Posted on 06/23/2003 10:25:43 PM PDT by JohnHuang2
Edited on 07/12/2004 4:04:14 PM PDT by Jim Robinson. [history]
A Qatar native held on charges of lying to the FBI in an investigation into the September 11 attacks was designated yesterday as an "enemy combatant" and could be tried before a military tribunal for helping al Qaeda operatives relocate in the United States. Ali Saleh Kahlah Al-Marri, 37, in Justice Department custody since late 2001, was given the new designation by President Bush and handed over to the Defense Department.
(Excerpt) Read more at dynamic.washtimes.com ...
FBI agents first questioned Al-Marri at his West Peoria, Ill., home Oct. 2, 2001. They asked him about a steamer chest he had shipped to the United States from his homeland and about his enrollment in a master's degree program at Bradley University in Peoria. The chest had only clothes and spices in it, and there was nothing particularly troubling about his college enrollment.
1983 : (AL MARRI FIRST COMES TO US) He first came to the United States in 1983 - "Mystery man in 9/11 terror case-Who is Ali Al-Marri? FBI links him to hijackers," by RICHARD T. PIENCIAK, New York Daily News 1/12/03
1987 : (AL-MARRI ENROLLS IN COLLEGE IN US) Al-Marri enrolled at Bradley in the summer of 1987, majoring in management and administration. - "Mystery man in 9/11 terror case-Who is Ali Al-Marri? FBI links him to hijackers," by RICHARD T. PIENCIAK, New York Daily News 1/12/03
DECEMBER 21, 1991 : (AL-MARRI GETS COLLEGE DEGREE) Al-Marri receives a bachelor of science degree Dec. 21, 1991, majoring in management and administration, according to a spokeswoman at the college. Shortly after graduation, Al-Marri returned to his homeland. - "Mystery man in 9/11 terror case-Who is Ali Al-Marri? FBI links him to hijackers," by RICHARD T. PIENCIAK, New York Daily News 1/12/03
2000 summer : (AL-MARRI CREATES FRONT COMPANY) Ali Saleh Kahlah Al-Marri was in the US in the summer of 2000. During that time, the government would later contend, Al-Marri created a phony company — AAA Carpets — out of room 209 in the Time Out Motel in Macomb, Ill., under the name Abdullakareem A. Almuslam. By using the false name and the stolen Social Security number of a woman, authorities would later charge, Al-Marri opened accounts at three banks in Macomb for his fictitious business. He also is accused of using stolen credit card numbers found on his laptop to process fraudulent transactions through the AAA business. - "Mystery man in 9/11 terror case-Who is Ali Al-Marri? FBI links him to hijackers," by RICHARD T. PIENCIAK, New York Daily News 1/12/03
MAY 25-26, 2000, and AUGUST 21, 2000 : (AL-MARRI) The FBI also says it now knows how Al-Marri came to the US and left in 2000. Lufthansa Airlines records show that an Ali S. Al-Marri traveled from Dahman, Saudi Arabia, to Frankfurt and on to O'Hare on May 25-26, 2000, and flew from Frankfurt to Dahman on Aug. 21, 2000. It is not known how Al-Marri got from the United States to Germany. - "Mystery man in 9/11 terror case-Who is Ali Al-Marri? FBI links him to hijackers," by RICHARD T. PIENCIAK, New York Daily News 1/12/03
AUGUST 18, 2000 : (AL-MARRI FLIGHTS) While Ali Saleh Kahlah Al-Marri (*My note : aka Abdullakareem Almuslam?) was scheming in Illinois with his AAA Carpet firm, an Ali Al-Marri took an American Airlines flight from Peoria to Chicago's O'Hare and then on to LaGuardia Airport on Aug. 18, 2000. Al-Marri flew from New York to Chicago the next day and did not connect with a reserved flight to Peoria, the records show. - "Mystery man in 9/11 terror case-Who is Ali Al-Marri? FBI links him to hijackers," by RICHARD T. PIENCIAK, New York Daily News 1/12/03
SEPTEMBER 10, 2001 : (AL MARRI ENTERS THE US) Ali Saleh Kahlah Al-Marri — a 37-year-old from Qatar returned to the United States on Sept. 10, 2001, less than 24 hours before the World Trade Center attacks. Al-Marri, who arrived here on a student visa to study for a graduate degree in computer information systems at Bradley, would represent a new terrorist profile. Unlike the 19 loners who attacked Sept. 11, Al-Marri arrived in the U.S. with a wife from Saudi Arabia and five children, ranging in age from 9 months to 9 years.Al-Marri carries a passport from Qatar, an American ally in the Middle East that will serve as an operations center to run any war against Iraq. He is believed to have two elderly parents in Qatar. It is unclear how he afforded the journey to America and his education. - "Mystery man in 9/11 terror case-Who is Ali Al-Marri? FBI links him to hijackers," by RICHARD T. PIENCIAK, New York Daily News 1/12/03
SEPTEMBER 2001 : (AL-MARRI AND THE STEAMER CHEST) Like so many other Middle Eastern men living in the United States at the time, Al-Marri became a so-called person of interest to the FBI within a week of the Sept. 11 attacks. The FBI office in Peoria had received a lead from its Indianapolis office regarding a steamer chest that Al-Marri had shipped to the United States. The Peoria office also had gotten a call from a salesman at US Cellular who expressed concerns regarding Al-Marri's cell phone account. FBI agents Nicholas Zambeck and Robert Brown began a preliminary investigation and discovered that the Social Security number used by Al-Marri also was being used by two others, someone in California and someone in Illinois. They also found a discrepancy in the date of birth on his enrollment form at Bradley. Al-Marri had first said he was born Feb. 3, 1965, and on a later form listed his date of birth as Sept. 24, 1965. - "Mystery man in 9/11 terror case-Who is Ali Al-Marri? FBI links him to hijackers," by RICHARD T. PIENCIAK, New York Daily News 1/12/03
OCTOBER 2, 2001, 4PM : (AL-MARRI INVESTIGATION : FBI VISITS) About 4 p.m. on Oct. 2, 2001, the agents visited Al-Marri at his two-bedroom apartment in West Peoria. When the agents knocked on the back door, a small boy peeked through the window, then answered the door. Moments later, Al-Marri appeared dressed in a traditional kaftan. Once inside, the agents noticed the steamer chest. Al-Marri confirmed that he had shipped it from overseas. The agents looked inside and found the clothing and spices. When asked, Al-Marri said he was unaware of any problems with his Social Security number. He also said that in Qatar, when he was born, official records listed only a year of birth, not a month and specific day. After Al-Marri produced his Qatar passport for review, Zambeck gave the man his business card and the agents departed. - "Mystery man in 9/11 terror case-Who is Ali Al-Marri? FBI links him to hijackers," by RICHARD T. PIENCIAK, New York Daily News 1/12/03
OCTOBER 2, 2001 : (AL MARRI QUESTIONED BY FBI) FBI agents first questioned Ali Saleh Kahlah Al-Marri at his West Peoria, Ill., home Oct. 2, 2001. They asked him about a steamer chest he had shipped to the United States from his homeland and about his enrollment in a master's degree program at Bradley University in Peoria. The chest had only clothes and spices in it, and there was nothing particularly troubling about his college enrollment. But over the next year, agents weaved a circumstantial web of evidence around Al-Marri. According to court papers reviewed by the Daily News, his laptop computer contained: An Arabic prayer asking God to protect Osama Bin Laden. Audio files of lectures by Bin Laden and his associates advocating martyrdom and support for the Taliban. Other lectures urging opposition to Jewish and Christian control of Palestine, Lebanon and Saudi Arabia, while advising how to train in Bin Laden's Afghanistan camps. A note in Arabic proclaiming: "Neither the U.S. nor anyone living in it will dream of security/safety before we live it in Palestine and before the infidel armies leave the land of Mohammed." (* My note : reminds me of the sniper suspect, Malvo's notes) Photos of the attacks on the World Trade Center and Arab prisoners held in Kabul. Extensive evidence of credit card fraud. Links to Web sites on hazardous chemicals and how to buy them, weapons and satellite equipment. - "Mystery man in 9/11 terror case-Who is Ali Al-Marri? FBI links him to hijackers," by RICHARD T. PIENCIAK, New York Daily News 1/12/03 - "Mystery man in 9/11 terror case-Who is Ali Al-Marri? FBI links him to hijackers," by RICHARD T. PIENCIAK, New York Daily News 1/12/03
DECEMBER 11, 2001 : (AL-MARRI INVESTIGATION : FBI VISITS AGAIN) The FBI continued to look into the background of Ali Al-Marri, and on Dec. 11, 2001, agents paid him another visit. The agents said they still had questions about his date of birth and enrollment at Bradley. Al-Marri's wife was not wearing her veil and, according to custom, could not be seen uncovered by male strangers. The agents waited while Al-Marri took his wife into the master bedroom. Zambeck explained that it would be best if Al-Marri came to the FBI office for the reinterview. The agent suggested that Al-Marri bring along his college and immigration documents. And while they were at it, Zambeck wondered, could he and Brown take a look around the apartment? Al-Marri agreed to the requests, according to testimony the agents gave at a suppression hearing in September (2002). In a bedroom, the agents found about a dozen VHS tapes. Al-Marri told them they were for the children. Brown asked whether he could take two of the cassettes back to the office, and Al-Marri agreed. Before the agents could look in the master bedroom, Al-Marri had to move his wife again, this time into the bathroom. Once inside the master bedroom, the agents noticed a large monitor hooked up to a laptop computer. Zambeck asked whether they could bring the computer to the office to look at it, and Al-Marri agreed to that request as well. Al-Marri slipped the laptop in a carrying case. The three men next went outside for a search of Al-Marri's green minivan. Inside, the agents found a hand-held global positioning system and his Qatar passport. Before they could leave for the FBI office, Al-Marri told the agents, he needed to go back inside and change into Western garb. He said he also needed to pray. Al-Marri said he planned to break the Ramadan fast that evening at dinner with his family. He wanted to make sure he would be back in time. "It shouldn't take long at all," Zambeck replied, according to court documents. Once inside the FBI office, Al-Marri was asked about his travels within the United States, phone calls he had made overseas and his travels abroad. He told the agents he had not been in the United States during the period between his 1991 departure after graduating college and his return Sept. 10, 2001. According to a joint statement issued by the FBI and federal prosecutors in Manhattan and Springfield, Ill., during that interview Al-Marri specifically "falsely denied knowing Al-Hawsawi and denied ever calling the United Arab Emirates telephone number." Before ending the conversation that evening, Zambeck made clear that he was not satisfied with Al-Marri's answers. Zambeck wasn't saying, but by that point the agency had obtained Al-Marri's cell phone records and the Lufthansa airplane manifests from 2000. Zambeck warned Al-Marri that lying to a federal agent could lead to a lengthy prison term and keep him from his family for a very long time. With the interview finally over, Al-Marri and Brown waited for Zambeck in a public hallway on the seventh floor. "Do I get my computer back tonight?" Al-Marri asked. "No, not tonight," replied Brown. Zambeck and Brown drove Al-Marri home after 10 p.m., presumably well past the dinner hour for his children. Before saying good night, the agents asked him to return the next day for a polygraph test. Al-Marri agreed.The FBI posted a surveillance team overnight outside the residence, in clear view. - "Mystery man in 9/11 terror case-Who is Ali Al-Marri? FBI links him to hijackers," by RICHARD T. PIENCIAK, New York Daily News 1/12/03
DECEMBER 12, 2001 : (AL-MARRI INVESTIGATION) When Zambeck returned (in the morning) Al-Marri mentioned a desire to consult a lawyer and with someone at his country's embassy. When they got back to the Peoria FBI office and Al-Marri met with the polygraph expert, he refused to take the exam. As the agents waited for instructions from terrorism task force prosecutors in New York, Al-Marri was kept waiting in an office through the early afternoon. Shortly after 3 p.m., Zambeck and Brown told Al-Marri that one of their colleagues had found two folded pieces of paper in his laptop carrying case. The agents said that about three dozen credit card numbers were written on both sheets, along with the owners' names, expiration dates of the cards and the brand names — Visa or MasterCard. Al-Marri looked at the sheets and told the agents the handwriting was not his and that he knew nothing about the papers, according to court documents. "Al-Marri then asked if he could go home," wrote Jonathan Etra, an assistant U.S. attorney in Manhattan. "Al-Marri also stated that as soon as he left the interview, he immediately was going to leave the United States with his family." Back in Manhattan, Etra gave his approval to arrest the Qatari man as a material witness in the government's Sept. 11 investigation. Al-Marri would be held in the Peoria County Jail for several weeks, then flown to New York and placed in the Special Housing Unit at the Metropolitan Correctional Center, a five-minute walk from where the World Trade Center towers once stood. - "Mystery man in 9/11 terror case-Who is Ali Al-Marri? FBI links him to hijackers," by RICHARD T. PIENCIAK, New York Daily News 1/12/03
DECEMBER 14, 2001 : (AL-MARRI INVESTIGATION : SEARCH WARRANT ISSUED) On Dec. 14, 2001, two days after Al-Marri's arrest, Zambeck and other FBI agents executed a search warrant at the suspect's apartment. They found more potentially incriminating evidence. Inside an almanac, they found business cards to mark pages depicting major U.S. dams, reservoirs, waterways and railroads. The agents also seized a copy of an Arabic prayer that calls for the defeat of the "villainous" Christians and Jews and seeks victory for Muslims in Palestine, Afghanistan, Kashmir and Chechnya. FBI computer expert Connie Lawler analyzed everything on Al-Marri's 80-gigabyte hard drive. In addition to the anti-American, pro-Taliban rhetoric, she found files containing more than 1,750 credit card numbers. None of the numbers belonged to Al-Marri. She also collected the bookmarked Web sites and found sites related to computer hacking, fake driver's licenses and credit card fraud, according to a federal complaint filed in U.S. District Court in Manhattan. Lawler also discovered a series of programs that hackers can use to gather information and intelligence about someone else's computer. In addition, she found proxy software that can be used to hide a user's origin and identity when connected to the Internet. - "Mystery man in 9/11 terror case-Who is Ali Al-Marri? FBI links him to hijackers," by RICHARD T. PIENCIAK, New York Daily News 1/12/03
DECEMBER 23, 2001 : (AL-MARRI CHARGED, LINKED TO ATTA & AL-HAWASAWI ) On Dec. 23, Ali Saleh Kahlah Al-Marri was charged with making false statements to the FBI by denying that he had called a telephone number in the United Arab Emirates that has been linked to Mohamed Atta, ringleader of the Sept. 11 hijackers, and Mustafa Ahmed Al-Hawsawi, a fugitive suspected of financing the hijackers. Al-Marri also is charged with lying to federal agents when he said he had not been in the United States from 1991 to 2001, when in fact he was here in the summer of 2000. During that time, the government contends, Al-Marri created a phony company — AAA Carpets — out of room 209 in the Time Out Motel in Macomb, Ill., under the name Abdullakareem A. Almuslam. By using the false name and the stolen Social Security number of a woman, authorities charge, Al-Marri opened accounts at three banks in Macomb for his fictitious business. He also is accused of using stolen credit card numbers found on his laptop to process fraudulent transactions through the AAA business. In court papers, federal prosecutors Michael McGovern and Jonathan Kolodner say it also has been established that while Abdullakareem Almuslam was scheming in Illinois with his AAA Carpet firm, an Ali Al-Marri took an American Airlines flight from Peoria to Chicago's O'Hare and then on to LaGuardia Airport on Aug. 18, 2000. Al-Marri flew from New York to Chicago the next day and did not connect with a reserved flight to Peoria, the records show. - "Mystery man in 9/11 terror case-Who is Ali Al-Marri? FBI links him to hijackers," by RICHARD T. PIENCIAK, New York Daily News 1/12/03
JANUARY 28, 2002 : (AL-MARRI INVESTIGATION : ARREST) After more than a month of such data analysis, (checking the contents of Al-Marri's computer) , federal prosecutors in NY were ready to make their next move against Al-Marri. On Jan. 28, he was arrested and named in a one-count complaint charging him with unauthorized possession of "more than 15" access devices — the credit-card numbers — with the intent to defraud. - "Mystery man in 9/11 terror case-Who is Ali Al-Marri? FBI links him to hijackers," by RICHARD T. PIENCIAK, New York Daily News 1/12/03
FEBRUARY 6, 2002 : (AL-MARRI INVESTIGATION : INDICTMENT) Al-Marri was indicted on the credit card fraud charge Feb. 6. - "Mystery man in 9/11 terror case-Who is Ali Al-Marri? FBI links him to hijackers," by RICHARD T. PIENCIAK, New York Daily News 1/12/03
FEBRUARY 15, 2002 : (AL-MARRI INVESTIGATION : 1st SEALED DOCUMENT FILED) Nine days (after Al-Marri's indictment), the federal government filed a sealed document in Al-Marri's case. - "Mystery man in 9/11 terror case-Who is Ali Al-Marri? FBI links him to hijackers," by RICHARD T. PIENCIAK, New York Daily News 1/12/03
MAY 30, 2002 : (AL-MARRI INVESTIGATION : 2nd SEALED DOCUMENT FILED) A second sealed document is filed by the government on Al-Marri. The documents remain sealed. - "Mystery man in 9/11 terror case-Who is Ali Al-Marri? FBI links him to hijackers," by RICHARD T. PIENCIAK, New York Daily News 1/12/03
DECEMBER 23, 2002 : (AL-MARRI ARRESSTED A THIRD TIME) As the scheduled trial date for the credit card fraud case approached — it had been set to begin tomorrow (January 13, 2002) — prosecutors had a decision to make. They had to turn over their evidence to the defense within 14 days of the start of trial. Instead, Al-Marri was arrested a third time on Dec. 23 on charges relating to the attempted calls to the 9/11-related number in the UAE and the phony AAA carpet company he ran in Illinois in 2000. The latest charges could bring Al-Marri closer to the Sept. 11 conspiracy, but his attorney, Richard Jasper, does not agree. "The government, in its understandable concern to investigate this crime that was committed on 9/11, has made some mistakes — and they've made big mistakes," Jasper said during a court proceeding (in 2002). "I think they are going to make a mistake here with Mr. Al-Marri."- "Mystery man in 9/11 terror case-Who is Ali Al-Marri? FBI links him to hijackers," by RICHARD T. PIENCIAK, New York Daily News 1/12/03
JANUARY 12, 2003 : (AL-MARRI TRIAL DELAYED, SAUDIS PAY WIFE'S BILLS) In the 16 months since the Sept. 11 attacks, thousands of Middle Eastern men have been questioned and detained by the FBI. Many Americans have wondered what became of these people. How many were actually terrorists? How many were actually rabid followers of Osama Bin Laden's jihad against America? One of them, Ali Saleh Kahlah Al-Marri — a 37-year-old from Qatar returned to the United States on Sept. 10, 2001, less than 24 hours before the World Trade Center attacks— has become the target of a massive terrorism investigation. As a result of the new complaint (of phone calls and problems with his front company), the credit card fraud trial has been postponed. A conference has been scheduled for 4 p.m. tomorrow to decide what happens next. Meanwhile, Al-Marri's wife and children are living in Washington, their bills being paid by the government of Saudi Arabia. - "Mystery man in 9/11 terror case-Who is Ali Al-Marri? FBI links him to hijackers," by RICHARD T. PIENCIAK, New York Daily News 1/12/03
JANUARY 13, 2003 : (AL-MARRI CREDIT CARD FRAUD TRIAL DATE) Scheduled trial date for the credit card fraud case - "Mystery man in 9/11 terror case-Who is Ali Al-Marri? FBI links him to hijackers," by RICHARD T. PIENCIAK, New York Daily News 1/12/03
(snip)
It also says Al-Marri, using calling cards, attempted to call the same number three times after Sept. 11 - on Sept. 23, Oct. 24 and Nov. 4.
According to court documents, Sept. 11 hijacker Mohammed Atta sent a Federal Express package from the United States to the UAE on Sept. 4 and gave the phone number as a contact point for the recipient.
According to the affidavit, the number was also used a day earlier by an unidentified individual for a transfer of money to Ramzi Bin Al-Shibh, an unindicted co-conspirator in the federal indictment against Zacarias Moussaoui, the so-called 20th hijacker now in custody in Virginia.
The first of the "attempted calls" on cards traced to Al-Marri was made on a pay phone in a Peoria store through a calling card issued by Network IP.
The same card was used five days later in a call from Al-Marri's cellphone and again on Oct. 24 in a call from the Al-Marri home in West Peoria, 130 miles southwest of Chicago.
The second call to the UAE number was made from a pay phone in a Springfield service station, using the same card.
The third call was made from the Summit Hotel in Chicago, using a card issued by Qwest Communications. The same day, the card was used to place four calls from the Al-Marri home in West Peoria.
(/snip)
this part is new; unless I missed it when his place was searched the first time. I wonder if he is associated with the other fellow who came up in the news this week, the Ohio truckdriver who was scouting bridges and railways, and who had helped 6 al Qaeda terrorists with their tickets to Yemen?
Update since al Marri made the news today after being so quiet so long...
FEBRUARY 2003 : (SAUDI ARABIAN GOVERNMENT ISSUES PASSPORTS TO AL-MARRI’S WIFE AND CHILDREN AGAINST US STATE DEPT REQUEST-— ILLINOISCELL) In February, authorities said, the Saudi Arabian government ignored a State Department request and issued passports to Al-Marri’s wife and five children. They have since left the United States. Authorities said - “Terror suspect named as ‘enemy combatant,’ By Jerry Seper, The Washington Times, Published June 24, 2003
2003 early : (AL MARRI FAMILY LEAVES THE U.S.A.-— ILLINOISCELL)</b> They left the country about a year later after living near the Saudi embassy in Washington, D.C. .-—— “ Ex-Peorian Remains Jailed As An Enemy Combatant,” by ANDY KRAVETZ, PJStar.com, 9/8/06
MARCH 1, 2003 : (KSM IS CAPTURED IN THE HOME OF BACTERIOLOGIST ABDUL QADOOS KHAN- KSM SPILLS THE BEANS ABOUT AL MARRI BEING A SLEEPER AGENT - See ILLINOISCELL, ANTHRAX) I located that Newsweek article, dated June 16, 2003. In it are admissions made by Khalid Shaikh Mohammed (KSM), al-Qaida’s director of global operations, after his capture on March 1, 2003. KSM reportedly has revealed al-Qaida recruiting techniques. “Using ‘mosques, prisons and universities throughout the United States,’ according to [intelligence] documents, KSM reached deep into the heartland, lining up agents in Baltimore, Columbus, Ohio, and Peoria, Ill,” said Newsweek. “The Feds have uncovered at least one KSM-run cell that could have done grave damage to the United States.” The cell’s location was not named.
About al-Marri, Newsweek reported:
“During his interrogation, KSM identified a man named Ali S. Al-Marri as ‘the point of contact for AQ operatives arriving in the US for September 11 follow-on operations.’ KSM described Al-Marri as ‘the perfect sleeper agent because he has studied in the United States, had no criminal record, and had a family with whom he could travel.’... The Qatari national had returned to the United States on Sept. 10, 2001, to pick up a graduate degree in computer information systems from Peoria’s Bradley University.... Al-Marri’s apartment was filled with Islamic jihadist materials. His computer included bookmarked Web sites for hazardous chemicals, computer hacking and fake IDs, according to court documents. Bookmarks in an almanac marked entries for dams, reservoirs and railroads.” ———— The IL General Assembly: terrorist aides
Illinois Leader ^ | December 31, 2003 | JILL STANEK
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Khalid Mohammed was allegedly arrested in the home of an elderly bacteriologist, Abdul Qadoos Khan. KSM’s laptop with undated anthrax spraydrying production instructions was allegedly found in the home. There is no indication, however, that Dr. Khan had the relevant skills to weaponize the product used in the second batch of mailings in the US. The family stridently denies even that KSM was arrested in the home.——— “No Attacks Since 9/11? Al Qaeda was way ahead of what the U.S. understood its expertise and potential to be.,” By Cliff Kincaid, AIM, May 6, 2005
MAY 2003 : (AL-MARRI NAMED IN GRAND JURY INDICTMENT ACCUSING HIM OF LYING & CREDIT CARD FRAUD) Initially held as a material witness in the September 11 probe, Al-Marri was named in May in a grand jury indictment handed up in Peoria, Ill., accusing him of making false statements to the FBI and of credit-card fraud. —————— Terror suspect named as ‘enemy combatant’,”By Jerry Seper, The Washington Times, Published June 24, 2003
JUNE 24, 2003 : (REPORT : AL MARRI WAS INVOLVED IN “SECOND WAVE” PLOT - See KSM, ILLINOIS CELL) June 24— The Qatari man designated an enemy combatant by the Bush administration was planning another Sept. 11 attack, sources told ABCNEWS. Ali Saleh Kahlah Al-Marri, 37, was deemed an enemy combatant by the Bush administration on Monday after officials said he was positively identified by an al Qaeda detainee as being part of a planned second wave of terror attacks on the United States. Government officials said they believed al Qaeda’s top leadership sent Al-Marri to the United States to coordinate a new round of attacks.
“Al-Marri was sent to the United States as a facilitator for other al Qaeda individuals who would come in to conduct follow-on attacks,” Attorney General John Ashcroft told ABCNEWS.
Sources told ABCNEWS that recently captured senior al Qaeda operative Khalid Shaikh Mohammed confirmed Al-Marri’s mission to U.S. officials. Mohammed has provided a great deal of information about al Qaeda’s presence in the United States, officials said.
Government officials told ABCNEWS that Al-Marri — a Qatari native who had been living in Peoria, Ill. — repeatedly tried to contact an al Qaeda leader suspected of helping finance the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on New York and Washington. Officials said that when FBI agents searched Al-Marri’s Peoria home, they found dozens of credit card numbers on his laptop, information on toxic chemicals, and an almanac with a variety of potential attack targets, including dams and railroads.
Al-Marri had been in custody in the civilian court system since December 2001, first as a material witness and later on charges of lying to the FBI and credit card fraud. ....
As a designated enemy combatant, Al-Marri is in the custody of the Defense Department, has no right to legal representation afforded defendants in civilian court and could be held by the military indefinitely, possibly to face trial by military tribunal.
Sources told ABCNEWS that government officials transferred Al-Marri to military custody for two reasons: They want to try to force him to talk, and in civilian court defense attorneys for Al-Marri would be able to call senior al Qaeda officials as witnesses. Government officials do not want al Qaeda leaders to testify about classified information in open court. -—————Planning Another 9/11 - Sources: ‘Enemy Combatant’ Was Plotting New Round of U.S. Attacks
ABC News ^ | June 24, 2003
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they found dozens of credit card numbers on his laptop, information on toxic chemicals, and an almanac with a variety of potential attack targets, including dams and railroads.
I think whatever they found on this guy has something to do with the Texas alert.
1 posted on 06/24/2003 5:47:48 PM PDT by freeperfromnj
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I think it’s more of a tip from Khalid now that he’s talking than anything else. Al-Marri was sent over here right before 9/11 and has been in custody ever since December 2001. He also supposedly knows how to whip up cyanide gas, which is a Very Bad Thing if he gets in contact with other US cell members. So while that would put him out of the loop as far any post-December 2001 plots go, it’s still reason enough to take him off the streets for awhile.———2 posted on 06/24/2003 5:53:09 PM PDT by Angelus Errare | To 1
JUNE 2003 : (USA : TERROR CELL CIRCUIT) Peoria and Champaign are part of a seven-city “circuit” that moves and disperses terrorists to specific sites across the nation, says Peoria County Sheriff Mike McCoy...
After the FBI seminar, Sheriff McCoy introduced himself to the speaker/agent who then told McCoy about a “circuit” that runs from the West to East coasts. The terrorists enter the United States in San Francisco and Los Angeles, then move to Phoenix, then Denver. From there, some head to Peoria and Champaign. Some terrorists remain in those communities, while others head on to New York City....
McCoy says al-Qaida ops in central Illinois have been performing work similar to al-Marri: raising money and working computers. That information dovetails with a June report in Newsweek magazine, which cited FBI sources in pegging the Midwest (specifically Peoria) as the brains of terrorist activity in America. McCoy says, “I’m not saying Peoria is condemned to die by terrorists. But we need to be vigilant.” —————Peoria part of terrorist ‘circuit’, Peoria Journal Star ^ | 12/28/03 | Phil Luciano
JUNE 2003 : (AL MARRI IS NAMED AN ENEMY COMBATANT — See ILLINOIS CELL) President Bush named al-Marri an enemy combatant, one of just three nationwide, a designation that pulled him out of the civilian court system, put him under military control and stripped him of most Constitutional rights.
AUGUST 2006 : (JUDGE DENIES ALI SALEH KAHLEH AL MARRI’S HABEAS CORPUS PETITION) Last month [August 2006], he [Ali Saleh Kahleh al Marri] lost his battle when a federal judge in Charleston, S.C., denied his habeas corpus petition, the legal way a prisoner can challenge his incarceration. His attorneys have already filed motions to appeal that decision to the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals. ...While the government has yet to prove in a court, civil or military, why it thinks al-Marri is a terrorist, authorities point to an 18-page declassified statement that claims al-Marri had information regarding poisons, toxins and computer hacking that “far exceeds the interests of a merely curious individual.” [* Don’t forget there is evidence he swore the bayat to bin Laden and expressed a desire to become a martyr?]-—— “ Ex-Peorian Remains Jailed As An Enemy Combatant,” by ANDY KRAVETZ, PJStar.com, 9/8/06
SEPTEMBER 8, 2006 : (WOT : AL MARRI IS THE ONLY NAMED ENEMY COMBATANT STILL IN CUSTODY-— BRIDGEVIEW CELL) Al-Marri today is the only named enemy combatant so designated by President Bush who remains in custody. For the past three years, he has been held in solitary confinement at a Naval brig in South Carolina. Repeated legal attempts challenging his detention and his living conditions have failed. It does not appear likely the Qatari national will be released anytime soon. ...Among the allegations are:
- that he was to hack into the main computers of U.S. banks to wipe out balances and otherwise wreak havoc with banking records in order to damage the U.S. economy.
- that he met Osama bin Laden, the mastermind behind the attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon, at a terrorist training camp and pledged his loyalty to him.
- that al-Marri was running a credit card scam to help fund al-Qaida. He has also has been linked to Mohammed Atta, one of the men who hijacked a plane used in the attacks, and Mustafa Ahmed al-Hawsawi, whom federal officials have dubbed the hijackers’ money man. -—— “ Ex-Peorian Remains Jailed As An Enemy Combatant,” by ANDY KRAVETZ, PJStar.com, 9/8/06
Put this guy’s timeline into te nuclear trafficking timeline and the Global Relief terror-charity timeline and the Padilla-Shukrijumah timelines and things start fitting together in very disturbing ways.
Thanks piasa for this ping.
It’s interesting.
“Enemy combatant” will be early test for Obama (Ali al-Marri, accused al Qaeda “sleeper” agent)
Reuters on Yahoo ^ | 1/07/09 | Harriet McLeod
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/2160693/posts?page=1
Posted on Wednesday, January 07, 2009 10:20:49 PM by NormsRevenge
Note: The following text is a quote:
http://www.whitehouse.gov/the_press_office/ReviewoftheDetentionofAliSalehKahlah/
MEMORANDUM FOR THE ATTORNEY GENERAL
THE SECRETARY OF DEFENSE
THE SECRETARY OF STATE
THE SECRETARY OF HOMELAND SECURITY
THE DIRECTOR OF NATIONAL INTELLIGENCE
SUBJECT: Review of the Detention of Ali Saleh Kahlah al-Marri
I have today signed an Executive Order entitled Review and Disposition of Individuals Detained at the Guantánamo Bay Naval Base and Closure of Detention Facilities (”Review and Disposition Order”), which mandates a review, coordinated by the Attorney General, of the status of all individuals that the Department of Defense is currently detaining at the Guantánamo Bay Naval Base, in order to effect their prompt and appropriate disposition.
For more than 5 years, the Department of Defense has detained Ali Saleh Kahlah al-Marri as an enemy combatant in facilities within the United States. Al-Marri is the only individual the Department of Defense is currently holding as an enemy combatant within the United States.
Because he is not held at Guantánamo Bay, al-Marri is not covered by the review mandated in the Review and Disposition Order. Yet it is equally in the interests of the United States that the executive branch undertake a prompt and thorough review of the factual and legal basis for al-Marri’s continued detention, and identify and thoroughly evaluate alternative dispositions.
Accordingly, I direct that a review of al-Marri’s status (”Review”) commence immediately. The Review shall be conducted with the full cooperation and participation of:
(1) the Attorney General, who shall coordinate the Review;
(2) the Secretary of Defense;
(3) the Secretary of State;
(4) the Secretary of Homeland Security;
(5) the Director of National Intelligence;
(6) the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff; and
(7) other officers or full-time or permanent part-time employees of the United States, including employees with intelligence, counterterrorism, military, and legal expertise, as determined by the Attorney General with the concurrence of the head of the department or agency concerned.
The Review shall expeditiously determine the disposition options with respect to al-Marri and shall pursue such disposition as is appropriate, based upon the principles set forth in the Review and Disposition Order, including, in particular, sections 4(c) and 5 thereof.
This memorandum is not intended to, and does not, create any right or benefit, substantive or procedural, enforceable at law or equity by a party against the United States, its departments, agencies, instrumentalities or entities, its officers or employees, or any other person.
BARACK OBAMA
Note: From the summary index, the date of that memo is:
January 22, 2009
“Review of the Detention of Ali Saleh Kahlah al-Marri”
He has a brother named Jarallah al Marri who is also a terrorist... was held at Gitmo after being caught but probably has been quietly released again.
His mission was to hack into the banking system and attack the US economy
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