Wash. Man Arrested in Terror Probe (American Muslim )

W A S H I N G T O N, July 24 — An American Muslim activist who authorities believe took computer equipment to an al-Qaida terrorist camp in Afghanistan has been taken into custody, a federal law enforcement official said Tuesday.

James Ujaama, 36, was arrested Monday night in Denver as a material witness to terrorist activity. He was flown to Virginia, where he is being held, said the official, speaking on condition of anonymity.

The alleged terrorist activity was not related to the Sept. 11 attacks, according to the official, who declined to be more specific.

Another federal official said investigators believe Ujaama may have supplied terrorists in Afghanistan with computer equipment. He said authorities were investigating whether Ujaama also trained at the camp.

Ujaama has not been formally charged. Holding him as a material witness someone with possibly important information allows federal authorities to indefinitely keep him in custody.

Ujaama's mother, Peggi Thompson of Seattle, said her son was arrested at his aunt's home in Denver.

"The FBI came and got him," Thompson told The Associated Press. "There's nothing I can do or anything right now. Nobody's saying anything."

Mustafa Ujaama answered reporters' shouted questions as he left his aunt's Denver home Tuesday.

When asked if he was linked to terrorism, Mustafa Ujaama said, "No. Why (do) you ask me that? Of course not. I'm a veteran. I'm an American citizen."

"I've never even heard of al-Qaida," he said. "My brother is not a terrorist and neither am I."

Mustafa Ujaama said the government is targeting and persecuting Muslims. "I'm concerned about my brother, concerned for his safety," he said.

The brothers were born James Ernest Thompson and Jon Thompson and grew up in Seattle. Some community leaders there have applauded their work to rid their neighborhood of drugs and prostitution by recruiting former gang members and others into the local mosque, Dar-us-Salaam.

That mosque, now defunct, is under scrutiny for possible links to Osama bin Laden's al-Qaida terrorist network.

James Ujaama has published four books, his brother said. The Denver Public Library had three books listed by him "Coming Up," "Entrepreneur Basics 101," and "Young People's Guide to Starting a Business" but they're not at the library now. Two are listed as out of print on the Amazon.com Web site.

News reports say James Ujaama worked on a British Web site that advertised the "Ultimate Jihad Challenge," a paramilitary training course in the United States. British authorities shut the site down following the Sept. 11 attacks. He also runs a Web site called stopamerica.org, which opposes U.S. foreign policy.

Seattle Community Defends Suspects
By GENE JOHNSON Associated Press Writer

SEATTLE (AP) - Mustafa and James Ujaama are credited by some community leaders with helping clean up their drug- and crime-ridden neighborhood by recruiting former gang members and others into the local mosque.

But terrorist ties? Religious and community leaders in Seattle's Central Area, the city's largest black neighborhood, say they don't believe it.

"Both of these cats have had a positive, contributing role in the African American community here," said Larry Gossett, a King County councilman.

News reports in the past few days have said the brothers are being investigated for their ties to the now-defunct Dar-us-Salaam mosque, which is said to be under scrutiny for possible links to Osama bin Laden's al-Qaida terrorist network.

The FBI and prosecutors have refused to confirm those reports, and no charges have been brought against the brothers.

The brothers were born James Ernest and Jon Thompson. Their mother, Peggy Thompson, worked at a social services agency in the neighborhood and got them involved in the community, Gossett said.

"They've been busy for a long time - visiting elected officials, trying to raise money for the Central Area Youth Association, being proponents of the need to improve employment conditions," said King County Executive Ron Sims. "Terrorists? I don't think so."

The Seattle Times has reported that authorities believe James Ujaama took laptop computers to the Taliban in Afghanistan and worked on a British Web site that advertised the "Ultimate Jihad Challenge," a U.S.-based paramilitary training course. James Ujaama has lived in London for the past several years and runs a Web site called stopamerica.org, which opposes U.S. foreign policy.

Worshippers at Dar-us-Salaam also reportedly scouted a ranch in Bly, Ore., as a possible terrorist training site.

The nature of the suspicions involving Mustafa Ujaama is not clear.

But in a statement this week, he said allegations against him and his brother are "utterly ridiculous." He said neither he nor his brother is a terrorist.

Only one member of Dar-us-Salaam has been charged. Former cleric Semi Osman, 32, who lived at the Bly ranch in 1999, pleaded innocent to federal charges that he tried obtaining U.S. citizenship through a sham marriage and owned a semiautomatic handgun with the serial number removed.

Many of the mosque's leaders had discovered Islam while in prison, said Omar Aden, 35, who worshipped there.

"It used to be a very bad neighborhood," Aden said. "But they dealt with the drug dealers, talked to them, invited them to the mosque. They were teaching them about the Muslim faith."

Former mosque member Abdul Hakim said that some mosque members carried guns for protection and that police once raided Dar-us-Salaam in a search for illegal weapons. Police spokesman Duane Fish said he could not confirm that.

The Rev. Robert Jeffrey of New Hope Baptist Church said Mustafa Ujaama, a mechanic and car salesman, attended his church before converting to Islam and has long worked to eradicate drugs and street violence.

In 2000, Mustafa Ujaama helped establish Seattle Street Connections, an organization made up partly of former gang members. The group said it aims to help gang members and other youths change their ways.

"He always seemed interested in helping the community, not doing anything to hurt it," said Street Connections President Ronald Shannon.

Jeffrey said he could not vouch as easily for James Ujaama, who has traveled often. Still, he called him "a very principled person."

Until June, Mustafa Ujaama and his wife sent their two young children to the Islamic School of Seattle, said principal Ann El-Moslimany.

"This mosque was a little bit off to all of us - they were a little more extreme than we are here - and he was a part of that," she said. In once instance, Mustafa Ujaama reportedly refused to speak with a preschool teacher because she was a woman.

But as for his religious fervor, "I don't think it had anything to do with terrorism," she said. "I'm sure their intentions were to make this a better city and a better place to be."

2002-07-19 18:16:19 GMT

It seems odd to stash guns in a house of worship; on one's person, maybe, but not in a house of worship. While community service is a good thing, it can be a bad thing if the motive is to recruit suggestible people to use as terrorists. Doing work 'among the gangs' is a great way to contact people who are able and willing to commit violent acts, who aren't bright enough to avoid being manipulated. They can be safely approached about doing illegal things without worrying about them reporting you, and have an inbuilt fear of the police as well as a victim mentality that they use to justify making victims of other people. Why waste time trying to convert good people to bad people, when there is such a rich supply of bad people at little risk?

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