Posted on 07/14/2002 1:43:52 AM PDT by sarcasm
A British Taliban fighter in custody in Guantánamo Bay provided U.S. investigators a crucial link between a group of Seattle militant Muslims and members of a radical mosque in London, federal sources say.
The prisoner, Feroz Abbassi, told CIA interrogators earlier this year that he had traveled to Afghanistan from London in 2000 with an American — a Muslim convert now suspected of being a key figure in the Seattle group suspected of supporting the al-Qaida terrorist network.
Abbassi said he had met the man at the North London Central Mosque, a major recruiting ground for Islamic terrorists. That mosque is led by Abu Hamza al-Masri, a militant cleric who supports Osama bin Laden.
Abbassi reportedly said that while he was fighting for the Taliban in Afghanistan, he met another man, a Swedish citizen, who had been to the United States in November 1999 to scout a potential site for an al-Qaida training camp.
That time frame coincides with the arrival of two men from the London mosque to a ranch in Bly, Ore., which at the time was being occupied by numerous members of the Seattle group.
Abbassi was captured by U.S. troops last December in fighting near Khandahar. It was the confluence of his information from Camp X-Ray in Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, and intelligence information provided to the FBI by detectives in Klamath County, Ore., that prompted what has become a major terrorism investigation.
Sources say that in late November 1999, two men from Abu Hamza's mosque arrived in New York and traveled to the Oregon ranch. The men reportedly communicated back to London that the terrain was similar to that found in parts of Afghanistan. Authorities learned their identities because a Klamath Falls police officer questioned them during a traffic stop Dec. 14, 1999.
Under questioning, Abbassi identified one of those two men as the Swedish man who had told him about the plans to establish a training camp in the United States, the sources said.
The FBI and a federal grand jury in Seattle are investigating some members of a now-defunct mosque in Seattle's Central Area, called Dar-us-Salaam. They are suspected of conspiring to support al-Qaida and Islamic terrorism against the United States.
The grand jury has indicted one man, Semi Osman, a naturalized British citizen and former cleric at the mosque. Osman, 32, faces immigration and weapons charges, and federal prosecutors allege the immigration crime was committed in support of international terrorism.
He was living on the Bly ranch during the time the al-Qaida scouts allegedly visited there.
Osman has pleaded not guilty.
Abbassi, 22, a native of Uganda and a British citizen, continues to be detained at Camp X-Ray. His detention has prompted numerous protests in the United Kingdom.
The Seattle man he allegedly met in London — not Osman — has been described by intelligence sources as a close associate of Abu Hamza. The Seattle man, who grew up in Seattle and attended Ingraham High School, helped set up the London mosque's Web site, titled the Supporters of Shariah, which encourages jihad against the West. (The Times does not routinely name criminal suspects until they are charged.)
Abu Hamza has applauded the Sept. 11 attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon. In recent years, his mosque had been visited by Zacharias Moussaoui, the only individual charged in connection with the Sept. 11 attacks, and Richard Reid, who is accused of attempting to blow up an American Airlines flight with bombs hidden in his shoes.
And, thanks for the ping, Gramps!
Ya' think ol' Vera's rethinking her decision regarding police questioning of Arab/Muslim men?
Naahhh...
heheh
Well, that will never happen!
Could be why Seattle was mentioned so often back in the days when they were telling us we were in the top five.
SEATTLE – A federal grand jury is investigating a group affiliated with a now-defunct local mosque for possible ties to the al-Qaida terror network, the attorney for a former mosque member confirmed Friday.
Terrorism experts point out that it doesn't mean Seattle is a target. What it does mean is that federal investigators have identified militant Muslims with ties to al-Qaida in Seattle and are closely watching their activities.
Authorities are focusing on some former member of a defunct mosque in Seattle’s Central District. The men have been described as a cell of suspected militant Muslims, who support the al-Qaida terrorist network.
Authorities are focusing on some former member of the Dar-us-Salaam Mosque, a defunct mosque in Seattle's Central District. The Dar-us-Salaam Mosque closed after it was damaged in last year’s February earthquake, but the militants are still believed to be active in the Seattle area. Federal authorities also believe some members of the cell traveled to southern Oregon to scout a ranch near the town of Bly as a potential terrorist training camp.
"The grand jury is looking into a lot of things related to people of this faith who have been associated with the mosque," said Robert Leen, attorney for Semi Osman, 32, of Tacoma, who is charged with trying to fraudulently obtain U.S. citizenship and owning a semiautomatic handgun with the serial number removed.
(Remember the stuff stolen in Tacoma from the immigration office?)
The Sierra Leone-born Osman, who holds a British overseas passport and has lived in the United States since the late 1980s, formerly attended the Dar-us-Salaam mosque near downtown Seattle. Members of that mosque and another that opened nearby after the earthquake have been under investigation, Leen said.
King County Sheriff Dave Reichert said it’s another indication that Seattle is on the terrorist radar screen.
"We don’t want to create panic,” said Sheriff Reichert, “but we want people to be alert that it can happen here."
Government sources say Seattle is one of four cities - Seattle, Chicago, Atlanta and Detroit - where the FBI is closely tracking al-Qaida suspects. But that doesn’t necessarily mean Seattle is a target, say experts.
Rest is here
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