Philippines to Deport Two U.S. Brothers

Associated Press ^ | 30 December 2003 | HRVOJE HRANJSKI

[Vigilanteman]

Philippines to Deport Two U.S. Brothers

By HRVOJE HRANJSKI, Associated Press Writer

MANILA, Philippines - Philippine authorities said Tuesday they were set to deport two American brothers arrested for suspected links to terrorism and for allegedly meeting charity groups believed to be al-Qaida fronts in the country.

One of the men, Michael Ray Stubbs, worked as a heating and air conditioning technician at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory ? a major nuclear weapons lab outside San Francisco ? for about 10 years ending in 2000. Officials said the FBI (news - web sites) was looking into whether he had access to sensitive information.

Michael Ray Stubbs, 55, and his brother James, 56, a convert to Islam, were arrested on immigration violation charges Dec. 13 in the town of Tanza in Cavite province, 21 miles southwest of Manila, the Bureau of Immigration said.

The brothers denied any wrongdoing when they appeared at a news conference in handcuffs.

Immigration Commissioner Andrea Domingo told reporters Tuesday that James Stubbs met with members of the Abu Sayyaf Muslim extremist group, as well as the Moro Islamic Liberation Front separatist movement, two groups loosely linked by Philippine officials to al-Qaida.

"These are all fabricated lies," James Stubbs shouted as Domingo addressed the news conference.

An irritated Domingo responded: "This is the Philippine government. They're violating immigration laws and they're being charged and they are going through immigration proceedings."

The brothers, born in Missouri, would be deported to the United States as "undesirable aliens ... based on intelligence reports that they were seen meeting with known leaders of various terrorist cells in the country with links to al-Qaida," the immigration bureau said.

Domingo said they were under surveillance before their arrest.

The two had tourist visas but also carried documents indicating they were soliciting funds for the construction of Muslim schools and mosques, Domingo said.

She said there was no evidence linking the two to any past or planned terrorist plots, but said James Stubbs allegedly called for the overthrow of the U.S. government in statements to local authorities.

James Stubbs said he has a Filipino wife and was in the Philippines because she was pregnant.

A naval intelligence officer, speaking on condition of anonymity, said U.S. officials were concerned that Michael Ray Stubbs may have passed sensitive information from Livermore to his brother.

Susan Houghton, a spokeswoman for the Livermore lab, confirmed that Michael Ray Stubbs used to work there for about 10 years until 2000.

"We are aware of what the Philippines officials did," she said. "We have been working closely with the FBI on this issue since he was arrested in the Philippines a few weeks ago."

She said Stubbs' clearance was terminated after he left on medical leave in March 2000.

The U.S. Embassy declined to comment on the allegations. Spokeswoman Karen Kelley said she understood the brothers retained legal council to address the charges.

According to Philippine military intelligence reports, James Stubbs left his job as a teacher in California to study Arabic in Sudan. He met in May with several charity groups suspected of being al-Qaida fronts and founded by Mahmoud Afif Abdeljalil ? believed to be a close associate of Osama bin Laden (news - web sites)'s brother-in-law.

Abdeljalil was arrested in September in the southern Philippine city of Zamboanga on charges of having an expired visa. After he was interrogated, he was ordered deported.

The charities were not immediately identified, but the immigration bureau said they were used to channel funds to al-Qaida cells in the Philippines

[Vigilanteman]

Philippinos do not want American garbage dumped in their country. If we had the balls to enforce our own immigration laws in like manner, 17 of the 19 9-11 terrorists would have been in jail or out of the country.

[Coop]

More AQ info.

[livius]

Well, these people certainly wouldn't have been affected by immigration law here, since it appears that they were Americans. This is a very odd story - when it appeared yesterday, the brothers were strangely described as being "Middle Easterners" who were Americans and had converted to Islam. I assume this was just confusion over their background on the part of Filipino authorities.

Are they Black Muslims?

[Quilla]

The Stubbs brothers are denying links with Muslim militants.

[Vigilanteman]

You miss my point. Filipino's are enforcing their own immigration laws. We are not. As a result, they are able to send this sludge back to us before they do any more damage in a country already inflicted by an excess of killing and violence from the religion of peace.

OTOH, if we would treat home-grown Islamofacists the same way we treat the Ku Klux Klan, they wouldn't be having a meeting without having a law enforcement infiltrator present. As a result, their damage would be limited to what the KKK does-- marching around in bedsheets and holding asinine protests.

[livius]

Oh. OK. Question answered, thanks!

[MizSterious]

Here's some more on this story. These two seem to have some things in common with another duo who ended up charged with the OKC bombing...except this time, different race.

[genefromjersey]

Wonderful ! Michael Stubbs worked at Livermore-a place that has had an uncomfortable number of security breaches,ranging from embarassing to major.

[livius]

I think we're probably doing a lot better job enforcing immigration laws now than we once did, although there's a world of difference between monitoring immigration to a relatively small country made up of a set of islands (where few people want to go in the first place) and controlling immigration to the US, a place that has a lot of legitimate immigration, lots of foreign tourism, and long land-borders with two other countries that are not very good at monitoring their own immigration.

I did notice when I came through passport control a couple of weeks ago after a trip to Europe that they have installed a new fingerprint system for all foreign visitors. Foreigners will have to register their thumbprint on the way in, and it will have to match their documentation on the way out. The system is electronic, and will be very fast. I noticed that they were also instructed to look straight ahead, so it is possible that some other kind of technology is being used, as well.

As for watching home grown Islamic nut groups, I agree, but it's not going to happen to the Black Muslims. It would be too non-PC to put them on a watch list or a terrorist list, although I certainly hope somebody is watching them quietly. Plus, some groups of Black Muslims have reconciled with traditional Islam, and now have all the support of well-funded groups like CAIR. The KKK, the Aryan Brotherhood and other weird groups have never had wide or public mainstream support (except for a brief period during Reconstruction, in the case of the KKK), and have certainly not gotten financial support from foreign governments or other structures, the way the Islamic radical groups have.

I think they're going to be a much harder thing to control, especially if they can hide behind being some politically protected group (blacks, in this case). But I think that here as well, more is being done than was done in the past. It's going to take a long time for the FBI to rebuild itself after its orgy of political correctness under Bill C.

Ping to Grampa Dave for some Black Muslim/AQ info.

[TexKat]

Arrested American Michael Ray Stubbs is escorted back to his van after being presented to the media along with his brother James Stubbs Jr.,also known as Jamil Daud Mujahid, at the Philippine Navy headquarters Tuesday Dec. 30, 2003 in Manila. The Stubbs, were arrested last Dec. 13 allegedly for their 'involvement in the elaborate financial network of the Al-Qaeda terrorist networks and its counterparts in the country, notably the Abu Sayyaf.' (AP Photo/Bullit Marquez)

[TexKat]

- when it appeared yesterday, the brothers were strangely described as being "Middle Easterners" who were Americans and had converted to Islam. I assume this was just confusion over their background on the part of Filipino authorities.

Did not fool me any. The names James and Michael Stubbs was a dead give away.

I posted the following on yesterday. These 2 remind me of part of the following gang of terrorist losers

Top row, left to right: Patrice Lumumba Ford, October Martinique Lewis and Jeffrey Leon Battle. Bottom row, left to right: Muhammad Ibrahim Bilal, Ahmed Ibrahim Bilal, and Habis Abdulla Al-Saoub are seen in these undated handout photos.

[Grampa Dave]

Michael Ray Stubbs doesn't look like the red necked white trash that some articles tried to picture him.

So, will we find out later that he was recruited in prison by a tax paid Nation of Islam Mullah? Or has he been a sleeper all along with a Jordanian mommy and a black panther daddy.

[Grampa Dave]

Thanks for the ping and your personal story about newbies being fingerprinted and probably eye identified by computer.

There is some incredible stuff going on re registering the foriegners as they come in.

We have friends, whose son was with the Border Patrol and is a computer whiz as well as a good field agent. He was borrowed by Homeland Security for awhile to help investigate people working for airports. (remember the busts last year and the year before re illegals working in our airports with the liberals like DiFi and Boxer screaming racism).

Now, he is full time with HLS using his computer skills and his field agent savy. He is one of many such young people. He never felt that he was utilized fully with the Border Patrol. Now he feels great, and he and his peers are working on systems like you mentioned.

We have a long way to go, but we are heading in the right direction. One can only imagine what Metro Sexual Howie would do with these systems that are being implemented.

[Grampa Dave]

The Philipinos didn't catch these guys. Our NAVY CIS guys/gals did the work and nailed them.

Then, the Philipine Government being a good ally with us in the war on terrorism has agreed to deport these clowns back to America.

[MizSterious]

Borders...yes, one of my concerns, too, but I worry as much or more about the recruitment going on in ghettos, jails and even our own military under the guise (or perhaps full approval) of the "Black Muslims." Find someone ripe for believing the world owes him/her something, and you have the beginnings of a good terrorist in the making, as with Padilla and others we've heard about. I'm not sure what can be done about this, at least constitutionally.

[Grampa Dave]

We are working on our borders and a lot more work needs to be done.

The recruitment of black and Hispanic prisoners into the Nation of Islam in our state and federal prisons is an incredible danger to America.

Like anything that falls under the PC umbrella, this must be handled slowly to avoid billions/maybe trillions of $s of lawsuits one or two years down the road.

[TexKat]

but I worry as much or more about the recruitment going on in ghettos, jails and even our own military under the guise (or perhaps full approval) of the "Black Muslims." Find someone ripe for believing the world owes him/her something, and you have the beginnings of a good terrorist in the making, as with Padilla and others we've heard about. I'm not sure what can be done about this, at least constitutionally.

Your question reminded me of this report I saw this morning before leaving for work. CNN was interviewing Mr. Daryl Hunt and his wife April who were adorned in their muslim attire.

Man twice convicted of murder released after 18 years in prison

Hunt wipes away tears Wednesday at a Winston-Salem, North Carolina, church

[thinden]

"These two seem to have some things in common with another duo who ended up charged with the OKC bombing...except this time, different race."

hold on now.

another st. louis, missouri native, melvin lattimore comes to mind.

lattimore was converted to Islam (cain't memeber his muslim name off hand.
it was reported that lattimore was in OKC around the time of murrah.
it was also reported lattimore (and his credit card) was involved with some of the "9/11 flight students" in the norman area.

questions:
where were these two from in missouri?
wonder if they knew melvin?