Government prosecutors claim a University of Idaho graduate student hid his connection to an Islamic organization they say has terrorist ties so his application to remain in the United States would be approved and his terror-linked activities continued. Assistant U.S. Attorney Kim Lindquist claims that had Sami Omar Al-Hussayen revealed his involvement in the Ann Arbor, Mich.-based Islamic Assembly of North America, immigration officials would have been tipped off to the possibility that he might be involved in fostering terrorism. The defense maintains Al-Hussayen, who was only months away from earning a doctorate in computer science when he was charged, was a mere volunteer and charitable supporter of the assembly and its religious outreach programs with no connection to terrorism.
| He's a member of the Religion Of Peace, don't ya know. |
| A pious lad, a credit to his family. |
But Lindquist told jurors that he was a key official in the organization and ran the web site the government says is the foundation for an Internet network that recruits and funds terrorists around the world. "Mr. Al-Hussayen was one of the primary, if not the primary, decision makers," Lindquist said. Veteran federal immigration official Bruce Gawtry was returning to the stand on Thursday to bolster the government's claims that Al-Hussayen violated the law by hiding his association with the assembly. But the defense team contends the government is misinterpreting the immigration law in claiming Al-Hussayen was prohibited by terms of his student visa from becoming involved with the assembly. David Nevin and Scott McKay argued that the student visa does not restrict a person to study only but permits activities that foster cultural exchange, including volunteer participation in a religious organization like the assembly. "Sami was not an employee of this organization," Nevin said during opening statements on Wednesday. "He volunteered, and he is allowed to volunteer." The defense also emphasized that while Al-Hussayen may not have listed his assembly connection on his visa form, he filed a declaration with the state as the assembly's Idaho representative -- a record available to the public. "He made no affirmative attempt to hide that," Nevin said, pointing out that Al-Hussayen changed nothing in the way he lived or worked even after a published report in August 2002 that federal agents were investigating terrorist ties in the Moscow area. "He knew he was not doing anything wrong," Nevin said.
| Or thought because he was a member of the Master Race the law didn't apply to him. |
| Or that daddy's connections would protect him. |
| Or that us infidels are too stoopid to notice such things... |
Al-Hussayen, 34, the son of a wealthy Riyadh family headed by the country's retired minister of education, was arrested in a pre-dawn raid on his Moscow home on Feb. 26, 2003.
| Ah, a member of the ruling class of the Master Race. |
He was initially charged with visa fraud and making false statements. But in January and again in March, the government added three counts of fostering terrorism by running Web sites that support the violent Palestinian organization Hamas and groups allegedly promoting terrorism and by funneling money to the Islamic Assembly. "He was the means by which large sums of money flowed from outside the United States to his bank accounts to the Islamic Assembly of North America," Lindquist said. Nevin said the money came from Al-Hussayen's great uncle, the president of the mosques in Mecca and Medina, Islam's most sacred cities, to help support an attempt by the assembly to propagate Islam through the radio.
| A member of the Holy Ruling Class. |
More to the point, Nevin told jurors, the Islamic Assembly of North America "is still operating today. They have never been designated as a terrorist organization."
"Thanks for pointing that out, Nevin. ... Marvin!"
"Yes, Mr. Secretary?"
"Get those jokers on the list of terrorist organizations! Now, dammit!" |
The terrorism counts are punishable by up to 15 years each, the visa fraud charges by up to 25 years each and the false-statement counts by five years each. Al-Hussayen has been declared subject to deportation.
One of the so-called Portland Seven will join members of two other U.S.-based jihad cells to testify against a Saudi graduate student accused of setting up a Web-based network to recruit terrorists and jihad fighters. Ahmed Bilal is scheduled to testify with others that they were inspired by jihad videos they watched on Web sites run by University of Idaho student Sami Omar Al-Hussayen, according to federal prosecutors. Members of jihad cells in New York and Virginia also are expected to testify during the eight-week trial that opened Wednesday. |