing and discharging firearms during a crime.

The indictment contends Ujaama, a Muslim who was born James Ernest Thompson, led a conspiracy to set up a training camp in Bly, Oregon.

In October and November 1999, at meetings with co-conspirators there and in Seattle, the indictment alleged, Ujaama led discussions about the need "for further training, in order to be able to attend violent jihad-training camps in Afghanistan ( news - web sites), the commission of armed robbery, the building of underground bunkers to hide ammunition and weapons, the creation of poisonous materials for public consumption, and the firebombing of vehicles."

"In or about October 1999, after visiting the property in Bly, Oregon, Ujaama proposed ... the establishment of a jihad training camp on the Bly property," it says.

In a written statement Tuesday, Ujaama accused the government of conducting a witch hunt.

"Should it be the policy of this government to convict innocent people before any hearing or before any trial?" Ujaama asked. "My constitutional rights, my civil liberties and my future have been grossly violated in a bid to seek political gain, not justice or truth."

Ujaama's community work won him praise in his hometown. He once was given a key to the city of Seattle. And in Washington state, lawmakers declared June 10, 1994, James Ujaama Day.

The indictment suggested the men were involved with an Islamic extremist movement known as Salafiyya, which became associated with al-Qaida.

Salafiyya, eh?

The Heritage of the Sunni Militant Groups: An Islamic Internacionale? - January 4, 2000

Egyptian Salafist groups - One of the groups composed of the remaining Egyptian Takfir members was Al-Najoun min al-Nar (Survivors of the Fire/Hell) who were active in Bosnia and later in Albania. A small group of their Palestinian followers still exists in the Gaza Strip. The author interviewed their leader in Gaza in 1987, and found him very cooperative, since they see their main enemy as being the secular Arab regimes rather than Israel. They took no part in the Palestinian Uprising and maintain no links to Hamas nor to the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, which on their part view them as a deviatiant Islamic trend.

Their indictment said the men plotted attacks on sites in Turkey and Jordan

The Jordanian Takfir - Other Salafiyyah groups have spread to Jordan and the Palestinian society in the Territories, under Saudi guidance and financial aid. In the Gaza Strip they existed until 1986, when they dissolved and merged into the developing groups of the Islamic Jihad. In Jordan they forced to stay on the move due to their terrorist activity and the opposition of the authorities. During periods of imprisonment they were involved with members of Hizb al-Tahrir al-Islami (The Islamic Liberation Party), another Palestinian/Jordanian illegal militant group which has a different ideology and occupies a different position on the “Islamist map,” but which has carried out a good deal of terrorist activity in Jordan, Egypt, Turkey, Lebanon and Uzbekistan. The Party has also a strong, but so far non-violent base in the West Bank. The Salafiyyah in Jordan was the initiator of the Jordanian Takfir, which in the recent years has developed a large following, composed of several groups of people of different nationalities, mainly Egyptians. In April 1996, for instance, the Egyptian authorities demanded that the Jordanians to extradite 57 fugitive members of the Egyptian Takfir group.

The meeting point of the two trends during the 1980s and mainly the 1990s, was primarily Afghanistan, and secondly the violent disputes in Bosnia, Albania, Kosovo, Chechnya and Daghestan. It seems that there were movements of activists from group to group accompanied by a developing cooperation between the various groups affiliated with the two trends.

Why did Clinton ignore this support network that the Russians were begging the State Dept to close down?

Both indictments used a law barring people living in the United States from providing "material support and resources" to terrorist groups.

FBI Investigates Local Ties To Al-Qaida (Chechnya, al-Qaida and American Donations)

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/fr/572285/posts

Channel 6000

Thursday November 15 02:56 PM EST

FBI Investigates Local Ties To Al-Qaida As investigators try to shut off the flow of money to al-Qaida, they're looking closely at a bank branch inside an Albertson's store in Clackamas. The tiny strip-mall bank is the focus of an inquiry by the FBI, the state department, and the Russian government. A Seattle newspaper reports that a radical faction from Chechnya is collecting donations for al-Qaida through an account at the US Bank branch at Sunnyside Square. The Seattle Post-Intelligencer quotes sources as saying that the Russians have repeatedly asked United States officials to shut down the account without success. The owner of the account lists an address in West Linn, but police think he's not in the area anymore.

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.