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ALEXANDRIA, Va. - A prominent U.S.-based Islamic scholar who exhorted his followers after the Sept. 11 attacks to join the Taliban and fight U.S. troops was sentenced Wednesday to life in prison. Ali al-Timimi of Fairfax was convicted in April of soliciting others to levy war against the United States, inducing others to aid the Taliban, and inducing others to use firearms in violation of federal law. The cleric addressed the court for 10 minutes before his sentencing. “I will not admit guilt nor seek the court’s mercy. I do this simply because I am innocent,” al-Timimi said. Prosecutors said...

The US government was accused today of subsidizing and training Albanian paramilitaries in Macedonia, in a secret European report leaked to Dutch National Radio. The furor over a clandestine connection- frequently alleged, but never proven- further worsens transatlantic relations that have already been strained by an ongoing trade war. The Dutch report comes at a particularly sensitive time for President Bush, who is currently seeking to solidify international support for a wider war on terror. The US Embassy in Skopje was not aware of the charges by late Friday evening, and could not yet make an official statement.Because specific...

<p>FBI agents have arrested eight men in Maryland, Virginia and Pennsylvania in a suspected scheme by Islamic extremists to engage in "holy jihad" to drive India out of the disputed Kashmir territory in South Asia.</p> <p>The men, along with three others, were named in a 41-count federal grand jury indictment handed up in U.S. District Court in Alexandria accusing them of conspiracy to "prepare for and engage in violent jihad" against foreign targets in Kashmir, the Philippines and Chechnya. Nine of the 11 were identified as U.S. citizens.</p>

We who follow the Islamist movement fell off our collective chair on Nov. 15 when the news came that the United Arab Emirates' ministerial cabinet had listed the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) as one of 83 proscribed terrorist organizations, up there with the Taliban, Al-Qaeda, and ISIS. This came as a surprise because the UAE authorities themselves have a record of promoting Islamism; because CAIR has a history of raising funds in the UAE; and because the UAE embassy in Washington had previously praised CAIR. On reflection, however, the listing makes sense for, in recent years, the Islamist movement...

An Al Qaeda leader, the head of a designated terror organization and a confessed jihadist-in-training are among a "Who's Who" of controversial figures who have participated in weekly prayer sessions on Capitol Hill since the 2001 terror attacks, an investigation by FoxNews.com reveals. The Congressional Muslim Staff Association (CMSA) has held weekly Friday Jummah prayers for more than a decade, and guest preachers are often invited to lead the service. The group held prayers informally for about eight years before gaining official status in 2006 under the sponsorship of Rep. Keith Ellison, D-Minn., one of two Muslims currently serving in...

Welcome to the world of blogging, CAIR! Of course, pretty soon every one and every organization will have a blog. CAIR, the Council on American-Islamic Relations has a blog. CAIR fashions itself as a mainstream civil right organization, but at best, the organization serves as apologists for Islamic extremists. The blog, CAIR Patriot Act, which does not allow comments, can be found here. CAIR, as is obvious, is opposed to the Patriot Act. But CAIR's connections to extremism are not tenuous. Ghassan Elashi, founder of CAIR-Texas, was convicted on money-laundering charges involving the terrorist group Hamas. Randall "Ismail" Royer, who...

How many people do you know personally who have been convicted of supporting terrorism? How many people associated with your company have been convicted of supporting terrorism? How many people associated with organizations in which you are a member or a leader have been convicted of supporting terrorism? If you're like most Americans, the answer to all three questions is probably none. If you're like me and most other Arab-Americans, the answer is still probably none. What would you say about an organization linked to at least three people convicted of supporting terrorism? Would it begin to raise more than...

U.S. case against Muslim scholar is religious attack: defense 04/18/2005 By MATTHEW BARAKAT / Associated Press The government's prosecution of a prominent Islamic scholar accused of recruiting for the Taliban in the aftermath of the Sept. 11 attacks is an assault on religious freedom, a defense lawyer said Monday during the trial's closing arguments. "The government wants you to think Islam is your enemy," said Edward MacMahon, who represents Ali al-Timimi, 41, of Fairfax. "They want you to dislike him so much because of what he said that you'll ignore the lack of evidence." Prosecutors, on the other hand, said...

SAUDI 'SOLDIER' BY STEPHEN SCHWARTZ IN Alexandria, Va., on Tuesday, a 23-year-old Northern Virginia man of Saudi Arabian background named Ahmed Omar Abu Ali was charged with conspiring to assassinate President Bush. Abu Ali and his accomplices are accused of plotting to kill the president by gunfire or a car bomb. The indictment also spells out such criminal activities as assisting and receiving support from Osama bin Laden's band of murderers. Abu Ali was extradited to Virginia after many months in a Saudi jail. What's most remarkable about this case is the degree to which this would-be assassin is a...

On Tuesday the federal authorities struck another serious blow against the toleration of Islamist terrorist activities on American soil, by arresting five former leaders of the so-called Holy Land Foundation for Relief and Development, which, as I have previously argued, would be better called the Holy War Foundation.   HLF is, after all, a front for the Palestinian suicide terror gang Hamas, which is mainly funded by Saudi Arabia. < -snip- > HLF long functioned as the nerve center of the “Wahhabi lobby” in the U.S., headquartered in Texas, with branch offices in Paterson, N.J., Bridgeview, Ill., and San Diego.  Established...

Earlier this month, five Palestinian brothers were convicted in federal court of conspiring to use their Texas-based computer company to make illegal shipments of high-tech goods to Libya and Syria, two nations the State Department considers sponsors of terrorism. One of the brothers, Ghassan Elashi, the company's vice president of international marketing, was convicted of three counts of conspiracy, one count of money laundering and two counts of making false statements about the shipments. Mr. Elashi, along with two of his brothers, also faces a separate federal trial on charges relating to business dealings with Mousa Abu Marzook, the deputy...

RANDALL TODD ROYER AND IBRAHIM AHMED AL-HAMDI SENTENCED FOR PARTICIPATION IN VIRGINIA JIHAD NETWORK WASHINGTON, D.C. - Attorney General John Ashcroft, Assistant Attorney General Christopher A. Wray of the Criminal Division, and U.S. Attorney Paul J. McNulty of the Eastern District of Virginia announced that Randall Todd Royer and Ibrahim Ahmed Al-Hamdi were sentenced today by U.S. District Court Judge Leonie Brinkema for their convictions on charges stemming from their participation in a network of militant jihadists centered in Northern Virginia. Royer, 31, pled guilty in January 2004 to a two-count criminal information charging him with aiding and abetting...

Alexandria, Va. – Two American Muslims were sentenced Friday to 20 and 15 years in prison, respectively, for their roles in support of a Virginia-based conspiracy to engage in holy war against nations deemed hostile to Islam, including the United States. The two men, Randall Todd Royer, 31, and Ibrahim al-Hamdi, 26, were among nine men who either pleaded guilty or were convicted of charges related to their participation in what prosecutors called a "Virginia jihad network." Two others who faced charges were acquitted on all counts. The group used paintball games played in the woods near Fredericksburg in 2000...

ALEXANDRIA, Va. (AP)--Two American Muslims accused of training for holy war against the United States by waging paintball battles in the Virginia woods were sentenced Friday to 15 years or more in prison. Randall Todd Royer, 31, and Ibrahim al-Hamdi, 26, were among nine men who either pleaded guilty or were convicted of charges related to their participation in what prosecutors called a ``Virginia jihad network.'' Two others were acquitted on all counts. The group used paintball games in 2000 and 2001 as military training in preparation for holy war against nations deemed hostile to Islam, prosecutors say. After the...

On 3 July, 2003, ABC News announced that the government has presented information leading to the federal indictment of eleven men who had trained in the woods of Fairfax County, Virginia with “AK-47” style assault weapons. According to the government, the men had also participated in warlike paintball games to practice military tactics in Spotsylvania County and had practiced shooting at various shooting ranges. Of the eleven indicted, one name stands out: Mr. Randall Todd Royer, who has served as a communications specialist and as a civil rights coordinator for the Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR). The government alleges...

In Defense of the Constitution Anti-CAIR Press Release 003/04 January 25, 2004 - CAIR?s Mr. Randall Royer Pleads Guilty - The Islamic Development Bank & CAIR - Answers to Frequently Asked Questions CAIR?s Mr. Randall Royer Pleads Guilty On January 16th, 2004, Mr. Randall Royer pleaded guilty to charges of using and discharging a firearm during, and in relation to, a crime of violence; and with carrying an explosive during commission of a felony. Mr. Royer faces a mandatory minimum sentence of 20 years in prison. (Mr. Royer also uses the first name of ?Ismail?) At the time Mr. Royer...

On January 16, two more Defendants pleaded guilty in the Alexandria, Virginia Federal “paintball” terror case that began this summer with the arrest and indictment of eleven men from varied backgrounds who came together in the Virginia countryside to engage in what they initially claimed was innocent game playing.  These latest guilty pleas, bringing the total to six in the case, are clear victories for the Government. The Defendants were Randall Royer and Ibrahim Al-Hamdi and both entered guilty pleas to Federal firearms violations related to the case, with Royer also pleading to an explosives violation.  These Defendants will be...

A key member of an alleged Virginia jihad network pleaded guilty to federal weapons and explosives charges today, denying that he intended to harm Americans but acknowledging that he and his co-defendants had sought to fight on behalf of Muslim causes abroad. Randall Todd Royer, 30, of Falls Church, entered his surprise plea in U.S. District Court in Alexandria. He faces at least 20 years in prison when he is sentenced April 9. Another of the 11 men originally charged in the case, Ibrahim Ahmed al-Hamdi, 26, of Alexandria, pleaded guilty to similar charges and faces at least 15 years...

"A key member of an alleged Virginia jihad network pleaded guilty to federal weapons and explosives charges [Friday], denying that he intended to harm Americans but acknowledging that he and his co-defendants had sought to fight on behalf of Muslim causes abroad," the Washington Post reports: Randall Todd Royer, 30, of Falls Church, entered his surprise plea in U.S. District Court in Alexandria. He faces at least 20 years in prison when he is sentenced April 9. Another of the 11 men originally charged in the case, Ibrahim Ahmed al-Hamdi, 26, of Alexandria, pleaded guilty to similar charges and faces...

WASHINGTON -- Two members of a Virginia-based Islamic terrorism network pleaded guilty to weapons and explosives charges Friday and promised to help the government, Attorney General John Ashcroft said. Randall Royer and Ibrahim al-Hamdi, who entered their pleas in suburban Alexandria, Virginia., had ties to the Lashkar-e-Taiba group seeking to drive India out of Kashmir. A federal indictment said the Northern Virginia group also had broader goals of helping the al-Qaida network; Afghanistan's former ruling militia, the Taliban; and rebels in Chechnya. Both Royer, 30, and al-Hamdi, 26, pleaded guilty to using and discharging a firearm during, and in relation...