Georgetown Security Law Brief

Chicago man pleads guilty in material support case

02/07/12: The Boston Globe reports that a Pakistani-born Chicago taxi driver who prosecutors say could be heard on FBI wiretaps discussing a plan to bomb a stadium pleaded guilty Monday to attempting to send money to a Pakistani-based terrorist with alleged ties to al-Qaida. Standing before a federal judge in an orange jumpsuit and his ankles shackled, Raja Lahrasib Khan, 58, said he was pleading guilty to one count of two counts of attempting to provide material support terrorism. As part of the plea deal, prosecutors dropped the other count.

Uzbek refugee arrested at O'Hare denies helping terror group

02/03/12: The Chicago Tribune reports that an Uzbekistan refugee accused of helping a foreign terrorist organization is denying the allegations. Speaking through a Russian interpreter, Jamshid Muhtorov told a federal judge in Denver Thursday, “I swear to Allah I never did anything like that.” Muhtorov, who lives in the Denver suburb of Aurora, was arrested at a Chicago airport on Jan. 21. The 35-year-old is accused of providing material support and attempting to provide material support to the Islamic Jihad Union. The State Department has designated the group as a foreign terrorist organization. 

Vatican rewrites anti-money laundering, terror finance law

01/28/12: The Washington Post reports that the Vatican has rewritten its 2010 anti-money laundering law after European inspectors found that it didn’t fully meet their tough standards to combat the financing of terrorism. The new law requires the Vatican to create a list of terror organizations based on those issued by the United Nations and requires the Vatican enter into agreements with other countries to share financial information.

UN adds 2 Haqqani Network leaders to terrorist list

01/15/12: The Long War Journal reports that the UN Security Council has added two senior Haqqani Network leaders to its list of individuals who are associated with the Taliban. One of the Haqqani Network leaders was appointed by al Qaeda to lead operations in a southeastern province in Afghanistan. Ahmed Jan Wazir and Fazl Rabi were added to the UN list on January 6 for holding senior leadership positions in the Haqqani Network. The UN designation, under UNSC resolution 1988, freezes the assets of those on the list and and imposes a travel ban on them.

Ex-congressman gets year over links to defunct Islamic charity

01/12/12: The Chicago Tribune reports that a former US congressman from Michigan was sentenced to a year in prison on Wednesday for accepting secret payments to try to help an Islamic charity get removed from a congressional watch list of relief agencies suspected of supporting terrorism. Mark Deli Siljander, 60, a former three-term Republican member of the US House of Representatives, pleaded guilty in 2010 to obstruction of justice and acting as an unregistered foreign agent on behalf of the now-defunct Islamic American Relief Agency.

Group threatens lawsuit over terror tweets

01/02/12: Wired reports that an Israeli legal advocacy group Shurat HaDin has threatened Twitter with a lawsuit if it didn’t remove the accounts of US-designated Foreign Terrorist Organizations such as the Lebanon-based Hezbollah and Somalia’s al-Qaida-linked al-Shabaab. Though a legal tussle may give the folks at Twitter a headache, the terrorists behind the Twitter accounts probably aren’t sweating a potential shutdown. The lawsuit threat is based on a Supreme Court case, Holder v. Humanitarian Law Project, which upheld a controversial portion of the Patriot Act banning support to terrorists.

Brothers in alleged NC terror ring face sentencing

12/20/11: The Sacramento Bee reports that two brothers who pleaded guilty to a conspiracy to support terrorists will learn their sentences Tuesday in North Carolina for their roles in a home-grown terror cell federal prosecutors say plotted attacks under their father's leadership. Twenty-five-year-old Dylan Boyd and 22-year-old Zakariya Boyd could be sentenced by US District Judge Louise Flanagan to a maximum of 15 years in prison, but both cooperated with prosecutors and expect lesser sentences.

Hezbollah denies US money laundering charges

12/20/11: The Houston Chronicle reports that Lebanon's Hezbollah is denying US allegations of involvement in a $300 million laundering scheme and drugs trafficking, with its deputy leader claiming in comments published Tuesday the charges were false and that America was "not fooling anyone" with accusations meant to harm his anti-Israeli group. Sheik Naim Kassem said the Iran-backed Shiite Muslim group does not follow "a religiously prohibited path" to develop its resources and that the accusations were part of US efforts to tarnish Hezbollah's image.

Beirut bank seen as a hub of Hezbollah’s financing

12/14/11: The New York Times reports that last February, the Obama administration accused one of Lebanon’s famously secretive banks of laundering money for an international cocaine ring with ties to the Shiite militant group Hezbollah. Now, in the wake of the bank’s exposure and arranged sale, its ledgers have been opened to reveal deeper secrets: a glimpse at the clandestine methods that Hezbollah — a terrorist organization in American eyes that has evolved into Lebanon’s pre-eminent military and political power — uses to finance its operations.

Canadian accused of conspiring in US terror case

12/10/11: The San Jose Mercury News reports that a man in custody in Canada was indicted Friday on US charges that he helped coordinate Tunisian jihadists believed responsible for separate suicide attacks in Iraq in 2009 that killed five American soldiers outside a US base and seven people at an Iraqi police complex.  Faruq Khalil Muhammad 'Isa, a 38-year-old Canadian citizen and Iraqi national, was arrested in January on a US warrant after an investigation by authorities in New York, Canada and Tunisia. Muhammad 'Isa is being held in Edmonton, Alberta, where he's fighting extradition to federal court in Brooklyn to face charges of conspiring to kill Americans and providing material support to terrorists.

Appeals court affirms convictions of 5 from Muslim charity tied to funding terrorist group

12/08/11: The Republic reports that a federal appeals court has affirmed the convictions of five organizers of a Muslim charity in Texas tied to funneling money to the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas. The US Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals issued an opinion Wednesday stating that the members of the Holy Land Foundation received fair trials when they were convicted of money laundering and other crimes in 2008. The foundation was based in the Dallas suburb of Richardson.

Germany arrests man for links to an alleged al-Qaida bomb plot in Europe

12/08/11: The Washington Post reports that Federal prosecutors say they have arrested a 27-year-old German man on charges he was part of an al-Qaida bomb plot in Europe. Prosecutors’ spokesman Marcus Koehler said in a release Thursday that suspect Halil S. was arrested in Bochum on charges of membership in a terrorist organization. Koehler says the suspect, is accused of providing financial and logistical support for three other suspects arrested in April on suspicion they were making a bomb.

Awlaki's father promotes son’s speeches

12/07/11: The Investigative Project on Terrorism reports that Nasser al-Awlaki, the father of al-Qaida ideologue Anwar al-Awlaki, has released a YouTube video encouraging others to follow his deceased son's terrorist teachings. The video was released through the YouTube channel of British Islamist group United Ummah, the latest reincarnation of the recently banned organization Muslims Against Crusades."Anwar was assassinated because of his teachings," Nasser said in his video address, which was played at a protest in front of the American Embassy in London on December 2^nd.

Scholarship: Material witness detentions after al-Kidd

11/17/11: Wes Oliver, of the Widener University School of Law will publish an article, “Material Witness Detentions After al-Kidd,” in the forthcoming issue of the Kentucky Law Journal. Oliver contends that the Supreme Court’s decision in Ashcroft v. al-Kidd, holding that the government may arrest a person under the Material Witness Statute even if it is interested in prosecuting the witness, raises concerns beyond the scope of the narrow question before the Court. Oliver argues that if the government’s real interest is bringing a case against the witness, the government will be far less circumspect in its decision to seek an arrest warrant for the witness and will not have an incentive to hold the witness in the least restrictive conditions. Therefore, Congress must establish clearer criteria for the arrest and treatment of material witnesses. HT to Robert Chesney.

Mali citizen pleads guilty in NYC to terror charge

11/16/11: The Sacramento Bee reports that an African man has pleaded guilty in New York City to a terrorism charge, admitting that he engaged in the drug dealing trade with men who claimed they worked for terrorists who committed kidnappings. Oumar Issa pleaded guilty Tuesday to conspiring to provide material support to a foreign terrorist organization.

Texas man convicted of trying to sneak out of US to join al-Qaida

11/15/11: The Washington Post reports that a Texas man accused of attempting to sneak out of the country with restricted US military documents, money and equipment in order to join al-Qaida was convicted Monday of trying to help the terrorist organization. Barry Walter Bujol Jr. was convicted of attempting to provide material support to a foreign terrorist organization and aggravated identity theft. He faces up to 20 years in prison when he is sentenced February 8.

Kenya arrests 10, including a cleric and 2 doctors for allegedly supporting Somali terrorists

10/22/11: The Atlanta Journal Constitution reports that Kenyan police have arrested a Muslim cleric on a UN sanctions list over his alleged support of al-Shabab, an al-Qaida-linked militant group in neighboring Somalia. The arrest signals the start of a Kenyan government clampdown on alleged supporters of the militants, who are blamed for a string of kidnappings on Kenyan soil. The Kenyan government sent troops into Somalia last weekend, saying they intend to attack the key city held by the insurgency and wipe them out as a fighting force.

Court convicts 5 Tamils of fundraising for Tigers

10/21/11: NPR reports that a Dutch court convicted five Tamils on Friday of raising funds for the outlawed Tamil Tigers rebel group and sentenced them to prison terms ranging from two to six years. In a complex ruling, the court acquitted the defendants of membership of an international terror organization, saying the group could not be classified a terror group under Dutch law. Nonetheless, the EU ban on the group, known formally as the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam or LTTE, applied in the Netherlands, making their fundraising operations illegal, the court ruled.

Jihad Jane associates charged with terror support

10/21/11: The Investigative Project on Terrorism Blog reports that Algerian-born Ali Charaf Damache and Pakistani citizen Mohammad Hassan Khalid were charged Thursday in Pennsylvania with conspiracy to provide material support to terrorists. Known by an Internet username "Theblackflag," Damache also is charged with one count of attempted identity theft to facilitate an act of international terrorism. Damache has been in Irish custody since March 2010, but Department of Justice officials pledged to seek his extradition to face trial.

Minnesota terror funding trial heads to jury

10/18/11: The Miami Herald reports that federal prosecutors said two Minnesota women knew it was illegal to provide money to the terror group al-Shabab in Somalia, yet conspired to do so anyway - going door-to-door to collect donations under false pretenses while hiding their true motives to ensure they didn't get arrested. But during closing arguments Monday, defense attorneys for Amina Farah Ali, 35, and Hawo Mohamed Hassan, 64, said their clients were humanitarians who were giving money to orphans and poor people - as well as a group they felt was protecting their war-torn homeland from abuses.

German court convicts 3 of terrorism

09/28/11: The Boston Globe reports that a German court has convicted three men for supporting a terrorist organization by posting radical Islamic propaganda videos on the Internet, including one that gave details of how to prepare a suicide attack. The Munich state court sentenced the Germans -- 28-year-old Daniel P., 20-year-old Jonas T. and 19-year-old Salim Mohammed A. -- to community service and probation ranging up to 1 1/2 years, Germany's dapd news agency reported Wednesday.

Treasury sanctions leaders of Pakistani terror group

09/28/11: The Wall Street Journal reports that the US Treasury Department Wednesday laid sanctions on two alleged leaders of a Pakistani terror group, citing their involvement with attacks in India. The Treasury blacklisted Zafar Iqbal and Hafiz Abdul Salam Bhuttavi, describing them as founding members of Lashkar-e Tayyiba, which was responsible for the November 2008 Mumbai attacks that killed more than 160 people. “By targeting the core of LET’s leadership, today’s action aims to degrade its ability to facilitate its terrorist activities,” said David Cohen, the Treasury Department’s under secretary for terrorism and financial intelligence.

Islamic charity leader sentenced to nearly 3 years

09/28/11: The Atlanta Journal Constitution reports that Pete Seda, the leader of the US branch of a defunct Islamic charity, was sentenced Tuesday to nearly three years in prison after being convicted of helping smuggle $150,000 to Saudi Arabia. US District Judge Michael Hogan said that while he has no doubt the money went to Islamic fighters battling the Russian army in Chechnya, as the prosecution maintained, there's no proof directly linking Pete Seda to terrorism.

Jihadi magazine commemorates 9/11 anniversary

09/28/11: The Washington Post reports that Al Qaeda’s affiliate in Yemen did not manage an attack on the 10th anniversary of September 11, 2001, but it apparently still is hoping for a propaganda victory — in the form of commemorative issue of its magazine, Inspire. This seventh issue of the magazine departs from its usual mix of interviews and tips on bomb making in favor of remembrances of what Inspire’s editors call “The Greatest Special Operation of All Time.” The magazine appears only online.

Dutch prosecutors demand long sentences for Tamils

09/27/11: The San Francisco Chronicle reports that Dutch prosecutors have demanded sentences ranging from 10 to 16 years for five ethnic Tamils accused of raising millions of euros in the Netherlands to finance the Tamil Tigers' fight for an independent homeland in Sri Lanka. Prosecutors accuse the men, all naturalized Dutch citizens, of extorting cash from Tamils living in the Netherlands, running illegal lotteries and laundering money.

Police in Spain arrest 5 suspected of financing terrorists

09/27/11: CNN reports that Civil Guards arrested five Algerian men early Tuesday in northern Spain on suspicion of providing logistical and financial support for Islamic terrorist activities, Spain's interior ministry said. The suspects, aged 36 to 49, allegedly supported "terrorist groups that operate in the Algerian area of the Maghreb, specifically for al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb," a ministry statement said. They also had suspected links to Islamic militants in Italy, France and Switzerland.

Department of Justice releases Islamic bank agreement

09/26/11: The Investigative Project on Terrorism reports that the Department of Justice has released a multimillion dollar agreement reached last month with an international Islamic banking network after a four-year criminal investigation. After stonewalling all requests for a copy of the report and refusing to discuss the non-prosecution agreement with the Islamic Investment Company of the Gulf for weeks, a copy was given to US Representative Frank Wolf late Friday.

Counterterrorism chief discusses efforts to fight terrorist financing

09/23/11: The War on Terrorism blog reports that Ralph S. Boelter, acting assistant director of the Counterterrorism Division, today discussed FBI efforts to fight terrorist financing with a Senate subcommittee in Washington, DC. In particular, he highlighted the role of the Terrorism Financing Operations Section, or TFOS, which was established shortly after 9/11. Just in the last year, Boelter said, the FBI has conducted terrorist financing investigations which led to the indictment of individuals for providing funding to the Pakistani Taliban, al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, and al Shabaab.

Chicago businessman convicted of aiding terrorist group seeks new trial

09/21/11: The Chicago Tribune reports that a Chicago businessman convicted of aiding a terrorist group that took credit for the deadly 2008 Mumbai attacks is asking for a new trial. Tahawwur Rana was cleared in June of any involvement in the siege that killed more than 160 people. But he was convicted of lesser charges, including that he provided material support to a Pakistani militant group which took responsibility for the Mumbai attack and a planned attack in Denmark.

Somali kids win weapons in Quran contest

09/20/11: The Boston Globe reports that an Islamist insurgent-run radio station in Somalia says it is awarding guns, bombs and books to three children in a Quran recital contest. Andulus radio station is run by the al-Qaida-linked al-Shabab militia. The station announced Monday that the first prize winner in the contest received a rifle and $700, the second prize winner got a rifle and $500, and the third prize winner received two bombs. All three children also received religious books.

Saudi Arabia tries 41 suspected al-Qaida militants

09/19/11: The San Francisco Chronicle reports that Saudi Arabia's state news agency says 41 suspected members of al-Qaida have gone on trial, accused of planning attacks on US forces in Kuwait and Qatar. A court in Riyadh is hearing the case. The Saudi Press Agency said Sunday some of the defendants were charged with recruiting and sending militants to fight in Iraq and sending money to Taliban fighters.

Commentary: What we still don’t know after September 11

09/18/11: The New York Review of Books features a new article by David Cole, addressing what, precisely, did and did not change after September 11, particularly with respect to law, liberty, and security. Cole discusses the response of the Bush and Obama administrations to terrorism, concluding that one of the most important lessons of the past decade may be that the rule of law has proved far more resilient than many would have predicted.

The journalist and the spies

09/13/11: The New Yorker reports on the murder of journalist Syed Saleem Shahzad. Shahzad, known for his exposés of the Pakistani military, was warned by Pakistani intelligence officials to curb his reporting, which revealed links between the military and al Qaeda.

Secret bid to arm Qaddafi sheds light on tensions in China government

09/12/11: The New York Times reports that at a United Nations conference in Indonesia this summer, an official of the agency that oversees China’s weapons industry ticked off the hurdles that any proposal to sell Chinese weapons abroad must clear. Among them: arms sales must not alter another nation’s internal security. They must not violate United Nations arms embargoes. And they must win government approval. That was on June 11, or roughly a month before three of China’s biggest state-owned arms companies secretly offered to sell Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi’s army $200 million in weapons to put down the rebellion. The offer, discovered by a Canadian journalist in documents tossed into a Tripoli trash heap, flouted a United Nations embargo on weapons sales to the Qaddafi government — an embargo that China itself had voted for in February.

State Department believes Iran the 'most active state sponsor of terrorism'

08/19/11: The Long War Journal reports that on Thursday, the US State Department released its annual Country Reports on Terrorism, which provides an overview of terrorism for the previous calendar year. Iran "remained the most active state sponsor of terrorism in 2010," the State Department reported. "Iran's financial, material, and logistic support for terrorist and militant groups throughout the Middle East and Central Asia had a direct impact on international efforts to promote peace, threatened economic stability in the Gulf, and undermined the growth of democracy." As in past reports, the State Department highlighted Iran's assistance to its onetime foe, the Taliban.

US accuses Iran of aiding al-Qaeda

07/29/11: The Washington Post reports that the Obama administration said Thursday that Iran is helping al-Qaeda funnel cash and recruits into Pakistan for its international operations, the most serious US allegation to date of Iranian aid to the terrorist group. Documents filed by the Treasury Department accuse Iran of facilitating an al-Qaeda-run support network that transfers large amounts of cash from Middle East donors to al-Qaeda’s top leadership in Pakistan’s tribal region.

US trucking funds reach Taliban, military-led investigation concludes

07/25/11: The Washington Post reports that a year-long military-led investigation has concluded that US taxpayer money has been indirectly funneled to the Taliban under a $2.16 billion transportation contract that the United States has funded in part to promote Afghan businesses. The unreleased investigation provides seemingly definitive evidence that corruption puts US transportation money into enemy hands, a finding consistent with previous inquiries carried out by Congress, other federal agencies and the military. Yet US and Afghan efforts to address the problem have been slow and ineffective, and all eight of the trucking firms involved in the work remain on US payroll. In March, the Pentagon extended the contract for six months.

Al Qaeda's Yemen branch has aided Somalia militants, US says

07/17/11: The Los Angeles Times reports that Al Qaeda's powerful branch in Yemen has provided weapons, fighters and training with explosives over the last year to a militant Islamic group battling for power in Somalia, according to newly developed American intelligence, raising concerns of a widening alliance of terrorist groups. Leaders of Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula in Yemen also have urged members of the hard-line Shabab militia to attack targets outside Africa for the first time, said US officials who were briefed on the intelligence.

US calls Chechen group terrorists, offers reward

05/26/11: The Miami Herald reports that the Obama administration has declared a Chechen group as a terrorist organization, and is offering up to $5 million for information leading to its commander, Doku Umarov. The State Department announced the action against the Caucasus Emirate Thursday, after President Barack Obama met Russian leader Dmitry Medvedev in France. The group is blamed for bombing Moscow's airport in January, two subway stations in 2010 and a Russian rail train in 2009. The attacks killed dozens.

Lawsuit alleges Iranian link to 9/11

05/19/11: The New York Times reports that two defectors from Iran's intelligence service have testified that Iranian officials had “foreknowledge of the 9/11 attacks,” according to a court filing Thursday in a federal lawsuit in Manhattan that seeks damages for Iran’s “direct support for, and sponsorship of, the most deadly act of terrorism in American history.”

US charges six with terror support in Pakistan

05/14/11: The Wall Street Journal reports that six people, including two imams at mosques in Florida, have been indicted on charges that include providing support to Pakistani Taliban terror plots, federal prosecutors said Saturday. The six are charged with conspiracy and providing material support to murder, maim and kidnap persons overseas and conspiring to provide material support to the Pakistani Taliban, designated by the US as a terror group.

German police raid homes of suspected extremists

05/11/11: The Miami Herald reports that German police have raided the homes of several alleged Islamic extremists suspected of raising funds to support possible violent attacks. Police and prosecutors in the southwestern German state of Baden-Wuerttemberg said 30 officers on Wednesday carried out raids on three apartments in the cities of Ulm and Bonn. They seized computers and documents, but made no arrests. They said the suspects - a 29-year-old German of Syrian descent and a 27-year-old German convert to Islam - are known to be active in the local Islamist scene and have been under investigation since June 2010.

Holder defends decision to spare CAIR official

04/27/11: IPT reports that Attorney General Eric Holder has acknowledged that the DOJ nixed a request from Dallas prosecutors last year to bring criminal charges against a Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) founder. Omar Ahmad was a key figure in a network of groups called the Palestine Committee which, prosecutors say and government exhibits show, was created to help Hamas politically and financially. The committee's financial arm, the Holy Land Foundation for Relief and Development (HLF) and five former officials were indicted in 2004 and convicted in 2008.

Judge says defense can't question Islamic charity case lawyers

04/23/11: The Miami Herald reports that a federal judge says lawyers for an Islamic charity co-founder convicted on money-smuggling charges can't question prosecutors in the defense's request to seek a new trial. Pete Seda was convicted last year of helping to smuggle $150,000 to Saudi Arabia through the charity's Oregon office. Court documents show that after he was convicted, the FBI asked for approval of a $7,500 payment to a prosecution witness. Defense lawyers wanted to ask prosecutors about their failure to disclose information about the proposed payment.

Spanish judge clears American of Algerian origin suspected of financing al-Qaida branch

03/22/11: The Los Angeles Times reports that a Spanish judge has cleared a US citizen of Algerian origin of suspicion he financed al-Qaida's North African affiliate. Investigating Magistrate Santiago Pedraz cited a lack of evidence against Mohamed Omar Dehbi, who used to live in Texas but now resides near Barcelona. Dehbi was arrested September 2010 after police alleged he financed al-Qaida by sending money to an associate in Algeria who is wanted in Spain on terror-related charges.

Mauritanian men sentenced for kidnapping Italians

03/22/11: The Miami Herald reports that a Mauritanian court has sentenced two men to five years in prison with hard labor for their involvement in kidnapping an Italian couple in 2009. The judge on Monday sentenced Malian citizen Abderrahmane Ould Imidou for kidnapping the Italian man and his wife, who were both freed in April after several months in captivity. Al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb claimed responsibility for the kidnapping. Mauritania has become a staging ground for al-Qaida's North African franchise. The group has bankrolled its operation by kidnapping foreigners for ransom across the Sahel region.

Europe seeks transparency from US on anti-terrorism program

03/18/11: The New York Times reports that the European Commission asked the US on Thursday to make a program that tracks the finances of terrorism suspects more transparent in order to broaden public support for it. The program allows US agencies to get access to European banking data held by a cooperative that is responsible for routing trillions of dollars daily among banks, brokerage houses, stock exchanges and other institutions.

Scholarship: Advising terrorism - hybrid scrutiny, safe harbors, and freedom of speech

03/08/11: SSRN has published new scholarship from Peter Margulies analyzing the Supreme Court decision in Humanitarian Law Project v. Holder (HLP) upholding a statute that bars "material support" of terrorist organizations. Some commentators have labeled HLP as heralding a new McCarthyism. Margulies argues that such critics overlook the tailored quality of the decision’s hybrid scrutiny model, its roots in the Framers’ concerns about foreign influence, and its surprising parallels with constitutional justifications for professional regulation. HT to Robert Chesney.

Man jailed for posting terrorist propaganda on Internet

02/26/11: CNN reports that a law student was jailed for five years in Britain Friday after being found guilty of posting extremist Islamic material, including footage of attacks on coalition troops in Afghanistan, on the Internet. Mohammed Gul, 23, from Hornchurch in east London, was arrested at his home on February 10, 2009.

Man accused of aiding Hezbollah has Philadelphia hearing

02/26/11: The Miami Herald reports that a 38-year-old dual citizen of the United States and Lebanon who is accused of conspiring to provide material support to Hezbollah has made an initial appearance in federal court in Philadelphia. Moussa Ali Hamdan, a former resident of New York City, appeared in court Friday after being extradited from Paraguay.  He is among a group of defendants charged in a conspiracy to provide material support to Hezbollah, which the US considers a terrorist organization.