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The Supreme Court unanimously ruled that a man’s lawsuit challenging his placement on the federal government’s “No Fly List” can proceed, finding that the government did not prove the case was moot after removing him from the list. Yonas Fikre, a U.S. citizen, claimed the FBI unlawfully placed him on the list and pressured him to become an informant. While the government argued Fikre’s removal meant the case was moot, the Court rejected this view, allowing the merits of the allegations to be examined in lower courts

Federal prosecutors announced Thursday they have indicted Pete Seda, the head of the Ashland branch of the Al-Haramain Islamic Foundation, on fraud and tax charges. Seda, also known as Pirouz Sedaghaty and Abu Yunus, and another officer of the foundation, Soliman Hamd Al-Buthe, are part of a three-count indictment for illegally transporting $150,000 to Saudi Arabia. The indictment, filed in U.S. District Court in Eugene, charges them with conspiracy to defraud the United States, filing a false IRS return for a tax-exempt corporation and failure to file a report of international transportation of currency. Known locally as a peace activist,...

Homegrown terrorist Jeffrey Leon Battle considered America the “land of the kaffirs,” or unbelievers, and the American people “pigs.” He once lamented to an acquaintance—who happened to be a government informant—that the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks did not sufficiently damage the U.S. economy. “This is the land of the enemy,” he said of his own country in a May 8, 2002, conversation secretly recorded by the government. He explained to a friend how his “burning desire” to become an Islamic martyr had inspired his aborted quest to join forces with al Qaeda in Afghanistan, where he could kill American...

Terror charges dropped The FBI officially confirmed the death of Habis Abdulla Al Saoub, the alleged ringleader of teh Portland Seven. Federal authorities have dismissed their case against the ringleader of a Portland militant Islamic group nine months after the man was reported killed in a shootout in Pakistan. The US Attorney's Office filed a motion today to drop the case against Habis Abdulla Al Saoub, one of the so-called Portland Seven. With the filing, authorities have resolved all outstanding charges in the case of a group of Portland area Muslims who tried to travel to Afghanistan to fight against...

Final members of 'Portland Seven' are sentenced PORTLAND - Three Muslim men from Portland who tried, but failed, to enter Afghanistan as Taliban foot soldiers, voiced profound regret for their actions, as a federal judge sentenced them to prison Monday. The Palestinian-born Maher "Mike" Hawash, 39, a former Intel software engineer received seven years in prison, while the Bilal brothers - Ahmed, 25, and Muhammad, 23 - were sentenced to 10 and eight years, respectively. The sentencing caps a saga that began shortly after Sept. 11, when the three, inflamed by what they described as the unfair targeting of...

'Proud to be a U.S. citizen' A repentant Maher Hawash blames only himself -- not Islam or the U.S. government -- for his legal troubles 02/10/04 T he U.S. government treated Maher "Mike" Hawash fairly and with dignity. Those aren't our words. Nor are they the prosecutors' words. They're the words of Hawash himself, uttered Monday in U.S. District Judge Robert E. Jones' courtroom. They're important words, given the heated claims that his friends and backers made about Hawash's unfair arrest and detention last year, but maybe not the most important words spoken Monday. Those came from Jones and Hawash...

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) -- The final three members of a group of Muslim men from the Portland area who tried to enter Afghanistan to join the Taliban were each sentenced to prison time Monday.They were among six men and one woman accused of conspiring to wage war on the United States.Palestinian-born Maher Hawash, 39, was sentenced Monday to seven years in prison. Ahmed Bilal, 25, was sentenced to 10 years and his brother, Muhammad, 23, was sent to prison for eight years.All were given reduced terms because they cooperated with authorities.``I do not blame anybody else except myself,'' Hawash said...

Woman Sentenced in to Three Years for Helping Men Going to Aid TalibanBy Julia Silverman Associated Press WriterPublished: Dec 1, 2003 PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) - The lone woman among a group of American Muslims who tried to ally themselves with the Taliban was sentenced Monday to three years in prison. October Martinique Lewis, 26, was convicted of wiring money to her husband and a group of men who tried to cross into Afghanistan in 2001 to aid the Taliban in their fight against U.S. soldiers. "My heart never internalized a hurt so bad that tears are insufficient to explain how...

Lawyers, law officers debate whether a terror cell took root among us -- A ‘sexy script,’ a suspect castBY JIM REDDEN Is the Portland area a breeding ground for radical Muslim terrorism? Or are law enforcement officials seeing a threat where none exists? The Portland FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Force has spearheaded the arrest of seven Portland Muslims since the terrorist attacks Sept. 11, 2001, in New York City and Washington, D.C. An eighth Muslim suspect is still at large. The task force targets include the leader of a conservative local mosque, a mosque member trained in firearms and six...

Filing details 'Portland 7' plot One group member asked an informant about making a bomb days before his arrest, a new court document shows 11/20/03 MARK LARABEE Less than a month before he was arrested, "Portland Seven" defendant Jeffrey Leon Battle asked an undercover FBI informant if he knew how to make a bomb and said he wanted to arm himself for a possible confrontation with authorities. The September 2002 comments followed a series of secret "body wire" recordings in which Battle spoke of his consideration and ultimate rejection of committing a terrorist act in the United States, specifically to...

PORTLAND -- The final two defendants in the alleged terrorist cell known as the "Portland Seven" have pleaded guilty and agreed to serve 18 years in federal prison. Patrice Ford and Jeffrey Battle were among seven Portland area residents who had been charged with plotting to wage war against the United States. The charge carried a maximum sentence of 20 years and a $250,000 fine. They had initially also been charged with money laundering, supporting terrorism and other offenses. Four others had earlier pleaded guilty. The pleas came during a hearing when defense attorneys had intended to challenge evidence gathered...

When controversial New York attorney Stanley Cohen came to court last week seeking to represent Portland Seven defendant Patrice Lumumba Ford, the focus was on Cohen's prior representation of the spiritual leader of a Portland mosque where Ford had worshiped. How can Cohen fairly represent Ford, U.S. District Judge Robert E. Jones asked, when Cohen's former client Sheik Mohamed Abdirahman Kariye is being investigated for allegedly helping to finance the same conspiracy with which Ford is charged? According to an FBI affidavit unsealed Friday, Kariye may have raised $12,000, through unidentified worshipers at Masjed As-Saber in Southwest Portland, for Ford...

Prosecutors: Kariye may have financed 'Portland Seven' PORTLAND - Federal prosecutors say Mohamed Abdirahman Kariye, the religious leader of the state's largest mosque, may have provided money and support to a group of Portland men accused of trying to fight U.S. soldiers in Afghanistan. In court papers filed Tuesday, the prosecutors said Kariye is a target in the ongoing investigation. "The government possesses direct evidence of Kariye's involvement in the conspiracy," prosecutors said. Kariye has not been charged in the case. Prosecutors disclosed their investigation of Kariye as they sought a hearing on whether Kariye's lawyer had a conflict...