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Posted on Sat, Jun. 15, 2002 |   |
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S. Florida associate of Padilla is arrested
Held on immigration charges; has ties to Muslim extremists dkidwell@herald.com
A Sunrise man with ties to extremist Islamic groups has been arrested on immigration charges after federal agents discovered his friendship with alleged dirty-bomber Jose Padilla. Adham Amin Hassoun, 40, an outspoken and active member of South Florida's Muslim community, was arrested at his home late Wednesday by members of the Joint Terrorism Task Force. He was charged with overstaying his visa, one federal source said. Authorities are hoping the arrest of Hassoun might provide clues about how Padilla, who was raised in Chicago by Puerto Rican parents, was transformed into Abdullah al Muhajir, a radical Muslim. ''We have suspicions; that's it,'' the source said. ``We are working hard right now trying to run this all out. We have reason to believe this man has extremist views. They were friends and they attended the same Fort Lauderdale mosque.'' Hassoun's sister said Friday that his family has no idea why he was arrested, and that his wife has not been allowed to visit him. ''No one has told us anything,'' said the sister, who asked that her name be withheld. ``Isn't this America where you're innocent until proven guilty? Now it seems that you're guilty until proven innocent.'' She said her brother has lived in the United States for 13 years and has been a good member of society. She said she doesn't pray with her brother, and she doesn't know his friends and associates. ''If this is an INS problem then I want an apology because my brother has his papers for working and my mother is an American citizen and applied for his citizenship a long time ago,'' she said. ``I want somebody to tell me exactly what is going on.'' She has not been questioned by the FBI or INS, she said. It remains unclear exactly when Hassoun's affiliation with Padilla began, but both men attended the Masjid Al-Iman mosque in Fort Lauderdale through much of the 1990s and both were close with its former leader, Raed Awad. All three men have been the subject of intense federal scrutiny for months. Padilla, 31, accused of plotting to set off a radioactive bomb on behalf of al Qaeda, lived in Broward County from 1991 to 1998, converted to Islam and left his wife for Egypt in 1998. Federal authorities suspect the bulk of his life as an extremist was abroad. Awad was the Florida representative of Holy Land Foundation for Relief and Development, a Muslim charity whose assets were frozen by the Bush administration in December on grounds it raised money for the Hamas terrorist group. Awad and charity officials have denied the allegations and sued for the return of the assets. Awad could not be reached for comment Friday at his Alabama home. Hassoun, a computer programmer and father of three young children, helped begin another Muslim charity called Benevolence International Fund, also the subject of federal scrutiny. In 1993, Hassoun opened the charity's first office, then located on University Drive in Plantation. The group -- now based in the Chicago suburb of Palos Hills -- has been accused by federal authorities of helping fund terrorism. In November, federal authorities began investigating the charity's alleged links to al Qaeda. In March, its offices in Bosnia were raided. In April, its leader, Enaam Arnaout, was arrested on charges he lied about the organization's support for terrorist groups. Federal prosecutors have even presented old photographs of Arnaout with Osama bin Laden and holding automatic weapons. Lawyers for the charity deny the accusations. In a November interview with The Herald, Hassoun acknowledged he helped start the charity in Plantation, but denied any knowledge of terrorist activity. He said he broke all contact with the group when it left South Florida for Chicago several months after it opened. ''They were looking to open here and some guy recommended me and I helped them out,'' Hassoun told The Herald. ``But then it didn't work out.'' Hassoun also acknowledged that he briefly served as North American distributor for the Call of Islam magazine published by the Islamic Youth Movement, which advocates jihad and trains youngsters in guerrilla warfare. The magazine has featured exclusive interviews with Osama bin Laden. Hassoun told The Herald he had no active role in the organization and that the FBI had interviewed him several times after agents spotted his name on the Islamic Youth Movement website. ''They know I'm clean,'' he said. 'I called these people [the Islamic Youth Movement] and told them, `Take my name off there,' '' Hassoun said. Federal sources said that as a matter of ''strategy'' they chose not to arrest Hassoun in November. Hassoun has not been bashful about expressing his views, according to members of the local Muslim community. ''He always says what he thinks and probably put his foot in his mouth one too many times,'' said Mohammad Javed, co-founder of the School of Islamic Studies. Javed managed a Taco Bell where Padilla worked in the early 1990s. Hassoun is well-known in the local Muslim community. He is well-educated and outspoken. He has a minivan, lives in plain view with his family in Sunrise, has a listed address and phone number. 'I know usually if I go to another `masjid' or a program or a lecture, usually he is there,'' said Rafiq Mahdi, the current spiritual leader of the Masjid Al-Iman mosque. ``He's pretty vocal sometimes . . . My reading on him is, someone well-read, concerned about political events, and also prone to talk about them whenever he gets a forum.'' Mahdi said he wouldn't peg Hassoun as a terrorist. ''He's too up-front,'' the cleric said. ``To me, it would be too obvious. . . . I'm afraid he is just going to bring more publicity to the masjid [mosque].'' Mahdi replaced Raed Awad as the mosque's leader. In 1996, Hassoun was a featured speaker at a Barry University symposium ''The Holy Land: Peace or Jihad?'' in which he was listed in the program as director of the East Coast chapter of the American Islamic Group, Hamas. At the symposium, Hassoun denounced Israel's attempts for peace. After another speaker's call for peace, Hassoun responded, ``Muslims do not compromise.'' |
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