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Texan who tried to join Arabian Al Qaeda found guilty
A Texas man who had been in contact with Yemeni-based cleric Anwar al-Awlaki about jihad was convicted Monday on terror charges. Barry Walter Bujol Jr. was found guilty of attempting to provide material support to al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) and of aggravated identity theft.

Bujol was arrested in May of 2010, after he used a fraudulent identity card to get into the port of Houston to board and stow away on a ship he thought was bound for Algeria. Prosecutors said Bujol intended to travel from there to Yemen to join AQAP.

Bujol had been coordinating his plans with a man he thought was a recruiter for AQAP but who was actually a confidential source for law enforcement.

According to the prosecution, Bujol had been in e-mail communication with al-Awlaki and had asked his advice on how to raise funds for the "mujahideen" without attracting the attention of police, and also asked about his duty as a Muslim to wage "violent jihad." The government said al-Awlaki sent Bujol a document called "42 Ways of Supporting Jihad," which advises firearms training, physical fitness and "violent jihad."

The U.S. attorney's office in the Southern District of Texas says Bujol performed a number of training exercises to prove his value to his AQAP "recruiter," such as surveillance. Bujol also sent the "recruiter" military manuals and articles about unmanned aerial vehicles that he had found online and said would be useful to the them.

Bujol repeatedly told his contact, "AQAP should attack the human beings essential to operate the UAV's instead of attacking the UAV's themselves" and suggested targets including one in Texas.

On the same day Bujol was nabbed, law enforcement agents searched his apartment and found a home-made video on his laptop computer that included images of Bin Laden. In the video, Bujol's voice is heard telling his wife that he had left to pursue jihad and probably would not see her again until the afterlife.
"Be sure to stop by and see the virgins and me, once you get to paradise, dear."
Bujol asked for a bench trial in which the judge would render a decision rather than a jury. He acted as his own attorney but presented neither witnesses nor testimony on his own behalf. Bujol faces a maximum of 20 years in prison when he is sentenced.
Posted by: ryuge 2011-11-15
http://www.rantburg.com/poparticle.php?ID=333441