Free Republic

ALBANY - The prosecutor who sent two local Muslim men ensnared in an FBI terror sting to prison is on the short list for a federal judgeship. Many in the Capital District's growing Muslim community are outraged. Members of Albany's Muslim Solidarity Committee say they will do everything in their power to ensure Glenn Suddaby doesn't receive the nomination. The activists formed their group after the arrest and conviction of Mohammad Hossain, an Albany pizza shop owner, and Yassin Aref, an Albany imam. Despite grass roots opposition, Suddaby has at least one pretty big name supporter - U.S. Sen. Charles...

Former Iraqi President Abdel-Rahman Aref, overthrown more than 35 years ago in a coup that brought Saddam Hussein's Baath party to power, died in Amman early Friday at the age of 91, an Iraqi diplomat in Jordan said. Aref died at the King Hussein Medical Center in the Jordanian capital at dawn, Iraqi charge d'affaires in Amman, Tahseen Alwan Ina, told The Associated Press. Iraq Jordan Saddam Hussein Baath Party Aref's family, most of whom live in Jordan, had called to inform him of the death, Ina said. The diplomat had no details on Aref's health or circumstances of his...

Munir Akram was the target of the fictional plot The former imam of a mosque in the US state of New York has been jailed for 15 years after being caught in a sting operation involving a fake plot.Yassin Aref was convicted in October along with Mohammed Hossain, who is still awaiting sentence. The two men had agreed to take part in the plot, which appeared to target Pakistan's ambassador to the UN. They were convicted among other things of supporting terrorism, lying to FBI agents and money laundering. In a speech before the sentencing, Aref claimed he was...

ALBANY - A mosque leader charged with helping launder money in a missile plot thought all the weapon talk was a joke, his lawyer said yesterday - but prosecutors were not laughing. Imam Yassin Muhiddin Aref was jailed without bail after prosecutors questioned why his name was found in a notebook in a terrorist camp listed as "Commander Yassin, United States." They also unveiled a photo of the imam's co-defendant watching as an informant shouldered a real surface-to-air missile in the back room of an Albany-area convenience store. That was among the evidence cited by prosecutors in Albany Federal Court...

ALBANY -- Jurors heard three opening statements this morning in the federal trial of two Albany men facing terrorism-related charges. Yassin M. Aref, 36, the jailed spiritual leader of a Central Avenue mosque, and Mohammed M. Hossain, 51, a city pizza shop owner, are accused of taking part in a plot to sell missile launchers to terrorists during an FBI sting that began in July 2003. The men face up to 400 years in prison if convicted. Assistant U.S. Attorney William Pericak for the government; Kent Sprotbery for Aref; and Kevin Luibrand for Hossain made brief opening statements in U.S....

ALBANY -- The spiritual leader of an Albany mosque repeatedly called a phone number in Syria that an FBI report indicates had been used to gather terrorist intelligence for Osama bin Laden, according to classified documents unsealed late Tuesday in U.S. District Court. The FBI report, which was based on information from a confidential informant, was among several once-secret documents that federal authorities say raise questions about Yassin Aref's connections to terrorist organizations across the Middle East. Aref, 35, a Kurdish refugee who moved to Albany with his family in 1999, is in jail without bond while awaiting trial on...

'Dr Germ' and 'Mrs Anthrax' released from Iraqi jail 19/12/2005 - 12:48:51 Notorious Saddam-Hussein-era officials have been released from jail in Iraq and some have already left the country, an Iraqi lawyer said today. A legal official in Baghdad said between 24 and 25 top former officials in Saddam Hussein’s government have been freed, including Rihab Taha, known as Dr Germ, and Huda Salih Ammash, known as as Mrs Anthrax. The Iraqi lawyer, Badee Izzat Aref, said some of those released were his clients. “The release was an American-Iraqi decision and in line with an Iraqi government ruling made in...

ALBANY, N.Y. - Two Muslim men caught up in an anti-terrorism sting operation pleaded innocent Friday as details emerged about 10 new charges against them. Yassin Aref and Mohammed Hossain were accused Thursday of attempting to provide support to Jaish-e-Mohammed, a Pakistan-based group listed by the federal government as a terrorist organization. Aref, who leads a mosque, also was charged with lying to federal officials. The pair were initially charged in August 2004 with conspiring to launder money and promoting terrorism. They now face a total of 30 charges. Entered as new evidence against Aref were entries in his personal...

ALBANY -- A federal grand jury charged two members of an Albany mosque Thursday with new terrorism-related counts, including allegations that the mosque's spiritual leader has ties to key figures in overseas terrorist organizations.The superseding indictment delves deeply into the background of Iraqi-born Yassin M. Aref, 35, a Kurdish refugee who is the imam at a Central Avenue mosque that has been in the cross hairs of the FBI since the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. The FBI now claims that entries in Aref's personal journals, which were seized 13 months ago during a series of raids across Albany, link...

Muslims Angry Over FBI Terrorism Sting in Albany ALBANY, N.Y. (Reuters) - Angry and saddened, members of a Muslim community in New York state's capital have been staying away from their mosque for fear of being labeled terrorists as they await a bail hearing on Tuesday for two men accused of supporting terrorism. The hearing is the second proceeding against the pair associated with an Albany mosque and arrested in an FBI sting operation. It was granted by U.S. Magistrate David Homer after a possible translation error turned up in key evidence against them. Yassin Aref, 34, and Mohammed Hossain,...

By MICHAEL VIRTANEN, Associated Press Writer ALBANY, N.Y. - A key piece of evidence against a jailed mosque leader accused of supporting terrorism has come into question, with federal prosecutors acknowledging that a note found in a terrorist camp may have been mistranslated. Yassin Muhiddin Aref is charged with aiding a government informant in a sting operation involving a fake plot to buy a shoulder-fired missile to assassinate a Pakistani diplomat. Seems 'commander' should have been 'brother'. But the AP thinks the whole case is 'bogus'. Typical.

The snitch who helped nab two Albany mosque leaders this week on terror-related charges is a Pakistani businessman who has been working with the feds for nearly three years, The Post has learned.A source close to the government informant identified him as a 48-year-old man who came to the United States 10 years ago. The source, who spoke to the informant this week, said "he seems relieved and jubilant that he doesn't have to do this anymore," because the federal investigation that led to the arrests on Thursday had taken a toll on him.'snip'As a resident alien in danger of...

WASHINGTON - Documents found by American troops at a terrorist camp in Iraq last year contained the name of a New York mosque imam now facing federal charges of plotting to obtain a shoulder-fired grenade launcher, law enforcement officials said Friday. An entry in an address book found by the soldiers at an Ansar al-Islam camp last summer in northern Iraq referred to Yassin Aref as "the commander" and included his address and telephone number in Albany, N.Y., the officials said. Although Aref had come to the FBI's attention before the address book's discovery, two law enforcement officials speaking on...

ALBANY, N.Y. — Federal agents and Albany police raided a Muslim mosque overnight Wednesday and arrested two men for helping someone they thought was a terrorist, a law enforcement official confirmed to FOX News on Thursday. A block of downtown Albany (search) was sealed off with armed officers for several hours after the FBI, Immigration and Customs Enforcement and other agents executed search warrants at the Masjid As-Salam mosque (search) and two Albany-area residences, officials said. Yassin Muhhiddin Aref, 34, the Imam of the mosque, and Mohammed Mosharref Hoosain, the 49-year-old founder of the mosque, were arrested early Thursday morning....

West Hollywood, California-AP -- Two men have been arrested for investigation of a hate crime in California that involved a group of men who allegedly attacked two other men while chanting "Kill the Jews." The Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department says Daoud Mavid (dah-OOD' mah-VEED') and Mohammed Aref are also accused of assault with deadly weapons -- their feet and fists. The men were released after posting 55-thousand dollars' bail each. Authorities say the attack took place at one a-m outside a Sunset Boulevard nightclub in West Hollywood. The Sheriff's Department says Fareed Kanani and Michael Kashany were hit and...