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al-Amoudi arrested for concealing Libyan trip
A Muslim man, with ties to a group that evaluates Muslim military candidates, appeared in court Monday after allegedly failing to tell U.S. customs agents he had traveled to Libya. Agents from the Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the FBI took Abdul Rahman al-Amoudi into custody at Dulles International Airport in northern Virginia on Sunday as he returned to the United States. A federal magistrate in the U.S. District Court in Alexandria, Va., ordered Al-Amoudi to be held without bail pending a Tuesday detention hearing. First you pick him up on a easy charge, something you can hold him for a while, then..... Lawyers representing him said they did not have a comment on the case since they had just been handed the complaint, but did say their client was surprised he was arrested. "Lies, all lies, er, what was that charge again?" A government source said Monday that al-Amoudi flew to Washington from London and upon entry to the U.S. did not reveal to customs agents that he had traveled to Libya. Gee, now why would he be in Libya? Visting old friends? But several officials familiar with al-Amoudiâs case say the investigation goes well beyond anything relating to his travel. We hope so. Al-Amoudi has been under investigation for some time as part of a broad probe into Muslim charities and groups mostly in the northern Virginia area, officials have said. Investigators have been looking into whether these groupsâ funds may have ended up in the coffers of terrorist organizations. Just like Al Capone, itâs the accountants thatâll get ya. Offices of several of the groups were searched in March 2002. Officials from many of these groups have denied those charges and say no arrests have been made stemming from those searches. Guess they spoke too soon. Michael Mason, the head of the FBI field office in Washington, characterized the arrest as an important one, and said al-Amoudi was arrested without a warrant but with probable cause. "I can say no more" Posted by: Steve 2003-09-29 |
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