Posted on 12/07/2003 7:51:57 PM PST by witnesstothefall
COEUR D'ALENE, Idaho -- A University of Idaho graduate student who is under investigation for suspected terrorism ties obtained unauthorized access to a campus lab containing radioactive material, court documents allege.
Sami Omar Al-Hussayen, a Saudi national working on his computer science doctoral degree, quietly moved his student office from the Computer Science Department into the school's engineering isotope lab, apparently without his adviser's knowledge, according to the documents.
"The investigation of Sami Al-Hussayen has, from its outset, been focused on suspected material support to terrorism, particularly to Osama bin Laden's Al-Qaeda network," FBI agent Michael Gnecknow said in the documents.
"I have yet to see any piece of evidence, when viewed as part of the totality of information developed, that would dissuade me from believing that Sami Al-Hussayen is supporting terrorism," Gnecknow said.
FBI agents say they were worried the nuclear waste could be used in a "dirty bomb." Such devices involve the use of conventional explosives to spread around radioactive waste.
Al-Hussayen is scheduled to stand trial Jan. 20 on charges of student visa fraud. He remains in custody without bond.
Although he has only been charged with visa fraud, authorities claim Al-Hussayen raised money that was funneled to Islamic charities including the Islamic Assembly of North America, which is under investigation for suspected terrorist ties. Al-Hussayen has denied the allegations.
Defense attorneys were unavailable for immediate comment Sunday.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
THURSDAY, MARCH 4, 2004
WWW.USDOJ.GOV
CRM
(202) 514-2007
TDD (202) 514-1888
SAUDI NATIONAL CHARGED WITH CONSPIRACY TO PROVIDE MATERIAL SUPPORT TO HAMAS AND OTHER VIOLENT JIHADISTS
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Attorney General John Ashcroft, Assistant Attorney General Christopher A. Wray of the Criminal Division, and U.S. Attorney Tom Moss of the District of Idaho announced today that Sami Omar Al-Hussayen, a graduate student from Saudi Arabia, has been indicted by a federal grand jury on a charge of conspiracy to provide material support or resources to HAMAS, a designated foreign terrorist organization, and to other violent jihadists.
A superseding indictment returned at U.S. District Court in Boise, Idaho this morning adds additional charges of providing and concealing material support to terrorists to the indictment already lodged against Al-Hussayen. Al-Hussayen had been previously indicted on charges of conspiracy to provide material support to terrorists, seven counts of visa fraud and four counts of false statements. His trial is scheduled to begin on April 13, 2004.
Terrorists increasingly use the internet to communicate their evil plans and to garner recruits, money and other material support for their violent activities, said Attorney General John Ashcroft. We will aggressively pursue and prosecute those who use their specialized computer skills to knowingly and intentionally support such terrorist conspiracies.
The indictment cites two websites created and controlled by Al-Hussayen and others that included pages devoted to violent jihad - or holy war - in Israel. One of them, , included a section urging Muslims to contribute money to HAMAS to assist their brothers in their honorable jihad against the dictatorial Zionist Jewish enemy. Both sites also included links to the official HAMAS website where such donations could be made, according to the indictment.
Altogether, the indictment alleges that Al-Hussayen operated more than a dozen websites on behalf of: the Islamic Assembly of North America (IANA) in Detroit, Michigan; the Al-Haramain Islamic Foundation; a Saudi-based company called Dar Al-Asr; and two radical Saudi sheikhs. It alleges that Al-Hussayen knew and intended that his computer services and expertise would be used to recruit and to raise funds for violent jihad in Israel, Chechnya and elsewhere and that he conspired to conceal the nature of his activities.
Among the specific allegations is the charge that Al-Hussayen moderated an e-mail group for people who wanted to participate in violent jihad. The group allegedly solicited those who cannot physically engage in holy war, and ultimately grew to more than 2,400 members. Its first posting came from Al-Hussayen on Feb. 2, 2000, according to the indictment. It allegedly was a Cry and Call to Muslims, exhorting them to fight the idolator with your money, your selves, your tongues and your prayers.
The indictment alleges that Al-Hussayen and others sent numerous postings to the group, including one in which he forwarded materials entitled Virtues of Jihad, glorifying those who die in holy war. Postings by others to the e-mail group included an urgent appeal to Muslims in the U.S. military asking them to identify potential U.S. targets in the Middle East.
According to the indictment, the various websites with which Al-Hussayen was involved published a variety of violent jihad materials, including graphic videos of mujahideen, or holy warriors, intended to recruit fighters and financial supporters of violent jihad. The indictment charges that several articles extolling the Chechen warriors and glorifying martyrdom were found on the server for IANAs www.al-multaqa.com website and on the defendants home computer.
Al-Hussayen is also alleged to have received and disbursed out of his bank accounts more than $300,000 in excess of the study-related funds he received from his home government, much of which was paid to IANA for salaries, travel and other operational expenses.
The new charges allege that Al-Hussayen conspired with others to provide money and communications equipment to the Islamic Resistance Group, or HAMAS, which was designated a Foreign Terrorist Organization on Oct. 8, 1997, and redesignated again in 1999, 2001 and 2003.
Al-Hussayen has been a graduate student at various universities in the United States for more than nine years. Most recently, he has been seeking a PhD in computer security from the University of Idaho in Moscow, Idaho.
The investigation, which is ongoing, is being conducted by the Inland Northwest Joint Terrorism Task Force; the FBIs Salt Lake City Field Division and its offices in Couer dAlene, Boise and Lewiston, Idaho; the FBIs Seattle Field Division and its Spokane, Washington office; the Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) offices in Boise, Spokane; IRS offices in Boise and Spokane; the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives in Spokane; the Secret Service, Spokane; the U.S. Marshals Service, Spokane; the Idaho State Police; the Washington State Patrol; the Moscow, Idaho, Police Department; the Spokane Police Department; the Spokane County Sheriffs Office; the Spokane Criminal Intelligence United, the Latah County Sheriffs Office; the U.S. Attorneys Offices in Boise and Spokane; and the Counterterrorism Section of the Criminal Division at the U.S. Department of Justice in Washington, D.C.
The prosecution team consists of Assistant U.S. Attorney Kim Lindquist of the District of Idaho; David Deitch, Department of Justice Counterterrorism Section; Todd Hinnen, DOJ Computer Crimes and Intellectual Property Section; and Terry Derden, First Assistant U.S. Attorney, U.S. Attorneys Office for the District of Idaho.
Criminal indictments are only charges and not evidence of guilt. A defendant is presumed to be innocent unless and until proven guilty.
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04-137
http://www.klewtv.com/x5781.xml?ParentPageID=x5649&ContentID=x54158&Layout=KLEW.xsl&AdGroupID=x5781
June 10, 2004
"AL-HUSSAYEN NOT GUILTY"
(BOISE-AP)
===
===
http://www.idahostatesman.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20040610/NEWS01/40610004
"Juror: Government showed no evidence of Al-Hussayen's guilt"
Edition Date: 06-10-2004
FYI.
bttt
Note: The whole article is interesting.
“Hardball Tactics In An Era Of Threats”
Ross E. Getman, Esq. - 8/17/2007
http://globalpolitician.com/articledes.asp?ID=3278&cid=1&sid=107
SNIPPET - QUOTE:
At the same time the FBI was searching the townhouse of PhD candidate Ali Timimi, searches and arrests moved forward elsewhere. In Moscow, Idaho, FBI agents interviewed Nabil Albaloushi. (They apparently searched his apartment at the same time they searched the apartment of IANA webmaster Sami al-Hussayen, who they had woken from bed at 4:00 a.m.) Albaloushi was a PhD candidate expert in drying foodstuffs. His thesis in 2003 was 350 pages filled with charts of drying coefficients.
Interceptions showed a very close link between IANAs Sami al-Hussayen and Sheikh al-Hawali, to include the setting up of web sites, the providing of vehicles for extended communication, and telephone contact with intermediaries of Sheikh al-Hawali. Al-Hussayen had al-Hawalis phone number upon the search of his belongings upon his arrest. Former Washington State University animal geneticist and nutrition researcher Ismail Diab, who had moved to Syracuse to work for an IANA-spin-off, also was charged in Syracuse and released as a material witness to a financial investigation of the IANA affiliate Help The Needy. After the government failed to ask Dr. Diab any questions for nearly 3 months, the magistrate bail restrictions and removed the electronic monitoring and curfew requirements.
In Moscow, Idaho, the activities by IANA webmaster Sami al-Hussayen that drew scrutiny involved these same two radical sheiks. U.S. officials say the two sheiks influenced al Qaedas belief that Muslims should wage holy war against the U.S. until it ceases to support Israel and withdraws from the Middle East. Sami Hussayen, who was acquitted, made numerous calls and wrote many e-mails to the two clerics, sometimes giving advice to them about running Arabic-language Web sites on which they espoused their anti-Western views.
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