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.
Continue reading "Uzbek refugee arrested at O'Hare denies helping terror group" »
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.
Continue reading "Brothers in alleged NC terror ring face sentencing" »
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.
Continue reading "Hezbollah denies US money laundering charges" »
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.
Continue reading "Canadian accused of conspiring in US terror case" »
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.
Continue reading "Appeals court affirms convictions of 5 from Muslim charity tied to funding terrorist group" »
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.
Continue reading "Mali citizen pleads guilty in NYC to terror charge" »
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.
Continue reading "Texas man convicted of trying to sneak out of US to join al-Qaida" »
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.
Continue reading "Jihad Jane associates charged with terror support" »
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.
Continue reading "Treasury sanctions leaders of Pakistani terror group" »
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.
Continue reading "Chicago businessman convicted of aiding terrorist group seeks new trial" »
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.
Continue reading "The journalist and the spies" »
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.
Continue reading "US accuses Iran of aiding al-Qaeda" »
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.
Continue reading "US calls Chechen group terrorists, offers reward" »
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.
Continue reading "Holder defends decision to spare CAIR official" »
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.
Continue reading "Judge says defense can't question Islamic charity case lawyers" »
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.
Continue reading "Mauritanian men sentenced for kidnapping Italians" »
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.
Continue reading "Man accused of aiding Hezbollah has Philadelphia hearing" »
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.
September 18, 2011 at 11:10 AM in Judiciary / Cases, Executive Branch, Law Enforcement / Criminal Law, Homeland Security / Immigration, Terrorism / Counterterrorism, Politics, International Law / Law of War / Human Rights, Constitutional Law, Detainees / Guantanamo, Secrecy / Transparency / FOIA, State Secrets Privilege / CIPA, Surveillance / Privacy, Terrorist Finance / Material Support, Commentary / Opinion | Permalink