Tip led INS to follow immigrant to Citadel
Saturday, November 10, 2001
BY BRIAN HICKS
Of The Post and Courier Staff
A tip from an Atlanta eye surgeon about a Middle Eastern man with suspicious identification put INS investigators on a trail that led, ultimately, to the ranks of The Citadel.
U.S. Magistrate Robert Carr ordered cadet Yasir Khatib held without bail Friday after federal prosecutors laid out their case against him - a case that includes allegations of four different identities, disguises and "cosmetic surgery," a visa violation and references in private correspondences to a "jihad," the Islamic term for a holy war.
Carr also approved a request from the defense's attorney, Robert Haley, to put Khatib through a psychiatric evaluation following a suicide attempt earlier this week at the county jail.
After outlining the reasons for arresting him, Assistant U.S. Attorney Sean Kittrell said Khatib was in the country illegally by Immigration and Naturalization Service standards and will likely be deported. Kittrell also said the government had no evidence linking the young Muslim to the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11.
Prosecutors retraced the steps of the investigation through the testimony of Charleston-based INS agent Rachel Reidell, who said the initial tip about a man identifying himself as "Ibrahim Zahid" was given to the FBI's Atlanta office in the weeks following terrorist attacks on America.
Reidell said an eye surgeon told agents of a Middle Eastern man who seemed to be in a hurry about having a corrective vision operation but was "evasive" about personal information. The doctor told agents the man stopped calling two weeks before Sept. 11, and that he found that odd.
When he returned to the doctor's office in October, INS agents watched the man - whom they identified as Khatib. Using one of the addresses the man provided, Reidell said, they eventually traced him to a Mailboxes Etc. in Atlanta and, using car information supplied there, to South Carolina.
Reidell said when INS and FBI agents interviewed Khatib at The Citadel on Oct. 31, they asked him if he'd used any other names and if he knew a Mr. Zahid. Reidell said Khatib said "no" to both questions.
When they showed him a copy of the Zahid identification that was on file with the Mailboxes Etc. in Atlanta, Khatib said it was his photo but not his identification. He told the agents his wallet had been stolen earlier.
Also, Reidell said that Khatib told the INS that his parents were naturalized U.S. citizens, but they are actually in the country illegally on expired visas.
"(Khatib) told agents that he did not know who Ibrahim Zahid was and that he had never heard of him," court documents filed by prosecutors Friday say. "These responses were all lies."
Reidell said INS investigations concluded that an Ibrahim Zahid had entered the country through Houston in June and stayed at the same address Khatib listed as his in Houston. The INS says it has no record of Zahid leaving the country.
Haley, Khatib's attorney, said Zahid was Khatib's uncle and that Khatib was carrying a credit card that Zahid sent to him to use because his parents were going through tough financial times. Kittrell said, however, the credit card is still in its original packaging.
INS agents initially arrested Khatib on charges of a visa violation that involved him taking a semester off from The Citadel to work in his father's business in Houston. A student visa requires that the person attend school full-time, Reidell said. Additionally, Khatib was charged with lying to agents about the fake identification. The Atlanta doctor had identified Khatib as "Zahid," Reidell said.
After Khatib was arrested, agents searching his car and room at The Citadel discovered several things that were suspicious, Reidell said. They found a Texas identification card with Khatib's photograph and the name Ibrahim Zahid. They also found papers with the Atlanta doctor's name on it; papers from the Atlanta Mailboxes Etc.; a credit card in the name of Zahid and evidence of a defaulted loan taken out in the same name; a Saudi Arabian diver's license with Khatib's photograph bearing the name Faruuq Abdul Raheem; a Saudi residence card with Khatib's photo bearing the name of Raheem Safallah; and, in Khatib's car, a toupee.
"We found notations of money he'd spent, a GPS (global positioning system), car battery and invoice for a computer," Reidell testified.
Reidell said they found evidence of extensive travel by Khatib, including trips to several cities in Florida, California, Houston, Atlanta, Canada and Germany.
Also, Reidell said there were letters in Arabic found in Khatib's room, one of which was translated by agents, including instructions on "how to live as a Muslim and to be reading for the jihad." Additionally, court documents say that agents found a Koran in Khatib's room, with passages marked concerning the war between Muslims and Christians.
Haley described Khatib as a Jordanian citizen who was born in Saudi Arabia. Haley said Khatib took a trip to Germany to visit his girlfriend, a fact corroborated by several of his friends. He went to Canada, Haley said, because he believed that international travel would renew his visa without having to deal with the INS bureaucracy.
"It is true he probably violated his immigration status" by taking time off from school to work, Haley said, but "he was helping his mother and father."
As for other travel, Haley said simply, "that's not against the law."
Haley said Khatib tried to hang himself with a towel or robe Monday after coming out of the shower at Charleston County Detention Center.
He was depressed, Haley said, because he could not talk to his family, feared being deported, was afraid his career at The Citadel was over and was worried about his family's finances.
Haley said an outstanding Charleston County warrant for Khatib on bad check charges stem from the theft of Khatib's wallet - he said the checks were stolen at the same time. Charleston City Police have a report on file of Khatib reporting his car broken into near The Citadel campus in January.
Haley argued for Khatib's release, citing numerous friends in the community, family in Texas and the "positive impression" Citadel President John Grinalds previously said he had of the cadet.
With that request denied, Haley asked - in light of the suicide attempt - that Khatib be given a psychiatric evaluation. Carr approved the request.
Khatib will be moved to an undisclosed facility, where a psychiatric evaluation could take up to 45 days. After that, the U.S. Attorney's office says it will move the case along toward a trial.
On charges of lying to federal agents and holding false identification, Khatib faces up to five years in prison and $250,000 in fines.
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