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| Iraq Evidence Led Feds to Albany Mosque | ||||
| 2004-08-06 | ||||
EFL: ALBANY, N.Y. — Information found in Iraq led federal investigators to become suspicious of an Albany, N.Y., mosque leader, FOX News has learned. Last summer, U.S. troops discovered Yassin Muhhiddin Aref's name, telephone number and address in a book left behind in a vacated terrorist training camp, a U.S. official told FOX News. The book also revealed that Ansar al-Islam, the group running the camp, had given Aref a title: "the commander."
Aref, 34, is the Imam of the Masjid As-Salam mosque in Albany, N.Y. He and one other mosque leader were arrested Thursday and charged with helping an undercover informant posing as a weapons dealer who was plotting to buy a shoulder-launched missile that would be used to kill the Pakistani ambassador in New York City. Aref and Mohammed Mosharref Hossain, the 49-year-old founder of the mosque and owner of the local Little Italy Pizzeria, were allegedly collaborating with someone who was not a terrorist but an informant participating in a sting operation; no missile ever was exchanged. The criminal complaint against the mosque leaders was filed Thursday in federal court in Albany. They are officially accused of attempting to launder money and conspiring to launder money from illegal activity to fund the purchase and use of a weapon of mass destruction. The criminal complaint says that during the summer of 2003, when the probe began, the FBI monitored and recorded most of the conversations between the FBI's informant and Aref and Hossain. The conversations were mostly in Urdu between Hossain and the informant; the conversations between the informant and Aref were mostly in English.
According to the complaint, the informant had helped Hossain get his brother a fake New York state driver's permit, and the two got to talking about jihad, or holy war. The informant asked whether money could be made by jihad; Hossain first said no, then possibly and asked for a loan. The government says that in November, the informant showed Hossain a shoulder-fired surface-to-air missile and told Hossain that he imports weapons from China to New York City. The informant said Hossain smiled when he saw the missile and said that he had never seen such a weapon before except on television. The informant also said that Hossain said a lot of money could be made from such an importation. During a December conversation in Hossain's pizzeria, the informant proposed that Hossain take $50,000 in cash proceeds from the missile importation, then repay $45,000 of that by writing the informant monthly $2,000 checks and keeping the remaining $5,000 for himself. "After initially indicating that he did not need that much money, Hossain agreed to the proposal," the complaint charges. Hossain allegedly then said that he could make it appear that the proceeds of the missile importation had been generated through Hossain's rental properties. On Dec. 5, Hossain told the informant he had been questioned by FBI agents about others around Albany; they discussed having Aref as a witness to the transactions and Hossain allegedly said Aref is "not afraid of anything. He's only afraid of God." On Dec. 10, the informant met with Aref and Hossain and discussed the operation for "brother mujahadiin." They wrote down the details of the transaction. They met again on Jan. 2 to allegedly consummate the deal. Hossain wrote the information down and Aref signed as a witness.
The informant cited had been previously arrested in Albany and had pleaded guilty to a felony related to the fraudulent acquisition of documents. The informant, not a U.S. citizen, is cooperating in the hopes of getting a reduced sentence and has provided information leading to other arrests. Hossain, who emigrated from Bangladesh in 1985, worked as a dishwasher in diners before saving up enough money to open his own pizzeria in downtown Albany in 1994.
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| Posted by:Steve |
| #5 Frank, it worked today, thanks. |
| Posted by: Ol_Dirty_American 2004-08-06 2:41:17 PM |
| #4 I wonder if the Dumbocrits will cheer with me? "Bush didn't lie! People didn't die!" "Bush didn't lie! People didn't die!" |
| Posted by: Victory Now Please 2004-08-06 12:27:44 PM |
| #3 When I tried the "Post a news link" yesterday, I got a VB script error. "Post your own article" worked. Haven't tried it today. |
| Posted by: ed 2004-08-06 11:49:09 AM |
| #2 did you comment first? If you post a comment first your post doesn't go in the "editor please review" bin |
| Posted by: Frank G 2004-08-06 11:32:59 AM |
| #1 Another justification for the liberation of Iraq. BTW: I wanterd to post this article yesterday but could not. It would not let me submit (this is two days in a row). |
| Posted by: Ol_Dirty_American 2004-08-06 11:26:03 AM |