| Submit your comments on this article | ||
| Home Front: WoT | ||
| Accused Yemeni Warned of 'Storms' to U.S. | ||
| 2004-12-06 | ||
| EW YORK - A Yemeni sheik accused of funneling millions of dollars to terrorist networks warned U.S. agents that "Allah will bring storms" to America because of his arrest, according to newly filed court papers. Mohammed Ali Hassan al-Moayad made the remark last year after a German court ordered him extradited to the United States to face charges he helped finance al-Qaida and Hamas, prosecutors said in the documents filed in U.S. District Court. The statement — spoken in English to agents bringing al-Moayad from Frankfurt to New York on Nov. 16, 2003 — counter defense claims that he has no command of the language, prosecutors said. "Allah is with me," he allegedly told a detective. "I am Mohammed al-Moayad. Allah will bring storms to Germany and America." Prosecutors have previously alleged al-Moayad was overheard boasting about his relationship with Osama bin Laden, saying in Arabic that bin Laden "tells me that I'm his sheik."
"Where is my money going to? Is it going to Hamas? Or is it al-Qaida? ... I need to know," the operative demanded during one clandestine meeting, according to the court papers. Al-Moayad allegedly responded: "The way we see it is to support all organizations — Hamas, al-Qaida ... mujahideen and such. Everybody that we learn is fighting jihad to raise God's word we shall support." The transcripts also say he told the operative he was in regular contact with Hamas leader Khaled Mashaal and had "knowledge of every aspect" of the Palestinian Islamic group. The papers were filed in response to defense motions asking a judge to bar portions of the transcripts from al-Moayad's upcoming trial. Attorneys for al-Moayad and his alleged accomplice, Mohammed Mohsen Yahya Zayed, have sought to discredit the transcripts by attacking Alanssi, who lured the cleric into the sting and acted as a translator between al-Moayad and the FBI operative. A defense motion called Alanssi's translations "inaccurate, incomplete and frequently embellished." Alanssi is recovering from burns after setting himself on fire, reportedly because he was distraught over his role as a witness against al-Moayad. But prosecutors suggested that because al-Moayad speaks English, he understood what the translator was saying during the sting and did not correct any alleged embellishments. Prosecutors insist the translations were accurate, and said excluding portions of them from evidence would "make it almost impossible for the jury to understand what happened." | ||
| Posted by:Steve |
| #9 Light snow here tonight. I'm not impressed. |
| Posted by: tu3031 2004-12-06 9:10:41 PM |
| #8 I don't know which group has the best rhetoric, the turbine heads or the treebark eaters. SYB |
| Posted by: Sheik Yar Bouti 2004-12-06 8:07:29 PM |
| #7 4. getting ones ass kicked so many times would send a message to most...NO BRAIN NO PAIN?? Yes, Planet Dan you are correct. Andrea |
| Posted by: andrea 2004-12-06 7:06:34 PM |
| #6 A Yemeni sheik accused of funneling millions of dollars to terrorist networks warned U.S. agents that "Allah will bring storms" to America because of his arrest, according to newly filed court papers. We already get storms. Got anything more serious to offer? |
| Posted by: Bomb-a-rama 2004-12-06 6:58:27 PM |
| #5 I'm still waiting for the streets to run with blood and the rain of planes falling from the sky. This dude's gonna have to get in line. |
| Posted by: Xbalanke 2004-12-06 5:37:47 PM |
| #4 Shoot, send him to Riker's Island. Pucker factor 10 for the sheik. |
| Posted by: anymouse 2004-12-06 3:57:21 PM |
| #3 This is the guy whose chief prosecution witness set himself on fire in front of the White House a few weeks ago. |
| Posted by: Seafarious 2004-12-06 3:52:15 PM |
| #2 I don't know. I just checked and it's raining outside. |
| Posted by: Michael 2004-12-06 3:40:23 PM |
| #1 . . . warned U.S. agents that "Allah will bring storms" to America because of his arrest . . . A few observations: 1. How the f*ck does this a**wipe know what allan's gonna do? Here in the US, when deities talk, the person hearing the message either goes to the looney bin or gets a cable show. 2. Why the f*ck would allan care all THAT much about this a**wipe anyway? What's he done, other than "made bad choices?" 3. Haven't just about all of these predictions of such dire consequences™ not come true? 4. Wouldn't getting your ass kicked so many times get most people to reassess whether they're fighting for the right side? |
| Posted by: PlanetDan 2004-12-06 3:21:53 PM |