Posted on 05/26/2004 5:36:40 PM PDT by NormsRevenge
GARDEN GROVE, Calif. (AP) - Adam Yahiye Gadahn was 17 years old when he walked into the Islamic Society of Orange County and asked for permission to worship there. The farm kid who grew up in a home with Christian roots declared himself a Muslim, ready to immerse himself in his new religion.
But his devotion eventually spiraled into trouble - and an arrest.
Gadahn, who was named Wednesday as one of seven suspected al-Qaida operatives sought by the FBI, was later expelled from the mosque after attacking an employee. Records show he pleaded guilty to assault and battery charges on June 11, 1997, and was sentenced to two days in jail and 40 hours of community service.
"He was becoming very extreme in his ideas and views," said Muzammil Siddiqi, the society's religious director. "He must have disliked something."
Gadahn's alleged journey from student of Islam to suspected terrorist startled his brother, Omar Gadahn, 17, who first heard the FBI's announcement on the news.
"I don't believe it, but I don't know. Anything is possible," he said at the family home in Santa Ana. His brother "wanted to follow what he believed and that's what he did."
Asked about allegations that his brother might be conspiring to act against the United States, the teen said he'd never heard his brother say anything against the country. "It doesn't seem like something he would do," he said.
According to the FBI, Gadahn, 25, attended al-Qaida training camps and served as an al-Qaida translator. The agency said he is being sought for "possible terrorist threats against the United States." He also goes by the names Adam Pearlman and Abu Suhayb Al-Amriki.
Omar Gadahn, a college student, said he hasn't seen his brother in about five years. His mother last spoke to him by phone in March 2001. At the time he was in Pakistan, working at a newspaper, and his wife was getting ready to have a child.
Adam Gadahn was home-schooled at the family farm in Riverside County. He did not attend college. Omar said the family was a "more or less Christian household, but no one was particularly religious."
Omar said he doesn't know why his brother converted to Islam. But a statement attributed to Adam Gadahn on several Muslim-related Web sites said he "gradually realized I could not be a Christian." He went through an obsessive phase with heavy metal music and eventually turned to Islam.
"Having been around Muslims in my formative years, I knew well that they were not the bloodthirsty, barbaric terrorists that the news media and the televangelists paint them to be," the statement said. "It was really a natural progression."
FBI officials in Los Angeles said Gadahn was last known to be in Southern California in 1997 or 1998.
"The FBI has been seeking Gadahn for questioning for over a year," said Laura Bosley, a spokeswoman for the FBI in Los Angeles. "He's wanted for questioning at this time."
Siddiqi, the director of the Orange County center, said federal agents have not come to the mosque seeking information about Gadahn since they started their investigation. He said he hopes the FBI's investigation into possible al-Qaida suspects doesn't further alienate the Islamic community.
"We want people to understand Islam," Siddiqi said. "The vast majority of Muslims are law-abiding people but there are a few bad apples."
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Staff writers Ryan Pearson and Michael R. Blood in Los Angeles contributed to this report.
A placard at FBI (news - web sites) headquarters shows individuals being sought by the FBI in connection with possible terrorist threats against the U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft (news - web sites) and FBI Director Robert Mueller today drew attention to photos of several suspected al-Qaida operatives the FBI has been pursuing for months. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque
Is "America's Most Wanted" live this weekend?..If so, we should grab them all by next Tuesady..
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DETAILS Adam Yahiye Gadahn is being sought in connection with possible terrorist threats against the United States. Although the FBI has no information indicating this individual is connected to any specific terrorist activities, the FBI would like to locate and question this person.
IF YOU HAVE ANY INFORMATION CONCERNING THIS PERSON, PLEASE CONTACT THE LOCAL FBI OFFICE OR THE NEAREST AMERICAN EMBASSY OR CONSULATE. |
Yeah, his own country.
George Washington hung traitors. If it was OK for the Father of our country, it's OK by me.
Well, you would seem to negate that little theory.
Just a few, huh?
Few bad apples? Seems like the whole friggin' orchard from what I can see.
Bump!
A "few bad apples" makes it sound as if they are spray-painting graffiti, or shoplifting.
oh yeah pursuing them in the "Judicial Reno way" under Clintoon kept us so so so safe.
Bump.
He was also into "death metal" music.
Adam Pearlman, is an alias??????
Not sure hon..
This guy really worries me.......he can get these people into anywhere by just being an American.
With a name like Adam Pearlman, I wouldn't be surprised to see him turn up playing the starring role in the next, soon to be released, Al Qaeda snuff film...
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