Free Republic

While the media is busy focusing on the troubling story of the two American soldiers detained at Guantanamo Bay for alleged espionage, both of whom had Syrian connections, another Syria story has passed them by. The names of Ahmad al Halabi, an American of Syrian descent, and Captain James Yee, a convert to Islam who spent four years in Damascus before returning to active service, are now well known. But the name of Nizar Nayouf, a Syrian journalist and human rights activist that was detained last week by French police in Paris, will most probably stay anonymous.   Nayouf?s only...

The usual suspects – plus one holier-than-thou world power – are calling on the U.S. military to repent for its treatment of Muslim chaplain James Yee (aka "Yousef" or "Yousif" Yee). Refresher: Yee's the Army captain who ministered to al-Qaida and Taliban detainees at Guantanamo Bay. Seven months ago, Yee was arrested on suspicion of espionage. He spent 76 days in solitary confinement; the case didn't materialize; he was convicted on lesser charges of adultery and downloading pornography. Last week, the Army Southern Command chief who oversees military operations at Guantanamo dismissed those convictions. What more do Yee and his...

American universities rank among the best in the world, but they also boast another, more dubious distinction: They are home to some of the world’s most radical academics. Last month, one of these select individuals, UC Berkeley professor Hatem Bazian, brought his hate-filled show to two extremist Islamic Centers in South Florida. Both of these institutions are in the process of building large-scale mosques in their respective cities. And, given that their guest had previously called for attacks on the United States, the question naturally arose: Were these institutions looking to make friends in the community or to start a holy war?Past...

One year ago, I wrote a piece exposing radical Islam within Florida Atlantic University (FAU). My goal was twofold: [1] to bring awareness concerning a growing problem within FAU [2] to push the university to take action so that this problem ceases to exist. Unfortunately, only the first part of my goal was accomplished, as FAU is continuing to allow radicals on its campus, the latest being this Saturday'S (Jan.22, 2005) return engagement of potential co-conspirator to the 1993 bombing of the World Trade Center, Siraj Wahhaj. The Enemy Thrives at FAU In recent times, a fairly large list of...

Case opens for accused Guantanamo spy January 14, 2004 BY KIM CURTIS TRAVIS AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. -- A court-martial opened Tuesday against an Arabic translator for the Air Force who is accused of spying at the Guantanamo Bay military prison camp. Senior Airman Ahmad I. Al Halabi, 24, is accused of trying to deliver more than 180 written and e-mail messages from Guantanamo detainees to Syria. The government says he stored the messages on his laptop and planned to carry them overseas. He also is accused of trying to deliver secret documents about prison camp operations and names and...

Just after the 1991 Persian Gulf War against Iraq, huge tents were erected in Saudi Arabia near the barracks of U.S. military personnel. Inside, day and night, Saudi imams sent by their government lectured the GIs about Islam and made aggressive pitches to convert them. Saudi officials had promised that the discussions would touch only on Arab culture. But within months, about 1,000 soldiers, and perhaps as many as 3,000, converted to Islam -- the largest surge of Muslims ever into the U.S. armed forces. "It was quite aggressive," said David Peterson, then the military's top chaplain in the region....

Guantanamo interviews to be revised in spy scare By David Rennie in Washington (Filed: 06/10/2003) A line-by-line review has been ordered of every interrogation at the Guantanamo Bay prison camp involving an air force interpreter suspected of espionage and treason. Intelligence officers face the nightmare prospect that Ahmad al-Halabi, a Syrian-born linguist who served at the camp in Cuba for eight months, may have edited or deliberately distorted information given by al-Qa'eda and Taliban suspects during interrogation sessions. Tapes of those interrogations - some lasting hours - are being freshly translated. "If the subject answered 'five' and [Halabi] told interrogators...

<p>September 26, 2003 -- WASHINGTON - The Air Force translator accused of espionage at the terrorist prison in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, was likely working for Islamic extremists connected to al Qaeda, The Post has learned. U.S. officials said yesterday that investigators have traced e-mail communications from senior airman Ahmad al-Halabi, a Syrian-born translator from Detroit, to a handful of "individuals" in Syria, including one man - whom they would not identify - suspected of ties to Osama bin Laden's terror network.</p>

<p>The Pentagon yesterday ordered a review of how it recruits military chaplains, particularly Muslim clerics endorsed by two groups with ties to radical Islam.</p> <p>Pentagon officials yesterday informed senators of the review as Sens. Jon Kyl, Arizona Republican, and Charles E. Schumer, New York Democrat, announced upcoming hearings on whether the radical Wahhabi sect has infiltrated the U.S. military chaplain corps.</p>

The group that vetted accused terrorist spy James "Yousef" Yee to serve as a US military chaplain isn't talking to reporters. Meanwhile, news of the arrest of a second US serviceman who dealt with al Qaeda detainees at the US naval base in Guantanamo has people asking just how deeply the terrorist enemy has penetrated the United States armed forces. Response from the Wahhabi Lobby so far is typical: a combination of (1) hiding from reporters, (2) complaining that the alleged spies were being picked on because they are Muslim, and (3) changing the subject. The American Muslim Armed Forces...

Ahmad I. al-Halabi liked to fiddle with robots in high school. He lived in one of the nation's biggest Arab-American communities, and went straight into the Air Force after graduation. He planned to marry his fiancee days after his tour as an Arabic translator ended on Guantanamo Bay. But now al-Halabi, a senior airman — once honored as "Airman of the Year" — is in custody at an Air Force base in California, facing allegations of espionage that could bring the death penalty for the 24-year-old son of Syrian immigrants. The supply clerk-turned-translator is the second member of the U.S....

Sep 24, 2003 Air Force Translator Charged With Espionage at Guantanamo Bay Prison By Matt Kelley Associated Press Writer WASHINGTON (AP) - Military officials have charged an Air Force translator at the Guantanamo Bay prison camp for terror suspects with espionage and aiding the enemy for allegedly trying to send information about detainees to Syria. The Pentagon's disclosure of the case against Senior Airman Ahmad I. al-Halabi of Detroit comes three days after officials said a Muslim chaplain at the base had been arrested. The chaplain, Army Capt. Yusef Yee, has been held without charge since his Sept. 10 arrest....

<p>WASHINGTON — An Air Force airman who worked at the U.S. prison camp for suspected terrorists at Guantanamo Bay Naval Base (search) has been charged with espionage and aiding the enemy, a military spokesman said Tuesday.</p> <p>Senior Airman Ahmad I. al-Halabi worked as an Arabic language translator at the prison camp for Al Qaeda and Taliban suspects, spokesman Maj. Michael Shavers said. The Air Force enlisted man knew the Muslim chaplain at the prison arrested earlier this month, but it's unclear if the two arrests are linked, Shavers said.</p>

Beirut (dpa) - A shop which belonged to an Islamic preacher in the southern Palestinian refugee camp of Ain Hilweh was blown up Wednesday, Lebanese police said. The explosion destroyed the shop, which sold mainly household goods, police said. The shop belonged to Sheikh Arfan Issa, of the Association for Islamic Welfare Projects, a pro-Syrian Lebanese group which recruits in Sunni working class districts of Beirut and Tripoli and in the Palestinian camps. The group are called Habashists. Their leader, Sheikh Nizar Halabi, was murdered, allegedly by the fundamentalist Osbat al Ansar, which is on a U.S. list of ``terrorist'' ...