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| U.S. Charges Six in al-Qaida Plot |
| 2002-10-04 |
| Hailing a "defining day" in the fight against terrorism, Attorney General John Ashcroft announced the arrests of four people in Oregon and Michigan on Friday on charges of conspiring to wage war on the United States and support al-Qaida. I wonder just how long the investigation leading to this has been going on? And how many others there are that they aren't bragging about? The arrests came on the same day that a tearful John Walker Lindh was sentenced to 20 years for fighting with the Taliban in Afghanistan and a laughing Richard Reid pleaded guilty in Boston to trying to blow up a trans-Atlantic flight with explosives hidden in his shoes. Made it a pretty good day, all in all, didn't it? Authorities arrested four people in Oregon and Michigan — including a former U.S. Army reservist. Two other suspects were indicted and were being sought overseas. Five of the six in the latest indictment are U.S. citizens. According to prosecutors, some of them took weapons training and then tried to travel to Afghanistan to join up with al-Qaida and the Taliban, but could not get into the country. Since we didn't get the opportunity to shoot them there, we should just shoot them here... Ashcroft said one of those arrested, Jeffrey Leon Battle, joined the U.S. Army Reserves to obtain training in U.S. tactics and weapons. Ashcroft said Battle, who was discharged last January while in Bangladesh, intended to use that experience against American soldiers in Afghanistan. Shoot low in him... Court papers identified the six as Battle, 32; Patrice Lumumba Ford, 31; Ahmed Ibrahim Bilal, 24; his brother Muhammad Ibrahim Bilal, 22; Habis Abdullah al Saoub, 37; and October Martinique Lewis, 25, the ex-wife of Battle. Battle, Lumumba Ford, Ahmed Bilal, Muhammad Bilal and Abdullah al Saoub set out for Afghanistan in October 2001 and tried to enter the country by way of China but failed, Ashcroft said. Lewis stayed behind and wired money to Battle eight times "with the knowledge the money would be used to support his attempt to reach Afghanistan" to help al-Qaida and the Taliban, according to the attorney general. Determined little traitors, weren't they? Not particularly ept, but determined... Ahmed Bilal and al Saoub were being sought outside the United States. Battle, Ford and Lewis were arrested in Portland, and Muhammad Bilal was taken into custody in Michigan. He had been living with a sister in the Detroit suburb of Dearborn for about a month but had previously lived in Oregon. |
| Posted by:Fred Pruitt |