FBI Searching for Sleeper Cells

WASHINGTON (AP) - FBI ( news - web sites) agents are searching for Americans and others they suspect of advising al-Qaida cells operating underground on U.S. soil and preparing for another terror attack, law enforcement officials say.

Al-Qaida manuals recovered in Afghanistan ( news - web sites) suggest that terror operations have a "senior adviser or wise man" who does not take part attacks, said a law enforcement official who is familiar with the investigation.

Some intelligence officials estimate there may be as many as 5,000 people in the United States with some sort of connection to al-Qaida. That number, larger than other estimates, includes all those in the "realm of suspicion" and those who may know of terrorist activities but not participate, one official said.

The number of hardcore al-Qaida members in the United States who might actually do harm to Americans is in the low hundreds or even less, officials believe.

While law enforcement looks broadly for terrorists, some FBI agents are working closely with Treasury agents to conduct a more specialized search for U.S. residents who might be working in an advisory capacity.

As part of the effort, federal investigators are conducting extensive checks into the backgrounds of longtime citizens who fall under suspicion, looking for operatives who may not have anything unusual in their immediate histories.

The agents are "looking for people who have an affinity toward or sympathy for those carrying out terrorist attacks and provide any kind of support," one law enforcement official said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

The search for terrorist operatives has frustrated members of the Muslim American community, who are pleased with the Justice Department ( news - web sites)'s prosecution of backlash hate crimes but feel their own rights are being violated.

The FBI's counterterrorism team played a major role in the search of 14 homes and businesses in Virginia and Georgia in March.

No one was arrested. None of the law enforcement agencies involved would provide further information, saying affidavits filed in support of the search warrants are under seal in federal court.

Days after the raids, Laura Jaghlit, a high school English teacher from Fairfax Station, Va., described the raid on her home as "the most un-American thing I have ever seen."

"No one ever had to give us any explanation of why we were chosen for a search or what they were looking for," Jaghlit said. "We're just supposed to forget about it."

Officials searched through photos of her children, threw the contents of drawers on the bed and took her family's computer, credit cards, passports and bank account information, Jaghlit said.

Ibrahim Hooper, a spokesman for the Council on American-Islamic Relations, said, "We understand and have been told that the FBI is looking for terrorist operatives of all ages and races, but what we're seeing is that people who are well-known and respected citizens are being treated like suspects."

"There are all of these vague references to threats without any evidence. It puts everybody on edge and makes the Muslim community suspect."

Law enforcement officials believe that limiting the search to those suspected of actively planning an attack might allow some who give terrorists support to remain hidden.

The possibility of terror advisers who don't fit the demographics of any of the Sept. 11 hijackers — young, Muslim men, who came to the United States in recent years — has led the FBI agents to seek out contacts in all parts of the Muslim community.

That includes older men and people of different demographics that might have gotten in contact with al-Qaida later in life, one law enforcement official said.

Newsmax had a place for them to start in a Februrary 2002 article that contained.....

"The "American Jihad" author said he wasn't sure how much money the Clintons had raised from suspected terrorist front groups, but noted, "When you bring money to a political official, you have access to that person, you have influence over that person."

He praised the investigative efforts of the Jewish Forward, which uncovered one particularly suspicious Washington, D.C., fundraiser that Mrs. Clinton's 2000 Senate campaign had tried to conceal from the press.

The May 2000 event, held at the mansion of Yasser Arafat crony Hani Masri, raised $50,000, including a $1,000 donation from Abdurahman Alamoudi, an official with the American Muslim Council. (The Clinton campaign camouflaged his identity by listing Alamoudi's employer on FEC records as "The American Museum Council.")

Alamoudi's contribution proved particularly embarrassing after reporters uncovered quotes where he vowed death to Israel and boasted, "We are the ones who went to the White House and defended what is called Hamas."

The Muslim militant also attended a June 2000 Hillary Clinton fundraiser sponsored by the American Muslim Alliance in Boston where Clinton collected a total of $50,000. (Her campaign pledged to return the donation after it was uncovered four months later.)

As noted by NewsMax.com's Lawrence Auster at the time, Mr. Emerson had written extensively about Alamoudi's ties to the Clinton administration in a 1996 Wall Street Journal op-ed piece:

"Alamoudi, then the executive director of the American Muslim Council, had repeated high-level contacts with the Clinton White House in late 1995 and early 1996, which happened to be the period immediately preceding the suicide bombings in Israel in early 1996.

"On November 9, 1995 he met with President Clinton and Vice President Gore at a meeting with 23 Muslim leaders at the White House."

Only a cab ride from Headquarters.

"No one ever had to give us any explanation of why we were chosen for a search or what they were looking for," Jaghlit said. "We're just supposed to forget about it." Officials searched through photos of her children, threw the contents of drawers on the bed and took her family's computer, credit cards, passports and bank account information, Jaghlit said.

Must have been BATF agents on loan. They have a great penchant for emptying drawers, although usually in the middle of the room, and of not showing (or even having in their possession) the search warrents. I'm all for going after terrorist suspects, but we do have a set of rules for such things, which are to be found in a little docuemnt called the Bill of Rights. These rules are supposed to act as a check on capricious government action, and there is no exception to them for any "state of emergency" or "terrorism". Get the warrant, show the warrant to the scumbags, then if any evidence is found toss 'em into the cooler, or if they are not US Citizens or are in the country illegally, onto a ship pulled out of the reserve fleet and send them eastward across the Atlantic. Lots of ships in the ready reserve fleets, although they wouldn't exactly provide luxery accommidations, actually something more akin to stearage, but that would still be more than the slime deserve. Do it

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