Imam in Virginia suspected of al-Qaeda ties

Islamist Muslim Imam in Virginia suspected of al-Qaeda ties, links to anti-American terrorism plots

Susan Schmidt with the Washington Post reported Wednesday, Feb. 27, on Imam Anwar al-Aulaqi’s long-standing status as a terrorist sympathizer, dating to before 9-11.

Federal authorities knew of his possible links to al-Qaeda, and their interest only grew following the 9-11 attacks: three of the hijackers had been guests at his mosques in California and Falls Church, Virginia.

Al-Aulaqi, nevertheless, was allowed to leave the country in 2002. 

New information later surfaced about his contacts with extremists while in the United States. Now, U.S. officials are saying for the first time that they believe that Aulaqi worked with al-Qaeda networks in the Persian Gulf after leaving Northern Virginia.

In mid-2006, Aulaqi was detained in Yemen at the request of the United States. To the dismay of U.S. authorities, Aulaqi was released in December.

"There is good reason to believe Anwar Aulaqi has been involved in very serious terrorist activities since leaving the United States, including plotting attacks against America and our allies," said a U.S. counterterrorism official who spoke on the condition of anonymity.

U.S. authorities were limited in how far they could push Yemen to hold Aulaqi, officials said, because they have no pending legal case against him.

The officials said ongoing intelligence-gathering efforts here and abroad prevented them from providing details about Aulaqi's suspected activities.

Aulaqi, 36, was the spiritual leader in 2001 and 2002 of the Dar al-Hijrah mosque in Falls Church, one of the largest in the country.

In a taped interview posted this New Year's Eve on a British Web site, Aulaqi said that while in prison in Yemen, he had undergone multiple interrogations by the FBI that included questions about his dealings with the Sept. 11 hijackers.

"I don't know if I was held because of that, or because of the other issues they presented," Aulaqi said without elaborating.

He said he would like to travel outside Yemen but would not "until the U.S. drops whatever unknown charges it has against me." Aulaqi did not respond to requests for an interview…

Federal prosecutors in New York alleged in a 2004 terrorism-related trial that a U.S. branch of a Yemeni charity for which Aulaqi served as vice president was a front that sent money to al-Qaeda.

Documents filed around the same time in federal court in Alexandria assert that a year after 9/11, Aulaqi returned briefly to Northern Virginia, where he visited a radical Islamic cleric and asked him about recruiting young Muslims for "violent jihad."

That cleric, Ali al-Timimi, is now serving a life sentence for inciting followers to fight with the Taliban against Americans…

State Department officials said they are barred by privacy law from discussing Aulaqi's detention because he is a U.S. citizen. 

Several terrorism cases in Britain and Canada over the past 18 months include as evidence private computer files with audio of Aulaqi lectures on al-Qaeda strategies.

Aulaqi, according to suspects, transcripts and other evidence, promoted terrorist strategies first proposed by now deceased al-Qaeda leader Yusef al-Averi, a Saudi Arab nicknamed “Swift Sword.”

---

Add Comments

Join Our E-Mail list

Original Article

Christian Action Network
Pamphlets

---

Order your copy of
"Jihad in America!"

---

Order your copy of
"Homegrown Islamic Terrorism"

---

Order your copy of
"Terror in Our Schools"