Four Charged in Terrorist Drug Deal
— -- Four Charged in Drug-For-Weapons Deal
W A S H I N G T O N, Nov. 6 — U.S. agents arrested four people in adrugs-for-weapons investigation, charging them with plotting todeliver $25 million worth of weapons to a Colombian terroristgroup, Attorney General John Ashcroft said today.
Undercover agents secretly videotaped meetings in London, theVirgin Islands and Panama City at which the defendants allegedlydiscussed exchanging drugs for weapons that would be sent to theColombian United Self Defense Forces, known as the AUC.
The four were charged with conspiracy to distribute cocaine andconspiracy to provide material support and resources to a foreignterrorist organization, charges that could carry up to life inprison, Ashcroft said.
"The war on terrorism has been joined with the war on illegaldrug use," Ashcroft said.
He added that, because of the investigation by the FBI and DrugEnforcement Agency, "narco-terrorists from South America toSoutheast Asia are less able to threaten American lives andAmerican security."
In a separate case that Ashcroft described Wednesday, three menare fighting extradition from Hong Kong to face charges stemmingfrom an alleged scheme to use profits from illicit drug sales tofinance the purchase of Stinger missiles for the al Qaeda terrornetwork. The three men — two Pakistanis and one U.S. citizen originallyfrom India — allegedly sought to sell a half-ton of heroin and fivetons of hashish in the San Diego area and use the money to buy fourStinger missiles, authorities say.
The three suspects in custody in Hong Kong were identified asSyed Mustajab Shah and Muhammed Abid Afridi, both of Pakistan, andnaturalized U.S. citizen Ilyas Ali.
They were arrested Sept. 20 and appeared in a Hong Kong court onTuesday to fight extradition to the United States. Hong Kong, aformer British colony now under Chinese rule, has an extraditiontreaty with the United States.
The Stinger is a shoulder — fired, American-made weapon effectivein attacking low-flying aircraft.
There appeared initially to be no evidence that the men had anyconnection to the 19 hijackers involved in the Sept. 11, 2001,terror attacks. Three of the Sept. 11 hijackers lived or visitedthe San Diego area.
U.S. officials have long believed that drug sales, particularlyheroin and opium from Afghanistan's huge poppy fields, at leastindirectly helped al Qaeda and other terror groups.
During a recent visit to Asia, Ashcroft praised Hong Kong forhelping cut off terrorist financing and met with local officialsabout finding new ways to cooperate in the anti-terror war.
— The Associated Press
Ex-Mosque Leader Faces Terror-Related Gun Charge
S E A T T L E, Nov. 6 — A former mosque leader has been arrested oncharges that he illegally bought a semiautomatic handgun for aTacoma man described as having al Qaeda connections.
Abdul Raheem Al Arshad Ali, 31, formerly known as AndreAnderson, was dressed all in black during a brief appearance inU.S. District Court following his arrest Tuesday.
U.S. Magistrate Ricardo Martinez released Ali on a temporaryappearance bond pending an interview with U.S. Pretrial Servicespersonnel who may suggest conditions for detention or continuedrelease pending trial. His next hearing was set for Nov. 22.
Ali is the third man linked to the now-defunct Dar-us-SalaamMosque in the Central District to face federal charges in recentmonths.
The other two, Semi Osman of Tacoma and James Ujaama of Seattle,who is accused of being a terrorist conspirator, have been accusedof involvement in a plot to set up an al Qaeda terrorist trainingcamp near Bly, Ore.
According to a complaint filed by an agent of the Bureau ofAlcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, Ali bought a .40-caliber Smith &Wesson semiautomatic pistol at Federal Way Discount Guns in thesuburbs between Tacoma and Seattle, for Osman, 32, who is not aU.S. citizen and is barred from possessing a firearm, on Sept. 24,1999.
If Ali is convicted of lying to the gun dealer about who wasactually buying the weapon, he could face as much as five years inprison.
Police found the weapon with the serial number obliterated — also a federal offense — in a search of Osman's apartment in Tacomain May.
According to documents filed in court, Osman told an FBI agenthe asked Ali to buy him a gun and handed him about $300 as the twowere parked outside the store.
Ali went into the store, returned and gave Osman a boxcontaining the gun, the agent wrote.
At Ali's suggestion, Osman scratched out the serial number tomake it harder to trace, but scientists at the ATF laboratory inWalnut Creek, Calif., were able to raise the number, according tothe complaint.
Osman pleaded guilty in August to possessing the pistol andfaces sentencing Jan. 10.
Assistant U.S. attorney Andrew R. Hamilton, Osman's defenselawyer, Robert Leen, and Ali's temporary counsel, Thomas Hillier,would not comment on the latest Tuesday.
Osman and Ali apparently were both leaders at the now-closedmosque in Seattle.
According to a document from an unrelated King County SuperiorCourt case, Ali described himself as "Program Director (Imam)" ofDar ul Islam Masjid, believed to be a different name for theDar-us-Salaam Mosque where James Ujaama sometimes prayed.
Ujaama, 36, formerly of Seattle, has been charged with providingmaterial support to al Qaeda at the direction of Abu Hamzaal-Masri, a London cleric who was said to be planning a trainingcamp in Oregon.
Ali, a former Marine and Gulf War veteran with a wife and threechildren, moved to Seattle in 1992 and has worked as a mallsecurity guard, cab driver and bricklayer.
He said in a recent Seattle Post-Intelligencer interview that heand others from Seattle went to the ranch near Bly but not forterrorism.
"We did nothing that any other group of white boys wouldn't do.We shot targets and rode horses and that's it," Ali said. "Sincewe were black and Muslims and young, they figured we were doingsomething criminal."
— The Associated Press
Pilotless Plane Becomes Potent Anti-Terror Weapon
W A S H I N G TO N, Nov. 6 — With the killing of six al Qaeda suspects inYemen by a missile fired from a pilotless Predator spy plane, theCIA's combat participation in the war on terrorism has expandedbeyond Afghanistan.
The Predator has become a deadly tool and powerful psychologicalweapon that seemingly comes from nowhere to deliver a fiery strike.
"It's a demonstration that al Qaeda can run, but they can'thide," said Daniel Mulvenna, a terrorism expert at the Center forCounterintelligence and Security Studies outside Washington. "Eventually the technological reach of the U.S. intelligencecommunity is going to produce these opportunities."
Missiles fired from lurking Predators have killed Osama binLaden's operations chief and threatened an Afghan warlord. Thedeadly drones give the CIA a way to track and kill suspectedterrorists without putting U.S. pilots at risk, admittedly with thepossibility of unintended civilian casualties.
The Yemen strike killed Qaed Salim Sinan al-Harethi, al Qaeda'schief operative in Yemen and a suspect in the October 2000 bombingof the destroyer USS Cole that killed 17 American sailors, U.S.officials said. Five other people, also believed to be al Qaedaoperatives, were riding in al-Harethi's car and died in the attack.
The attack provoked criticism of U.S. tactics in the broadeningterror war.
Swedish Foreign Minister Anna Lindh called the strike "asummary execution that violates human rights."
"Even terrorists must be treated according to internationallaw. Otherwise, any country can start executing those whom theyconsider terrorists," she said.
The airstrike on al-Harethi's car was reminiscent of Israeliairstrikes that target vehicles of suspected members of the radicalIslamic groups. The U.S. government has criticized that practice,most recently on Tuesday.
State Department spokesman Richard Boucher deflected questionson the attack in Yemen, but said U.S. opposition remains to"targeted killings" of Palestinians by Israel.
"If you look back at what we have said about targeted killingsin the Israeli-Palestinian context, you will find that the reasonswe have given do not necessarily apply in other circumstances,"Boucher said.
The White House defended the Yemen operation.
"Sometimes the best course is a good offense," presidentialspokesman Ari Fleischer said Tuesday. "The president has madeclear that we fight the war on terrorism wherever we need.Terrorists don't recognize any borders or nations."
The use of the armed Predator apparently was the first outsideAfghanistan, where CIA-operated drones have fired at least fourtimes. One of those attacks, a November operation that alsoincluded strikes by U.S. military aircraft, killed al Qaedamilitary head Mohammed Atef.
The United States developed the Predator after the 1991 PersianGulf war to give military commanders views of the battlefieldwithout having to put pilots there.
First used in 1995, the remote-controlled spy plane can lurk inan area for up to 16 hours, unseen and unheard at 15,000 feet, itscameras transmitting live video, infrared or radar pictures tomilitary commanders or intelligence officials anywhere in theworld. The video is sharp enough to be able to spot a person fromfive miles away, officials say.
The CIA was the first to fly Predators modified to carry oneHellfire missile under each wing. Originally built as anti-tankweapons for Army helicopters, the 125-pound Hellfires streakthrough the air faster than the speed of sound to deliver about 17pounds of high explosives.
The Bush administration has ordered an additional 22 of theaircraft and their associated ground stations at a cost of about$160 million. The Air Force already has about four dozen of themand the CIA has an undisclosed number.
The Predator has its limits. Like other small planes, it can'tfly in harsh weather like snow or fog, and its video would belargely useless in those conditions anyway.
The plane also can be difficult to fly and is vulnerable toenemy anti-aircraft fire. At least nine Air Force Predators and oneCIA drone have crashed during missions involving Afghanistan orIraq since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.
— The Associated Press
Feds Charge 29 Aiport Workers With Lying on Forms
P H I L A D E L P H I A, Nov. 6 — A federal grand jury has indicted 29 currentor former workers at Philadelphia International Airport on chargesthey lied about their criminal histories or gave false SocialSecurity numbers when they applied for security badges, prosecutorsannounced Tuesday.
Following the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, federal authoritiesexamined the records of nearly 15,000 people employed at theairport to ensure that workers with access to secure areas wereproperly documented and hadn't been convicted of serious crimes.
The inspection found 17 workers who didn't disclose convictionsfor crimes including weapons offenses, drug possession and theft,prosecutors said. Most would have been disqualified from gettingairport jobs if they had answered truthfully, authorities said.
One of the men arrested, 29-year-old baggage handler Kyann A.Lewis, of Philadelphia, had two guns in his home that belonged to apair of law enforcement officers who reported the weapons stolenfrom bags that had been checked through the airport, prosecutorssaid.
In addition, 12 food service employees were charged with usingfalse Social Security number on their applications for airportsecurity badges, prosecutors said.
"Public safety is our goal and priority, and the public has theright to expect that those who have access to secure areas of theairport have not been granted that access under false pretenses,"said U.S. Attorney Patrick Meehan.
Twelve of those indicted were arrested Tuesday. Lewis was takeninto custody last week. The remaining defendants are still atlarge, prosecutors said.
Almost all those indicted worked for private companies doingbusiness at the airport, and were employed in a variety of jobs,including as maintenance men, skycaps and in food service. None ofthose indicted were believed to have ties to terrorist groups,authorities said.
The Federal Aviation Administration a year ago orderedbackground checks of an estimated 750,000 airport and airlineemployees who could enter secured areas of airports.
So far the checks have resulted in dozens of arrests, most forlying on job applications, use of false Social Security numbers orimmigration violations.
At Philadelphia International, investigators also allegedlyfound illegal aliens and workers who were fugitives with pendingcriminal charges. Those cases will be turned over to other lawenforcement agencies, Meehan's office said.
The indictments were unrelated to two previous investigations atthe airport involving workers who allegedly concealed theircriminal histories.
In June, a manager at the private security firm Huntleigh USApleaded guilty to lying to aviation officials about havingconducted background checks on new hires. Among those hired withoutthe mandated check were people who had been convicted of murder,drug trafficking and robbery, prosecutors said.
Another private security firm at Philadelphia International,Argenbright Security Inc., also was accused of hiring screenerswith criminal convictions. It has since lost its contract to workat the airport.
— The Associated Press
Firefighters Arrested in Ground Zero Protest Sue
N E W Y O R K, Nov. 6 — Eight firefighters who were arrested in a
protest last year over Ground Zero recovery efforts have sued the
city and the New York Police Department.
The federal lawsuit filed Tuesday stems from an angry
confrontation on Nov. 2, 2001, between firefighters and police
officers assigned to patrol the area around the World Trade Center
site. The firefighters were upset that the number of firefighters
working to recover victims was being reduced.
More than a dozen firefighters were arrested in the protest for
charges including criminal trespass and riot, although the charges
were eventually dropped. The lawsuit filed by the eight alleges
that police officers violated their rights and arrested them
without cause. It seeks unspecified damages.
Police spokesman officer John Sullivan said the department does
not comment on pending litigation, and city corporation counsel
spokeswoman Kate O'Brien Ahlers said her office had not yet seen
the filing.
Citing safety concerns, then-Mayor Rudolph Giuliani had sought
to limit the number of firefighters working at Ground Zero to 25,
angering rank-and-file men traumatized by the loss of 343
colleagues in the Sept. 11 attacks. The city later backed down and
increased the number.
— The Associated Press