Abdul Malik, right, and Aalim Ammar walk in front of the Masjid As-Salam (House of Peace) mosque at 278 Central Avenue in Albany this morning. (Steve Jacobs / Times Union)
Mohammed Hossain
Posted on 08/05/2004 6:57:36 AM PDT by 1Old Pro
| Albany mosque raid uncovers missile plot |
| By CURT ANDERSON, Associated Press Last updated: 9:27 a.m., Thursday, August 5, 2004 |
| WASHINGTON -- Two leaders of a mosque in Albany, N.Y., were arrested on charges stemming from an alleged plot to help a man they thought was a terrorist purchase a shoulder-fired missile, federal authorities said Thursday. |
The men have ties to a group called Ansar al-Islam, which has been linked to the al-Qaida terror network, according to two federal law enforcement authorities speaking on condition of anonymity.
The two arrests came as FBI, Immigration and Customs Enforcement and other agents executed search warrants at the Masjid As-Salam mosque and two Albany-area residences, officials said. The men were identified as Yassin Aref, 34, the imam of the mosque, and 49-year-old Mohammed Hoosain, one of the mosque's founders.
According to law enforcement officials, the two are being charged with providing material support to terrorism by participating in a conspiracy to help an individual they believed was a terrorist purchase a shoulder-fired missile.
The individual was in fact working undercover for the government and no missile ever changed hands. Aref and Hoosain were allegedly involved in money-laundering aspects of the plot, the officials said.
The investigation has been going on for a year and is not related to the Bush administration's decision earlier this week to raise the terror alert level for certain financial sector buildings in New York and Washington, the officials said.
In Albany, some mosque members gathered early Thursday outside the institution for morning prayers.
More details about the case were expected to be released later Thursday by the Justice Department in Washington.
------
Associated Press writer Michael Virtanen contributed to this story from Albany, N.Y.
"It's New York! There are Jews all over the place... and we're Democrats, on top of everything else! What else could we be expected to do, really? ALLAH AKBAR-- !"
Yeah, that's the ticket. Have you met my wife, Morgan Fairchild?
Abdul Malik, right, and Aalim Ammar walk in front of the Masjid As-Salam (House of Peace) mosque at 278 Central Avenue in Albany this morning. (Steve Jacobs / Times Union)
Mohammed Hossain
These people lie through their teeth. It's time to step up surviellance and arrests.
bump
STINGER STINGEES STUNG!
Al Sharpton, please pick up the white courtesy phone. Calling Al Sharpton.
It appears that they have followed this group for months. I guess one of them bought a plane ticket and that forced the raid.
A Bangledeshi opens a restaurant called "Little Italy".
Go figure.
excerpt:
NEWARK, N.J. - A British arms dealer appeared in U.S. District Court today, on charges that he tried to complete the sale of a shoulder-fired missile, with the understanding that it was going to be used to shoot down an American commercial airliner, the U.S. Attorney's Office and Justice Department announced today.
Just trying to "blend in".
"Religion of Peace" bump.
Albany, is just a couple of hours from NYC. It makes sense that people who want to attack NY would set up camp , mosque, in Albany.
A classic example of multi-culturalism!
The government is loading Upstate NY up with thousands of muslims. They are bringing them in from everywhere. They bring in 5,000 at a time and place them in these dying cities. I am totally baffled as to why the government wants to bring in so many muslims. I don't understand it.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.