Posted on 09/19/2002 10:09:23 AM PDT by ganesha
E-mail hinted at new attack
U.S. prosecutors lay out evidence at bail hearing for six suspects
By DAN HERBECK and MICHAEL BEEBE News Staff Reporters 9/19/2002
Federal prosecutors believe a Lackawanna man was writing about an impending terrorist attack on Americans when he sent an e-mail titled "The Big Meal" to a local friend two months ago.
"The next meal will be very huge," Mukhtar al-Bakri wrote in the July 18 computer message. "No one will be able to withstand it, except those with faith."
Prosecutor William J. Hochul Jr. said investigators believe the e-mail "related to a large explosion and planned attack" that "al-Qaida members" were planning against Americans. He did not say whether authorities ever found out when or where the purported attack was going to take place.
The e-mail was discussed Wednesday at a federal court bail hearing in the case against al-Bakri and five other Lackawanna men who are charged with violating the Anti-Terrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act of 1996. Specifically, they are accused of attending al-Qaida terrorist training camps in Afghanistan.
U.S. Magistrate Judge H. Kenneth Schroeder Jr. will continue hearing testimony this afternoon on whether the suspects should be released on bail.
Though the e-mail message was the closest Hochul came to mentioning any specific threat of terrorism by the suspects, the prosecutor told Schroeder that the six men are so dangerous that they must be kept in jail until trial, for the public's safety.
Defense lawyers filed a legal brief with the judge, asking him to dismiss the entire case on constitutional grounds.
"From what I heard today, the case sounds very thin," said Rodney O. Personius, who represents one of the suspects, Yasein A. Taher. "From our reading of the statute, even if these men did go to an al-Qaida camp, and even if they did hear a speech by (Osama) bin Laden, that doesn't mean they provided material support to a terrorist organization."
"The case sounds thin to me," said William Clauss, a federal public defender who represents Yahya A. Goba.
Hochul, the chief prosecutor for a local terrorism task force, spent more than two hours Wednesday citing the e-mail and other evidence as reasons for keeping the men behind bars until their case goes to trial.
The hearing was held in a heavily secured courtroom packed with law enforcement officials, supporters of the suspects from the Yemeni community and reporters from more than 40 media organizations.
"Practically the entire world has its eyes on these proceedings," Schroeder said.
Hochul also alleged that some of the suspects seem to have secret sources of funding. Hochul said one defendant - Shafal A. Mosed, who claims to be too poor to pay for a lawyer - recently blew $89,000 at Casino Niagara. Another $6,400 cash, Hochul said, was found in a coat pocket during a weekend search of Mosed's home.
The prosecutor added that Taher, who also claims to have little money, exchanged $15,700 in U.S. currency for Canadian in October at the same Niagara Falls, Ont., casino.
Hochul said the criminal justice system needs to take pre-emptive action in such cases to prevent a repeat of the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.
The government lawyer said investigators believe the Lackawanna men were to return to the United States after their al-Qaida training and "be available as the need may arise for those who were training them."
"Al-Qaida, from time to time, employs sleeper cells to commit terrorist acts in the United States," Hochul said. "We submit that the evidence in this case shows these defendants continue to support al-Qaida."
The men are alleged to have listened to an anti-American speech by bin Laden at the Afghanistan camp.
Charged with providing material support to a terrorist organization are Taher, 24; Goba, 25; al-Bakri, 22; Mosed, 24; Sahim Alwan, 29; and Faysal H. Galab, 26. All are members of Lackawanna's tight-knit Yemeni community, and all vehemently deny that they support terrorism.
Defense lawyers today will try to convince Schroeder to release all six men on bail. They said Yemenites in Lackawanna are willing to put up houses, businesses and other property worth hundreds of thousands of dollars to help the six suspects get released on bail.
"Not only do we think they should be released on bail, we feel these charges are unconstitutional and should be dropped althogether," said Joseph M. LaTona, attorney for Galab.
Schroeder said he faces the difficult task of balancing the rights of the six suspects to be treated fairly against concerns about national security.
"Everybody has to admit this is a highly unusual case filled with emotion, filled with fear, filled with anxiety," he said. "We are dealing with serious constitutional issues. . . . I'm attempting to balance the rights of the people of the community to be safe and the rights of the defendants."
Schroeder said he will be inclined to release the men on bail if the evidence does not convince him that the men present a clear danger to the community and would probably flee Western New York if let out of jail.
The judge asked numerous pointed questions of Hochul as the prosecutor outlined the case against the defendants.
Most of Hochul's presentation closely followed the criminal complaints that were filed against the suspects Saturday and Monday, and much of that evidence came from confessions made by Alwan and al-Bakri.
But several new allegations emerged during the bail hearing:
• Al-Bakri's July 18 e-mail, which FBI agents claim closely mimics remarks that have been made by al-Qaida's leader, bin Laden. Hochul also said agents found an audiotape called "A Call to Jihad" at al-Bakri's home.
The prosecutor said the tape expresses hatred for Americans and Israelis, and a person on the tape is heard saying, "Blessed is he who picks up his gun and his bullets, for he is holy." A handgun and a rifle with a scope were also found in al-Bakri's Lackawanna home.
• Agents believe several of the men witnessed "demonstrations of explosives" and watched a videotape of the USS Cole terrorist bombing while they were on their trip to the Mideast.
• Before bin Laden allegedly spoke to them in Afghanistan last year, bin Laden's aides reportedly introduced him as "The Most Wanted One." Hochul noted that bin Laden is on the FBI's Ten Most Wanted Fugitives list. He said bin Laden was surrounded by 10 bodyguards as he spoke.
• Al-Bakri was quoted as telling agents he "considered himself a member of al-Qaida" while he was at the camp, but not after his return to Lackawanna.
The defendants, wearing khaki prison clothes, listened attentively during the lengthy proceeding. At several points during Hochul's presentation, Alwan scowled and shook his head, as if to strongly disagree.
After the proceeding, several Yemenites scoffed at the evidence, telling The Buffalo News they believe more strongly than ever that the six Lackawanna men are innocent.
"You can hear it for yourself. They got no evidence. They got nothing," said one young man, who claimed to be a brother of one of the suspects but declined to identify himself.
John J. Molloy, al-Bakri's attorney, said his client denies any connection to terrorism. He said he spoke at length to al-Bakri in jail Tuesday.
"When I read an article to him about some of the things he was being accused of, he made me read it back to him twice," Molloy said. "Then he started crying. He said: "I love this country. I wouldn't do that.' "
Defense lawyers filed a motion asking the judge to dismiss the charges and free the men immediately.
Citing past court cases, including that of John Walker Lindh, the American Taliban, the lawyers say the government must show that their clients provided material support to al-Qaida.
"Mere attendance at a camp," the lawyers argued, "is not enough."
The dismissal motion also says the government brought the case in the wrong venue, because the crimes alleged did not occur in Western New York. James P. Harrington represents Alwan, and Patrick Brown represents Mosed.
dherbeck@buffnews.com and mbeebe@buffnews.com
Wouldn't they be an Islamist..., No, that's taken. Darn, we're running out of -ists to label mean white guys.
Well, the FBI was tipped off by someone in the perps' own backyard, and they indicate the tipsters were Muslims (according to National Review). So I guess not ALL Yemenis think they're innocent....
Taher, who also claims to have little money, exchanged $15,700 in U.S. currency for Canadian
Well these fellows are getting cash from somewhere, thats for sure. World travel, seminarsby wanted terrorists, fun at camp. All this and still some change left over to gamble, and walking around money in the coat.
This may be the reason one of his neighbors supposedly ratted him out; spending money meant for bombs in a casino is forbidden. Unless, of course, it was being spent for bombs under cover of gambling? I'm sure the FBI is keeping an eye on the casino (when they can drag themselves away from the Washington Post....).
It sure sounds like money washing to me.
At least the feds can send the IRS after him now.
This doesn't sound like an attack on a crowded building (i.e., conventional explosives)to me. This sounds more like WMD
It sure does. Also, didn't this cell have something to do with the elevated threat status?
That's the problems with Americans - they just look at Arabs with lots of cash and weapons who visit terrorist training camps and Wham! They automatically assume the Arabs are up to no good. /sarcasm
poisoned Pork?
The prosecutor added that Taher, who also claims to have little money, exchanged $15,700 in U.S. currency for Canadian in October at the same Niagara Falls, Ont., casino.
Holy crap! Follow the money.......
There was talk of an investigation going on in Canada that coincided with the arrests of these men. I don't know how credible the report is considering where it comes from, but here is what ABC News was reporting on their website a couple of days ago:
Law enforcement officials say they are not sure exactly what "watermelon" referred to, but they think it may have been a code word for some kind of terrorist activity. The arrests of the six men on Friday, Saturday and Sunday came as agents investigated reports of a possible "dirty bomb" being moved across the border from Canada, sources said.
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