Posted on 08/28/2002 2:28:08 PM PDT by jern
Man indicted in Seattle on charges of setting up Oregon training camp for al Qaeda members. Details to come. For the latest news, watch CNN or log on to
Is he a democrat? State or Fed government?
Wednesday, August 28, 2002 - 04:21 p.m. Pacific
Ujaama indicted on charges of supporting al-Qaida
By David Heath
Seattle Times staff reporter
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A federal grand jury in Seattle today indicted James Ujaama for conspiring to support al-Qaida terrorism.
Ujaama, who grew up in Seattle and moved to London six years ago, provided "training, facilities, computer services, safehouses, and personnel" to al-Qaida as part of a conspiracy to "destroy property and murder and maim persons located outside the United States," according to the indictment.
The indictment also detailed the activities of three unnamed co-conspirators, who have not been charged. Federal sources identified three men as radical London cleric Abu Hamza and two of his associates.
Ujaama attempted to set up a terrorist training camp on a remote ranch in Bly, Oregon, in the fall of 1999, the indictment said. Ujaama also told others he had attended al-Qaida training camps, according to the indictment.
The government charges that Ujaama led discussions in Bly and in Seattle about committing armed robberies, building underground bunkers to hide weapons, creating poisons for public consumption and firebombing vehicles.
"If I have broken any laws and am guilty of crimes against the American people, then I must be held accountable," Ujaama said in a statement late yesterday. "The fact is that I am innocent of any wrongdoing and am fully prepared to face my accusers and defend myself in a court of law."
The investigation is continuing and more indictments are expected, federal sources said.
Ujaama sent a fax to Abu Hamza in London that compared the Bly property to Afghanistan's terrain, proposed storing weapons there, and invited Abu Hamza to use it as a safehouse, according to today's indictment.
Abu Hamza sent two emissaries to check out the ranch, the indictmen said. They arrived in New York on Nov. 26, 1999, and traveled to Bly through Seattle. One of the emissaries, identified by sources as Oussama Kassir, identified himself as a "hit man" for Usama bin Laden.
In December or January, 2000, Ujaama returned to London to work on Abu Hamza's Web site, the indictment said.
The grand jury also returned a second count against Ujaama for discharging a firearm in furtherance of a crime of violence.
Ujaama was arrested July 22 at his aunt's home in Denver as a material witness to terrorist activity. He is being held in Alexandria Adult Detention Center in Virginia, where a federal grand jury is pursuing terrorism cases.
The material witness statute allows authorities to hold persons nearly indefinitely if they have important information to a case and are believed to be at a risk to flee.
Copyright © 2002 The Seattle Times Company
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AMEN to that.
They will probably get and *Out OF Jail* Free card from out Govenor.
Thanks for the article post, Catspaw.
About two years ago there were three ME types that apparently began the process of purchase a country lot down the road from me (less than a quarter mile). I know because I walked my dog by that lot in the early evening when they were walking the ground. They were in their mid to late twenties. I chatted with one of the three and introduced myself and my dog. They never settled in. I may have scared them off, but every once in a while I think to myself, I suppose they could have been some of them.
Most likely they weren't, but your never know.
Feds Arrest Al Qaeda Suspects With Plans to Poison Water Supplies on Them
Here's more information on James Ujaama, another U.S born Muslim convert. The connection to the three term Mayor of Denver is interesting and there could be a possible connection with the ME types at the OK water treatment facility.
James Ernest Ujaama (or James Ernest Thompson)
FBI spokesman John Lipka confirmed that agents went to the grandmother's house but would not say why. "We are in furtherance of an active investigation," he said.
Holding a person as a material witness someone believed to have important information allows federal authorities to keep him in custody indefinitely.
Federal authorities speaking on condition of anonymity have said authorities believe James Ujaama took computer equipment to an Al Qaeda terrorist camp in Afghanistan. They said authorities also were investigating whether James Ujaama trained at the camp.
Earlier news reports said James Ujaama was taken to Virginia after his arrest, but his lawyer, Daniel J. Sears, said he was jailed in Denver. Justice officials have refused to confirm where he was being held.
Sears said James Ujaama had not been charged with any crime. He said a hearing has been scheduled to review the legality of the detention, but he could not say where or when. He said his client is outspoken and has publicly disagreed with the government on Middle East issues.
"I hope we have not advanced to the point in this country where we are jailing people because the government may disagree with their beliefs," Sears said.
Agents arrived at the home at about 5 p.m. and spent about two hours inside. Mustafa Ujaama said they had a warrant.
The brothers moved to Denver this month from Seattle. Mustafa Ujaama was detained briefly on Monday when his brother was arrested.
Their aunt, Robin Thompson, stood outside the home during the search.
"They could have done this in Seattle. We are Americans. I don't know why they're doing this," she said.
The brothers were born James Ernest Thompson and Jon Thompson and grew up in Seattle. Some community leaders there have credited them with helping to rid their poor, black neighborhood of drugs and prostitution by recruiting former gang members and others into the Dar-us-Salaam mosque.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
The Dar Es Salaam temple, for those who might wonder, was a real strange place - took over a nasty block and ran the drug pushers out very effectively by violence and intimidation, including beatings and pistol-whippings. Nobody said much because they figured it was better than pushers on the streetcorners, but that was then...
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