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Two New York men arrested, charged with trying to help al Qaeda
Two U.S. citizens were charged Friday with conspiring to give computer advice, buy watches and do other tasks to help al-Qaida “modernize.'

A vaguely worded indictment unsealed Friday in federal court in Manhattan accused Wesam El-Hanafi of traveling to Yemen to meet with unnamed al-Qaida members in February 2008.

The terrorists “instructed him on operational security measures and directed him to perform tasks for al-Qaida,' the indictment says. While there, he also “took an oath of allegiance to al-Qaida,' it adds.

In February 2008, El-Hanafi bought computer software that allowed him to secretly communicate over the Internet, federal prosecutors allege. That summer, he met with an unnamed co-conspirator and the second defendant, Sabirhan Hasanoff, in Brooklyn to discuss joining al-Qaida, according to the indictment.

The confidential co-conspirator paid $50,000 to Hasanoff, who later traveled to New York City and performed unspecified “tasks for al-Qaida,' the court papers say.

The papers say that the conspiracy included El-Hanafi purchasing seven Casio digital watches, but doesn't say why.

U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara said in a statement that the men had schemed “to modernize al-Qaida by providing computer systems expertise and other goods and services.' His office declined further comment.

At an initial court appearance Friday afternoon in Alexandria, Va., El-Hanafi, 33, and Hasanoff, 34, waived their rights to a hearing there. They were detained and ordered transferred to New York for a bail hearing.

Prosecutor John Cronan declined to answer questions about the case after the hearing. There was no immediate response to phone messages left with the men's defense attorneys.


Posted by: tipper 2010-04-30
http://www.rantburg.com/poparticle.php?ID=295746