SEATTLE PI.com (AP): "FOUR CHARGED IN SENDING MILLIONS TO IRAQ" (ARTICLE SNIPPETS: "The four men are accused of using the charity to solicit contributions from people in the United States, depositing money in central New York banks and laundering much of it through the Jordan Islamic Bank in Amman. Charged were oncologist Dr. Rafil Dhafir, 55, of Fayetteville, N.Y., a U.S. citizen born in Iraq; Maher Zagha, 34, a Jordanian who attended college locally; Ayman Jarwan, 33, of Syracuse, a Jordanian citizen born in Saudi Arabia who worked as the executive director of Help the Needy; Osameh Al Wahaidy, 41, of Fayetteville, a Jordanian citizen employed as a spiritual leader at the Auburn Correctional Facility and a math instructor at the State University of New York at Oswego." ... "The separate indictment involves Sami Omar Al-Hussayen, a citizen of Saudi Arabia who is a graduate student at the University of Idaho. He was arrested Wednesday in Moscow, Idaho, and charged with supporting the Michigan-based Islamic Assembly of North America. Al-Hussayen allegedly supplied money from overseas sources and computer expertise. He is charged with failing to disclose his relationship with the group, which, if revealed, would have resulted in the government rejecting his visa application, prosecutors said. Web sites operated by the Islamic Assembly praise suicide bombings and tout the use of airplanes as terror weapons, the government said.") (February 26, 2003)
US DOJ.gov Press Release: "INDICTMENTS ALLEGE ILLEGAL FINANCIAL TRANSFER TO IRAQ; VISA FRAUD INVOLVING ASSISTANCE TO GROUPS THAT ADVOCATE VIOLENCE" (ARTICLE SNIPPET: "Al-Hussayen was arrested this morning in Moscow, Idaho. According to the 11-count indictment, Al-Hussayen received and renewed student visas to pursue computer studies at the University of Idaho, certifying in the applications that his requested U.S. entry and presence was solely for the purpose of pursuing graduate studies. The indictment alleges that from October 1998 through the present, Al-Hussayen routed thousands of dollars he received from overseas sources to the Michigan-based Islamic Assembly of North America )IANA), and provided computer expertise and website services to IANA. The indictment alleges some of these websites promoted terrorism through suicide bombings and using airplanes as weapons. In one example, the website www.alasr.ws, registered by Al-Hussayen posted an article which read in part: The second part is the rule that the Mujahid (warrior) must kill himself if he knows that this will lead to killing a great number of the enemies, and that he will not be able to kill them without killing himself first, or demolishing a center vital to the enemy or its military force, and so on. This is not possible except by involving the human element in the operation. In this new era, this can be accomplished with the modern means of bombing or bringing down an airplane on an important location that will cause the enemy great losses.") (February 26, 2003)
SEATTLE PI.com - SEATTLE POST INTELLIGENCER: "ANTI-TERROR FORCES ARREST IDAHO STUDENT" by Paul Shukousky (ARTICLE SNIPPETS: "The investigation of Al-Hussayen began around Sept. 11, said Burrus. It began not as a criminal investigation, but an intelligence inquiry. Its objective was nothing less than to remove the veil of secrecy on al-Qaida's complex financial network. And, sources say, that the FBI used many of the means of electronic surveillance at its disposal including wiretaps and intercepts of e-mails." ... "The investigation is far from over. "We are not at the end of the trail, we are at the beginning of the trail," Burrus said to a packed news conference yesterday in Moscow's 100-year-old City Council chambers. "You can't imagine the flow charts" depicting the flow of so-called charitable funds, he said. In the center box of a flow chart is Al-Hussayen, the nexus of millions of dollars flowing from Saudi Arabia to the United States and from Al-Hussayen to individuals and Islamic organizations in the United States as well as Egypt, Canada, Jordan and Pakistan, according to sources, court documents and public statements made yesterday.") (February 27, 2003)
stepping back in time...SEATTLE PI.com - SEATTLE POST INTELLIGENCER: "INQUIRY TARGETS CHARITIES IN THE PALOUSE WSU and U of Idaho Groups Investigated" (August 2, 2002)
On The Net...THE ARGONAUT - University of Idaho News Site
SEATTLE TIMES.COM: "JUDGE WANTS FEDS TO REWARD RESSAM AS PROMISED" by Mike Carter (ARTICLE SNIPPET: "Would-be millennium bomber Ahmed Ressam should be rewarded for providing "startlingly helpful information" in the government's war on terrorism, a federal judge here said yesterday.") (February 27, 2003)
SEATTLE TIMES.com: "INSURERS RATE SEATTLE A TOP TERROR TARGET" (February 26, 2003)
OREGON LIVE.com: "TERRORISM SUSPECTS' ATTORNEYS SEEK ACCESS" (February 26, 2003)
***MEMRI.org - MIDDLE EAST MEDIA RESEARCH INSTITUTE Special Alert No. 703: "ISLAMIST WEBSITE: AN IMMINENT TERRORIST ATTACK (POSSIBLY BY AL-QA'IDA) WITHIN "ABOUT TEN DAYS" (APPARENTLY IN THE U.S.)" (ALERT SNIPPET: "On February 24th, an Islamist website, www.alfjr.com(1) - published a religious exhortation containing text announcing an imminent terror attack, apparently to take place in the U.S. The author signed the announcement by the moniker "The Prince of Philosophy." The message also appeared on the Islamist website www.arabforum.net (as copied from alfjr.com). On several occasions in the exhortation, the author claims that the attack is imminent ("the train of death is on its way... nothing will stop its riders") and that only an order from their commander is needed before the attack is carried out. Two pictures of bin Laden were added to the exhortation, one with an image of the World Trade Center in flames, hinting, possibly, to an Al-Qa'ida connection. The following is the main part of the exhortation:...") (NOTE: CLICK HERE TO READ THE COMPLETE ARTILCE.) (SPECIAL NOTE: "Endnote: (1)http://www.alfjr.com/showthread.php?s=53b79d480414980d0db52c9247aadcd8&threadid=135372, February 24, 2003. According to Networksolutions, www.alfjr.com is registered to AlFajr, located in Paris, France. DomainValet Support Department, located in Bellevue, Washington, is listed as the website's technical contact.") (February 26, 2003)
***9NEWS.com: NATIONWIDE FBI ALERT ISSUED FOR SEMI DRIVING THROUGH COLORADO" (ARTICLE SNIPPET: "Two men described as Middle Eastern in an 18-wheeler with a white tractor truck apparently tried to put unleaded gasoline into the truck. An attendant advised them it would not work and told them they needed to use diesel. The men fueled up with the correct gas, paid in cash and left on Highway 36, which would connect them to I-80 in northeastern Colorado. The truck has a Quebec, Canada, license plate number RS7-116. The name on the truck is Real Transport.") (NOTE: Pleaase read the rest of this article for further details.) (February 14, 2003)
***SACBEE.com - SACRAMENTO BEE (AP): "TRUCK WITH BORIC ACID STOLEN FROM RIVERSIDE" (ARTICLE NOTE: 44,000 pounds of "powdered boric acid" was stolen.) (ARTICLE SNIPPET: "Stofila said the green, 1996 Freightliner truck with California license plate 9B89830 was likely stolen between 9:30 p.m. Thursday and 6 a.m. Friday. He said it was parked in Corona at the intersection of Bonnie Circle and Pomona Road, off of Route 91, the major highway connecting Riverside and Orange counties. The flatbed trailer carrying the acid had Oregon plates HQ57530.") (February 8, 2003)
***FOX NEWS.com: "IRAQI DRONES MAY TARGET U.S. CITIES" (ARTICLE SNIPPET: "WASHINGTON -- Iraq could be planning a chemical or biological attack on American cities through the use of remote-controlled "drone" planes equipped with GPS tracking maps, according to U.S. intelligence. The information about Iraq's unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) program has caused a "real concern" among defense personnel, senior U.S. officials tell Fox News. They're worried that these vehicles have already been, or could be, transported inside the United States to be used in an attack, although there is no proof that this has happened. Secretary of State Colin Powell showed a picture of a small drone plane during his presentation to the U.N. Security Council earlier this month.") (February 24, 2003)