Ex-mosque leader says suspect (Padilla) wasn't radical in Broward

Miami Herald ^ | 6/17/02 | WANDA J. DeMARZO

[browardchad]

The former leader of the Fort Lauderdale mosque where Jose Padilla worshiped said Sunday that the terrorism suspect's transformation to extremism probably came after he left South Florida for Egypt.

Raed Awad, who served as imam of Masjid Al-Iman from 1994 to 2000, said Padilla was eager to learn more about Islam and had won a scholarship to Al-Azhar University in Egypt.

''There are programs at universities in Egypt where converts can go and study about Islam and learn Arabic,'' Awad said. ``The plane ticket to fly over there is only a couple of hundred dollars. I myself have studied in Egypt.''

Awad, himself under federal scrutiny, said he doesn't believe Padilla turned radical at Masjid Al-Iman, where he worshiped from 1992 until he left for Egypt in 1998.

''He probably became involved with the sympathizers over there,'' said Awad, who now runs cellphone and pager business in Montgomery, Ala. ``Or it could have been when he visited Pakistan.''

THE ACCUSATION

Padilla, 31, is accused of plotting to set off a radioactive bomb in the United States on behalf of al Qaeda. He lived in Broward County from 1991 to 1998.

The mosque, 2542 Franklin Park Dr., near the Swap Shop, opened about 20 years ago. About 250 to 300 people pray at Friday services.

Its current leader, Rafiq Mahdi, said the mosque does not harbor extremist views.

''We follow the teachings of Islam in this mosque, which focuses on being a good neighbor, father, husband, not on terrorism,'' he said.

Another man who worshiped there at the same time as Padilla, Adham Hassoun, was arrested Wednesday for overstaying his visa, a federal source said.

Federal sources describe the men as friends.

Hassoun, a Sunrise computer programmer, once worked for a magazine that advocates holy war and helped launch a Chicago-area charity accused by the Bush administration of funding terrorists.

Awad said Hassoun, 40, a strong Palestinian sympathizer, spoke at the Fort Lauderdale mosque on occasion.

''Hassoun had nothing to do with what Padilla may have been planning,'' Awad said. ``Hassoun spoke maybe once every five or six weeks at the mosque, and yes, he was outspoken about his feelings toward the Middle East situation, but he did not advocate terrorism.

``This is America, and we should be able to speak our views without the fear of being arrested.''

Awad said he never heard Padilla express extremist views and that he had counseled Padilla and his wife, Cherie Stultz, for marital problems.

Stultz stayed in the United States when Padilla moved to Egypt. They were divorced last year.

Awad was also the Florida representative of Holy Land Foundation for Relief and Development, a Muslim charity whose assets were frozen by the Bush administration in December on grounds it raised money for the Hamas terrorist group. Awad and charity officials have denied the allegations and sued for the return of the assets.

''We were collecting money for the orphans and victims in Palestine,'' Awad said. ``The government, under pressure, froze our assets and we were not able to give help during Ramadan.''

UNDER SCRUTINY

Hassoun, a computer programmer and father of three young children, helped start another Muslim charity called Benevolence International Fund, also the subject of federal scrutiny.

In 1993, Hassoun opened the charity's first office, then located on University Drive in Plantation. The group -- now based in the Chicago suburb of Palos Hills -- has been accused by federal authorities of helping fund terrorism.

''Again, because we are Muslim and try and help the people of Palestine, we are considered to be assisting terrorists. It is not so,'' Awad said.

``That money should go to the families in Palestine. It should not be kept here by the government, it is most distressing.''

Awad said he has not been questioned in the Padilla case.

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© 2001 miamiherald and wire service sources. All Rights Reserved.
http://www.miami.com

[browardchad]

Now here's a reliable character witness: Raed Awad, Florida rep for the Holy Land Foundation.

[browardchad]

Broward falls under scrutiny as more terror links emerge

	Posted on Mon, Jun. 17, 2002
	Broward falls under scrutiny as more terror links emerge BY MICHAEL A.W. OTTEY mottey@herald.com First, Mohamed Atta and company. Then, Imran Mandhai and Shueyb Mossa Jokhan, the pair accused of plotting attacks on local power plants. Now, Jose Padilla. The list of international terrorists and terrorism suspects linked to Broward County grows. And with it, questions: • What's going on in Broward County, or South Florida as a whole, that makes it a draw for terrorists or at least those alleged to be planning terrorism? • How is the local Muslim community coping with the unwanted notoriety? • Is there a terrorist ''cell'' entrenched in South Florida? ''People are obviously feeling uneasy,'' said Khurrum Wahid, a lawyer and civil rights director for the Council on American Islamic Relations in Miami. ``The community is really paranoid, because a lot of people are not sure who their friends are.'' That new face in the mosque, in the neighborhood, on the street -- maybe a transient just passing through -- might not get the same warm welcome. ''People are being ostracized,'' Wahid said. After the Sept. 11 attacks, it was suggested that Atta and some of the other kamikaze terrorists had come to Florida because of its proliferation of flight schools. They needed to learn how to guide an already airborne jetliner, if not how to land one. But South Florida also had a thriving Muslim community -- encompassing about 20 mosques and perhaps 70,000 adherents -- and a mixture of languages, hues and cultures that could make the men less conspicuous as they went about their preparation. With the Muslim community still reeling from the repercussions of Sept. 11, Mandhai, 19, and Jokhan, 24, were indicted in May, charged with plotting a series of terrorist acts. They allegedly planned to bomb a National Guard Armory in Hollywood, electrical substations in Miami Shores, and, for good measure, Mount Rushmore. The alleged goal of Jokhan, a naturalized American from Trinidad and Tobago, and Mandhai, a Pakistani computer-science student: Ignite a ``holy war.'' The purported schemes were also allegedly directed at Jewish-owned businesses, community centers in Weston and Aventura, and the Israeli Consulate in Miami. The plot was uncovered when a man named Howard Gilbert infiltrated the Darul Uloom Institute in Pembroke Pines, where Mandhai and Jokhan attended prayer meetings. INFILTRATION Gilbert, according to officials, initially acted on his own, posing as a disgruntled former Marine who converted into a Muslim militant. He fed what he uncovered to federal agents. The FBI later replaced him with a paid informant who taped conversations with Mandhai and Jokhan. Government agents infiltrating a group of worshipers might sound unusual, but, in the aftermath of Sept. 11, Muslim leaders did not express a great deal of shock. In fact, police have become a regular presence at Darul Uloom Institute, 7050 Pines Blvd., and at some other mosques. This is partly due to the threats that were generated after the terrorist attacks. But local Muslim leaders, appalled by the events of last September, also wanted to see any potential plotter rooted out. ''We are centrally located,'' said Maulana Shafayat Mohamed, spiritual leader of Darul Uloom. ``We don't operate a closed shop, so people who have an agenda can pass through here. We try to have police here for every activity. We really want no crazy nuts coming around here.'' Last week, as he talked to a reporter, two Pembroke Pines police officers turned up and walked through the mosque, peeking behind curtains. ''We want them to pass through here,'' he said. ``We've established that link with the police.'' Padilla, the former Broward man suspected of plotting to explode a ''dirty bomb'' to spread radiation in the United States, also worshiped at Darul Uloom and at another Broward mosque, Masjid Al-Iman, in Fort Lauderdale. But he was not detained locally, and in fact had been living in Egypt, where he is said to have attended al Azhar University and started a family. Authorities detained him May 8 as he got off a plane at Chicago's O'Hare International Airport with $10,000, allegedly from the terror network al Qaeda. Although sources have said they have no indication that Padillawas recruited to do al Qaeda's bidding while in South Florida, news of his detention yet again cast an unfavorable spotlight on Broward's Muslim community. Local Muslims insist that these men kept to themselves whatever they may have been plotting. ''If these guys are terrorists, they're not telling the community,'' said Jamal Raheem, a world history teacher at South Dade High School. Added Yussuf Mohamed, board chairman of Nur-Ul-Islam Academy, a 220-student pre-K through 12th-grade school in Cooper City: ``I don't know if their strategy is to use the mosques as cover. The disappointment to us is these guys are bringing shame to Islam and the Muslim community.'' NO SEPT. 11 LINK SEEN The FBI has found no ties between Padilla and the Sept. 11 hijackers, several of whom lived in Broward County. Nor do federal sources believe he made his alleged terrorist contacts while living in Broward County in the 1990s. They said he came in contact with al Qaeda terrorists after leaving Florida for Egypt in 1998. However, a Padilla acquaintance, Adham Hassoun, was detained last Wednesday in Sunrise by federal agents. Hassoun once served as distributor of a magazine advocating Muslim holy war and helped found a charity accused by the Bush administration of funding terrorists. Of the connection between the two, a federal source said: ``We have suspicions; that's it.'' One man isn't so sure that talk of a terror network is entirely far-fetched. He is Mohammad Javed Qureshi, a Muslim from Pakistan and founder of the School of Islamic Studies in Sunrise. He is also Padilla's former boss. Qureshi, as manager of a Davie Taco Bell, hired Padilla to assemble tacos for $5.50 an hour in 1992, about the time Padilla converted to Islam. ''With this latest arrest it leads me to believe that there is a cell or organization recruiting Muslims for terrorist activities,'' Javed told The Herald last week, following news of Padilla's detention. ''We need to look into Egypt and see where he went,'' he also told The New York Times, ``and then put the two and two together. Are there recruiters here? Yes. Have I met them? No. But he moves, and the recruiters are out there. I'm trying to find them myself.''

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© 2001 miamiherald and wire service sources. All Rights Reserved.
http://www.miami.com

[browardchad]

More mindless terrorism reporting from South Florida.

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

JIHAD IN AMERICA:

To find all articles tagged or indexed using JIHAD IN AMERICA, click below:
	click here >>>	JIHAD IN AMERICA	<<< click here
(To view all FR Bump Lists, click here)

[Travis McGee]

Just another "moderate" Trojan Horse Muslim spouting the usual Holy Lies for Allah.

[Grampa Dave]

What is the difference between a black Muslim and an al Fuqra home grown terrorist and an imported Islamic al Qeada terrorist?

Probably not very much, they all hate America and would kill us all if given an opportunity.

We have a boat load of links showing the connections between the Black Muslims, al Fuqra and al Qeada. They are united with one goal to kill all of us.

[browardchad]

We have a boat load of links showing the connections between the Black Muslims, al Fuqra and al Qeada. They are united with one goal to kill all of us.

I believe all fundamentalist Islamic organization worldwide (and their state backers) are interlinked in some way (even if only by a common enemy: us) -- to focus exclusively on al Quaeda is a major tactical error. The Palestinian "cause" is their rallying cry (and chief fundraising tool) since it appeals to the persecuted mentality fostered by Arafat in the Middle East, and by JJ, Sharpton and Calypso Louie in this country. The intifada appeals especially to the jail population, who blame everyone but themselves -- and especially the government, as represented by law enforcement and judges -- for their incarceration.

[browardchad]

I thought you'd get a chuckle out of the second article posted on this thread, "Broward falls under scrutiny as more terror links emerge." And here we thought the 9/11 hijackers just came here for the weather....

[Fred Mertz]

The former leader of the Fort Lauderdale mosque where Jose Padilla worshiped said Sunday that the terrorism suspect's transformation to extremism probably came after he left South Florida for Egypt.

This isn't just a flat-out lie, it's deliberate disinfo. Padilla started picking up his Muslim roots in about '92 while in jail. He was hard core enough that he probably converted in 1993.

What a boat load of crap this imam is peddling!

[aristeides]

These guys turn out to be as mendacious as Communists, or Clintonistas, for that matter, don't they?

[cgk]

Correct. And bump.

Mrs K

[Grampa Dave]

Yep, the Black Muslim recruiters are no different than the suicide bomber recruiters in PA land.

This link has some incredible other links re al fuqra and black muslims in America and of course their link to al Qeada terrorists. ( Why is there an Islamic Village in the foothills near Fresno? link)

Thanks to Clovis Skeptic and other Freepers that Islamic Village is now closed down and abandoned. That is the good news.

The bad news is that these Black Muslims and al Fuqra agents are living in another area. Are any Freepers watching them in their new homes ?

Keep up your good work and please link me on your finds.

[Clovis_Skeptic]

willco

[PJ-Comix]

• What's going on in Broward County, or South Florida as a whole, that makes it a draw for terrorists or at least those alleged to be planning terrorism?

Good weather, great beaches, and hot chix.

[PJ-Comix]

Wasn't there an article that said that Padilla was already wearing a towel (or whatever they call their hats) in 1993? It sounds like you gotta be hardcore to wear those ugly hats.

[KC_for_Freedom]

Just another "moderate" Trojan Horse Muslim spouting the usual Holy Lies for Allah.

You mean he may not be entirely truthful? I find that hard to believe, I mean if you can't believe a man of the cloth, then what is this world coming to? /sarcasm

[Fred Mertz]

An unnamed State Department source said he went over the edge in 1993; there are mentions that he picked up the peaceful faith while in jail/prison in 1992.

Don't fall for this 1998 and beyond crap.

[browardchad]

• What's going on in Broward County, or South Florida as a whole, that makes it a draw for terrorists or at least those alleged to be planning terrorism?

Good weather, great beaches, and hot chix.

Nope, that's what draws normal people to South Florida. For terrorists the draw is a large immigrant population (into which they can fade), a large transient population (ditto), neighborhoods where people are virtually strangers, and law enforcement that's politicized, culturally "sensitive," and trained to look the other way when they run across illegals.

[browardchad]

What a boat load of crap this imam is peddling!

And he's not the only one peddling it. Javed, who was Padilla's boss in Taco Bell in ’93 (the guy that said he told Padilla to look in the phone book for a mosque, since it was against company policy to discuss religion) just happens to be the co-founder of an Islamic school frequented by Hassoun (of Benevolence International fame). But in a story in yesterday's Miami Herald, poor innocent Javed is just so concerned that there might be a terrorist cell in South Florida. Right.

Hassoun, by the way, is repeatedly described as a "computer programmer" -- but never with any mention of where he works. It must be a great job, since he could afford to give $11,000 to Global Relief, another terror-supporting charity that’s under investigation. Hassoun looks like the local money man – and I’ll bet he’s conveniently “self-employed.”

[Fred Mertz]

You do good work, browardchad. Thanks.