 Al-Bazoni |
(c) 2002, THE SALT LAKE TRIBUNE
Forty-eight hours before tonight's ceremony opening the 2002 Winter Olympics, federal agents arrested a former Iraqi soldier who last July was cited for trespassing at Mountain Dell Reservoir, an important source of drinking water for Salt Lake City residents.
U.S. Magistrate Judge Samuel Alba will hear testimony today from prosecutors contending that Hani Salem al-Bazoni made threats against the United States when he was arrested, that he poses a possible terrorist threat and that he should remain jailed until trial on a new charge of giving false information to a federal agent last November.
Specifically, prosecutors want al-Bazoni behind bars during the Games, or until the FBI can determine whether he is a threat. Al-Bazoni and his wife deny he is a terrorist, and an Olympic security official dismisses the trespassing as insignificant.
In a Thursday detention hearing, a tearful al-Bazoni told Alba through an Arabic interpreter: "I'm not a danger to the community."
The 32-year-old al-Bazoni, who lives in a Salt Lake City suburb, and two other men were cited July 27 for allegedly sneaking through bushes near the shore of the reservoir, located about five miles east of Salt Lake City up Parleys Canyon. The owner of a Salt Lake City car repair business, al-Bazoni was charged with minor counts of trespassing and disorderly conduct.
After his arrest, he made "threats toward America" and repeatedly spat on the dashboard of the Salt Lake County deputy sheriff's vehicle, according to court documents.
The FBI investigated the trespassing incident after the Sept. 11 terror attacks, and on Wednesday al-Bazoni was indicted by a federal grand jury for the alleged false statements to an FBI agent. Federal officials will not comment on the indictment, why it was not requested earlier or what specifically led them to suspect al-Bazoni as a possible terrorist.
The U.S. Attorney's Office refuses to permit the release of the sheriff's initial report. Federal agents arrested al-Bazoni Wednesday night at the Holladay home he shares with his wife and two children, ages 4 and 3. The maximum sentence for making false statements is 5 years in federal prison and a $250,000 fine.
Jennifer al-Bazoni flatly denies her husband, who has been in the United States on a work visa since 1995, is a terrorist. And David Tubbs, the former FBI agent coordinating Olympic security planning, said the trespassing incident "is so inconsequential that we didn't feel the need to keep track of it."
Tubbs was livid on Wednesday because he had not been alerted to federal prosecutors' decision to seek the indictment. "We did know about it when it occurred, we just didn't know [about the indictment]," he said.
Jennifer al-Bazoni told The Salt Lake Tribune on Thursday that her husband realizes America gave him the opportunity to open a car repair shop in downtown Salt Lake City. "He loves it here. He didn't come here to blow up the United States."
She acknowledged her husband doesn't like the government or police because "they always seem to be on him." He has several traffic tickets, court records show.
She claims the reservoir incident arose because her husband and his two friends did not understand they were trespassing when they took a walk in the woods.
Olympic security planners are worried that the public may connect the incident to an unattributed Internet report that terrorists have scoped out Salt Lake City's public infrastructure since the millennium. Salon.com reported last week that al-Qaida had conducted "meticulous" surveillance on Salt Lake City utilities, water supplies and electrical grids.
The Internet story was quickly dismissed by Tubbs, who told international reporters Wednesday that the article is a "fairy tale . . . there's nothing to it."
But later Wednesday, after Tubbs learned al-Bazoni had been indicted, he called U.S. Attorney for Utah Paul Warner, angry that he had learned about the charge from a reporter.
Jwad Hassan, 40, of Sandy, said that he, al-Bazoni and Sadik al-Zamil, 27, of Salt Lake County, had been on their way to fish in East Canyon when they stopped to stroll near the dam because it was "a beautiful place."
Hassan said he did not know what the phrase "no trespassing" meant until a Salt Lake County sheriff's deputy confronted the trio with a drawn gun and pointed out signs prohibiting access. He said they were never closer to the reservoir than about 30 yards.
The deputy ordered the trio to put up their hands and frisked them, claiming he had seen al-Zamil hiding in the trees, said Hassan, who claims none of the men was hiding.
The officer led them back to his car and began writing al-Zamil a citation, Hassan said. When al-Bazoni argued for a warning instead, the deputy ticketed all three -- which angered al-Bazoni, Hassan said.
When al-Bazoni refused to sign his ticket or agree to appear in court, the deputy radioed for additional officers, who handcuffed al-Bazoni's hands behind his back, Hassan said. He said the restraints further angered al-Bazoni because they aggravated a recent elbow injury.
Booked into jail and released that night, al-Bazoni is scheduled for trial in the reservoir case on March 5 before Justice Court Judge Joanne Rigby.
On Monday, al-Zamil settled his case by paying a $200 fine. Hassan, a former theater actor and journalist from Iraq, said he will contest his case at trial on March 18. Hassan has a wife and two children and has been in this country on a work visa for almost three years.
According to Jennifer al-Bazoni, her husband came to America in 1995, worked as a dishwasher, later installed neon signs and then was employed by Sky Chefs, an airplane caterer at Salt Lake City International Airport.
Following a car wreck, al-Bazoni received a $16,000 settlement and, three months ago, opened Jeremy's Quality Auto Repair at 865 S. Main Street, she said.
Jennifer al-Bazoni said her husband was forced at a young age into the Iraqi army. Later, he rebelled against that country's government and was thrown into an Iraqi prison. Years later, he escaped to a refugee camp in Saudi Arabia, where he stayed for three years before coming to the United States, she said.
His wife said al-Bazoni likes to fish, cook and has a satellite dish so he can watch several Arabic television stations.
"He feels like he has accomplished the American dream," she said. "Why would he poison the water? His children and friends drink it."
