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Washington Post - August 6, 2004 Two leaders of mosque arrested in Albany sting By Jonathan Finer and Dan Eggen Yassin Muhiddin Aref, 34, the imam, or spiritual leader, of the Masjid as-Salam mosque, and Mohammed Mosharref Hossain, 49, who worships at the mosque, were charged in U.S. District Court here with concealing material support for terrorism and participating in a money-laundering conspiracy. Deputy Attorney General James B. Comey said at a Washington news conference that the arrests sent "a disrupting message" to potential terrorists. "Anyone engaging in terrorist planning would be very wise to consider whether their accomplice is not really one of our guys," he said. He also stressed that the case does not involve an actual terrorist plot and is not related to the current alert about al Qaeda attacks. "The terrorist plot in this case is one that the government's agent, the cooperating witness, represented to be underway. It was not real," he said. Federal officials said the arrests follow a year-long FBI investigation in which Aref and Hossain agreed to launder money for the informant, who told them that the weapon he was selling would be used against a Pakistani diplomat in New York City as punishment for that country's cooperation with U.S. anti-terrorist activities. Members of both men's families denied the charges. "What they are saying is absolutely, 100 percent false," said Hossain's wife, Mossamat. Police kept watch in front of the small brick mosque on Central Avenue, a diverse thoroughfare that leads to the New York state capitol. Later in the day, just before evening prayer, Faisal Ahmad, whose father is the president of the mosque, said at a news conference that he hoped the community would not rush to judgment. "Let us follow the due process of law and let not the actions of a few individuals be used to brush an entire community as terrorists," he said. Charles Wilder, 41, sitting on a stoop across the street from the mosque, said the arrests showed that "terrorism can happen anywhere, even a little town like Smallbany." But many who worship at the mosque said they do not believe the charges. "This is about politics. This is about scaring people," said a Sudanese immigrant who runs a nearby grocery store. Asked why he would not give his name, he said, "I don't want them coming to me next." Court documents say that at a videotaped meeting Nov. 20, the informant showed Hossain a picture of an RPG-7, an antitank weapon, and talked about using it. The unidentified informant, a convicted felon working for the government, told Hossain and Aref he was affiliated with Jaish-e-Mohammed, an Islamic extremist group in Pakistan that the United States has designated a terrorist organization, according to court records. The men were allegedly paid $65,000 in cash for their participation…. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A42168-2004Aug5.html Lawyer: Case against Muslim cleric is 'fantasy' ALBANY, New York (CNN) -- The attorney for a Muslim cleric accused of laundering money to aid terrorists called the government's case "fantasy" Friday and vowed to fully fight the charges. "This case mostly exists in the imagination of an undercover agent, a snitch -- it strikes me as fantasy," defense attorney Terry Kindlon said. "This case involves fantasy on the part of the government, this case involves questionable conduct on the part of the government, this case has racial, religious, cultural, political overtones, and I intend to examine those as energetically as I can." Kindlon, an Albany attorney who has practiced law for more than 30 years, was assigned Friday to represent Yassin Aref, a 34-year-old Iraqi who is an imam, or prayer leader, at the As-Salam mosque in the New York capital. Aref and mosque founder Mohammed Hossain, 49, were arrested Thursday on charges they laundered money that they had been told was from the sale of a shoulder-fired missile intended to be used in the assassination of Pakistan's U.N. ambassador. Kindlon said he is "coming into this case with a high level of skepticism." The men are charged with laundering money, and conspiring to conceal support and resources for a terrorist organization. According to the criminal complaint, an undercover FBI informant approached the two men about concealing tens of thousands of dollars -- money they were told was from the sale of the shoulder-fired missile.Officials described Aref as a 34-year-old Iraqi citizen with asylum status who serves as imam at the mosque. Hossain is a 49-year-old member of the same mosque, a U.S. citizen and native of Bangladesh. Times Union, Albany NY – August 8, 2004 Albany Mosque welcomed in informant By Brendan Lyons, Three days into 2002, Shahed Hussain was a mini-mart entrepreneur on the crest of realizing the American dream. The 48-year-old Pakistani immigrant was about two weeks away from being sworn in as a naturalized U.S. citizen. He ran gas stations, a beverage center and a retail distribution business in Latham, and shared a modest home in Loudonville with his wife and children. But Hussain made a major mistake: He participated in a scam to get illegal driver's licenses for other immigrants who couldn't get them on their own. He was arrested, and on Jan. 23, 2002, a grand jury in Albany indicted him on one felony count of engaging in the production and transfer of false government identification documents. His subsequent guilty plea seemed to dash his hopes of remaining in the United States. But like others who face prison or deportation, Hussain was offered a way out. He went to work as a government informant. This week, following the arrest of the spiritual leader and a member of a Central Avenue mosque on charges related to aiding terrorism, Hussain's undercover work ended with a flourish of national attention. Court papers identify Hussain only as a confidential informant, and the FBI initially asked the Times Union not to publish his name, saying he would be endangered. He is now in protective custody, and his identity has become widely known in Albany. For the FBI, Hussain was a perfect undercover agent. A Middle Eastern Muslim, he had a kind of street savvy that would prove invaluable. The bureau saw him as someone who could do what FBI agents could not -- infiltrate the inner circle of Masjid As-Salam, a storefront mosque that had drawn their attention in the wake of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. "He could get inside places they never could," said his attorney, James Long. "But when most of this was happening, he was in conflict with himself about what he was doing for them." Hussain first helped the Joint Terrorism Task Force in Albany make a series of arrests in at least two criminal cases involving fraudulent driver's license applications made by immigrants, including some from China. Those cases alone were supposed to square him with the FBI, to reduce his chances of going to prison and to prevent deportation. But even afterward, he continued to work for the government, Long said…… Federal agents had been watching the Central Avenue mosque and its 200 members for almost two years. One of its founders, Ali Yaghi, 33, had been deported following the terrorist attacks -- after he was interrogated extensively about possible connections to the hijackings, his lawyer said at the time. Other mosque members also had been questioned. Among them was Yassin Muhiddin Aref, 34, a Kurd who emigrated from Iraq and serves as the mosque's imam, or spiritual leader. Under the FBI's direction, Hussain, the informant, fostered a friendship with Hossain, the pizza store owner. He also began visiting the mosque and occasionally praying there…. Authorities contend Hossain and the informant spent several weeks outlining a plan by which the informant would launder money through Hossain's shop and real estate holdings. In return, Hossain would make $5,000 from the $50,000 sale of the missile, according to the FBI….. Albany Times Union – August 18, 2004 U.S. seeks cloak for evidence By Brendan Lyons Federal prosecutors want to keep secret some of the evidence in their case against two Muslim men arrested here in an FBI counter-terrorism sting. The U.S. attorney's office moved Tuesday to invoke a rarely used secrecy law on the day the Times Union revealed in a front-page article that Army intelligence experts had apparently misinterpreted a document that prosecutors cite as a link between one of the men and terrorists in Iraq. In a 12-page motion prepared by the Justice Department's Counterterrorism Section in Washington, D.C., prosecutors invoke the Classified Information Procedures Act, in seeking to shut off the flow of "classified material in this case which may be subject to disclosure in advance of trial. "The United States believes that disclosure of this material would raise issues of national security that the court should address before any of this material is provided to the defense," the motion said. CIPA is most often invoked in cases involving suspected terrorists, spies or military personnel charged with crimes. Defense lawyers have criticized the 1980 law because it limits the information prosecutors must give defendants for use in preparing their defense. Prosecutors often are required to submit only a summary of classified information. Even if a judge orders a more detailed release, the government can refuse, citing national security concerns. Defense lawyers said the translation error calls into question the foundation of search warrants and affidavits in support of the FBI sting that resulted in the Aug. 5 arrests of Yassin M. Aref, a 34-year-old imam at a Central Avenue mosque, and Mohammed Mosharref Hossain, a 49-year-old Bangladeshi immigrant who owns an Albany pizza shop.…. The translation error was caught last week by an FBI language analyst who reviewed the notebook and determined a word before the imam's name was "brother," not "commander," as proffered in court by federal prosecutors and the FBI. Army troops recovered the notebook following a battle in northern Iraq last summer during which nearly 80 insurgents were killed. Authorities have offered varying accounts of whether the bombed-out encampment was a terrorist camp, a terrorist training camp, or a place used by insurgents on the run. Prosecutors have made public no other information linking the Albany men to any overseas terrorist group…. Times Union Editor Rex Smith said the newspaper intends to fight any effort to close proceedings in the Albany case. "The Constitution clearly gives citizens the right to know what is going on in American courtrooms," Smith said. "Sometimes it falls to the press to undertake the job of making sure the government honors that right. We'll do that in this case." http://www.timesunion.com/AspStories/storyprint.asp?StoryID=277087 New York Times - August 19, 2004 Feds admit terror evidence may be flawed ALBANY, N.Y. -- A key piece of evidence against a jailed mosque leader accused of supporting terrorism has come into question, with federal prosecutors acknowledging that a note found in a terrorist camp may have been mistranslated. Yassin Muhiddin Aref is charged with aiding a government informant in a sting operation involving a fake plot to buy a shoulder-fired missile to assassinate a Pakistani diplomat. The translation discrepancy stems from a notebook that the FBI said was found in a terrorist camp in northern Iraq last summer. The indictment said an entry in Arabic script referred to Aref as a ``commander'' and listed his former address and phone number in Albany. However, FBI translators now have a copy of the original entry and disagree with the earlier conclusion, saying the word was in the Kurdish language, not Arabic, and actually means ``brother,'' prosecutors told the judge in a letter. Aref is the imam of the Masjid As-Salam mosque in Albany. Also charged earlier this month in the sting operation was Mohammed Mosharref Hossain, 49, one of the mosque's founders. The notebook was cited last week by Magistrate David Homer as part of his rationale for refusing to set bail for Aref. Defense attorneys say the translation error undermines the entire government case, and that both men should get out on bail. ``It's a travesty,'' lawyer Terence Kindlon said…. http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/national/AP-Mosque-Raid-Evidence.html?pagewanted=print&position= U.S. judge blasts FBI case against Albany Muslims By Ellen Wulfhorst ALBANY, N.Y., Aug 24 (Reuters) - Two Islamic men accused of supporting terrorism after an FBI sting operation were ordered released from jail on Tuesday by a judge who blasted the government's case by saying there is no evidence they have any links to terrorists. U.S. Magistrate David Homer ruled Yassin Aref and Mohammed Hossain should be released on $250,000 bonds and held in home detention under electronic surveillance while they await trial. He said that could take up to two years so the men will be allowed to work and attend mosque until the trial. The pair had been ordered held without bail earlier this month -- a ruling largely based on an address book that prosecutors said was found in an Iraqi terrorist training camp. The book referred to Aref as "the commander" in Arabic. The government now says that translation was an error and the word is "brother" in Kurdish. The order to release the two comes amid criticism that the Bush administration's anti-terrorism policies have caused authorities to leap to unfounded conclusions in cases that have fizzled or been dropped altogether after initial high-profile announcements. Muslims in Albany -- home to about 7,000 followers of Islam -- have called the arrest of the two men a tragic misunderstanding and many have avoided attending mosques out of fear of being labeled terrorists. Aref, 34, the leader of an Albany mosque, and Hossain, 49, a pizzeria owner, were arrested in a sting operation in which authorities said they agreed to help an FBI informant launder $50,000 from the sale of a shoulder-fired missile as part of a fake plan to assassinate a Pakistani diplomat. The judge chided the government, saying the case is much weaker now than it first appeared. He said the two were not plotting violence and are not a danger to the community. "The evidence in this case appears less strong today," Homer said. "There is no evidence ... to support the claim that Mr. Aref has any contact with any terrorist organization." "There still is no evidence of Mr. Hossain's involvement with any terrorist organization," he said. The judge said the case could take one to two years to come to trial as much of the evidence has to be translated from foreign languages. |