| Submit your comments on this article |
| Home Front: WoT |
| California arrests part of lengthy probe |
| 2005-06-10 |
| Federal authorities aren't saying much about their terrorism investigation in nearby Lodi but are making two things crystal clear: Their work in the farming town has been going on for years — and it's not over yet. They denied the implication by some members of Lodi's large Pakistani community that the probe was triggered by a rift between fundamentalist and mainstream factions. Each side accused the other of contacting the FBI, which is in charge of the investigation. The dispute has led to a leadership struggle at the Lodi Muslim Mosque and a legal fight with a budding Islamic learning center. "This specific investigation has been going on for several years," FBI spokesman John Cauthen said Thursday. The FBI alleges several people committed to Al Qaeda (search) have been operating in and around the tranquil wine-growing region just south of Sacramento. Investigators say Hamid Hayat (search), 22, trained with Al Qaeda in Pakistan and planned to attack hospitals and supermarkets in the United States. He is scheduled to appear in federal court Friday for a bail hearing. Umer Hayat, 47, said his son was drawn to jihadist training camps in his early teenage years while attending a madrassah, or religious school, in Rawalpindi, Pakistan, that was operated by Umer Hayat's father-in-law, according to an FBI affidavit. Hayat allegedly paid for his son to attend the terrorist camp in 2003 and 2004. The affidavit says it was run by a friend of his father-in-law's. The Hayats are charged only with lying to federal investigators. Two Islamic religious leaders, or imams, and one leader's son also have been detained on immigration violations. Neither Cauthen nor a spokeswoman for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement would reveal specifics of the alleged visa violations. Saad Ahmad, an attorney for the three men, did not immediately return a telephone call Thursday seeking comment. The sequence that led to the arrests and detentions began May 29, when Hamid Hayat was trying to return to the U.S. but was identified in mid-flight as being on the federal "no-fly" list. His plane was diverted to Japan, where Hayat was interviewed by the FBI and denied any connection to terrorism. He was allowed to fly to California, but was interviewed again last weekend. He and his father were charged after he flunked a lie detector test and then admitted attending the training camp, the affidavit said. The Hayats and the imams are on opposite sides of a struggle between Pakistani factions in and around Lodi: The Hayats are aligned with a faction supporting more traditional Islamic values; the imams with another group seeking greater cooperation and understanding from the larger community. Adil Khan was trying to start an Islamic center but has been sued by the Lodi Muslim Mosque, which claims he improperly transferred mosque property. "It may well be that some of this is gamesmanship," said attorney Gary Nelson, who represents Khan in the civil lawsuit. "But we are talking about the FBI and INS, and they don't do this lightly. At least I hope they don't." Lawyers for the Hayats are questioning why the FBI changed the affidavit. They maintain that copies released in Washington and Sacramento are significantly different. The Washington version, released first, said Hamid Hayat chose to carry out his "jihadi mission" in the United States and potential targets included "hospitals and large food stores." The reference to the targets was dropped in a later version filed in federal court in Sacramento. Hamid Hayat's attorney, Wazhma Mojaddidi, said that revision "strikes us as an odd turnabout." Umer Hayat's attorney, Johnny Griffin III, said he was irritated that the government made public the references to hospitals and supermarkets, and then filed something different with the court. Cauthen described the changes as routine revisions. Authorities said they had no indication of specific plans or timetables for an attack. "There is no specific information about hospitals and food stores," he said. "They didn't stand out above other sectors of the infrastructure." |
| Posted by:Dan Darling |
| #3 Interesting, Peggy. I don't imagine the majority will convert, any more than the majority became Black Muslims. But a minority could be enough to cause problems. HOWEVER, this is another of those strong horse thingies that bin Laden spoke about. If we can conclusively discredit and destroy the Islamofascists in Iraq, the desirability of Islam will fall off drastically to such people. So there's even more riding on Bush's invasion than we thought... I think. ;-) What say you? |
| Posted by: trailing wife 2005-06-10 16:24 |
| #2 You don't sound paranoid to me. |
| Posted by: tu3031 2005-06-10 14:50 |
| #1 I hate to sound paranoid, but what the hell, these are the times that we live in... Has anyone wondered why a group of muslims would choose to migrate and form a community in a little rural town filled with Hispanic migrant workers? Does anyone think that this is just a coincidence? Or is this a deliberate experiment to target Hispanics? I have to wonder. Its hard to escape the fact of the coming Hispanic demographic dominance throughout much of the country. Politicians know it well. What better way to capitalize on migrant worker misery for islam than to target such communities (much like in Chiapas?) I get the strong impression that militant islam has the Hispanic community in its sites and has for a long time been on a covert campaign to head off this largely Catholic population from dominating the US as Catholics. If I were a muslim and I wanted to ensure islam's dominance that is what I would do. I would see Hispanic Catholics as the #1 obstacle to the cause who must be islamic if their numbers are going to make them a majority. Anyone want to bet that certain audiences of muslims are getting the message that converting Hispanic or moving to a largely hispanic community brings a special reward in heaven? How much do you want to bet that Hispanics are being specifically "befriended"/targeted on campus and in the inner cities? CAIR recently sent a Hispanic New Yorker to Dallas to be its spokesperson in the city. She has "coincidentally" chosen to keep her given hispanic name. Hispanic names are increasingly popping up in news articles about muslim conversions. One campus paper recently ran an article which chiefly quoted the Hispanic female spokesperson for the campus muslim organization and get this she is a recent convert. Can anyone say fast track with a bullet? Who would be better to target with criticism of Hispanic culture than an Hispanic college student who has already put distance between themselves and their birth culture. What would be better than to exploit the pride such a kid would feel for getting out and then blaming every problem of that culture on a lack of islam? What better target could there be than an empoverished and possibly resentful migrant worker who feels powerless and exploited and looked down on. Feed him the argument that islam is a system that would empower him to use his anger righteously to eliminate his lack of respect and dignity. I think we have a bigger problem than just fears of terrorism on our hands. What can be done to stop the islamic incursion into the Hispanic demographic? Is anyone working this angle? we need to get on the ball. |
| Posted by: peggy 2005-06-10 12:14 |