Man Freed in Terror Probe Back in State

Released from federal custody but not entirely free, college student Osama Awadallah returned here Friday after being held for more than two months as a material witness in the Sept. 11 terror probe.

Awadallah, a 21-year-old Jordanian, stepped off a flight from New York into the arms of two brothers a day after posting $500,000 bail. It was their first meeting since his arrest 10 days after the attacks.

Wearing a green sweatsuit and sneakers, he appeared worn but elated. Awadallah said he was pleased to be with his relatives, but would hold off celebrating until later in the evening, when family members broke the daily Ramadan fast.

“It’s wonderful to be back in San Diego with my family. But the happiness will have to wait,” Awadallah said in a brief interview before reporting to the U.S. marshal in San Diego, as required by the bail conditions.

Awadallah, a student at Grossmont College in suburban El Cajon, said he hopes for a prompt return to normal life. But that may not be easy. He still faces charges that he lied to a federal grand jury investigating the terror attacks when he said he did not know one of the hijackers. He has pleaded not guilty.

Under terms of his bail, Awadallah will be confined to the La Mesa home of his brother, Jamal, who put up the title to his ice cream truck to help guarantee that Awadallah would not flee.

“We are very thankful. It’s the best justice system in the world,” Jamal Awadallah said. “We are thankful to the judge and the authorities.”

He added: “This Ramadan has brought us joy and sadness. But when Ramadan ends this weekend, we will have a special reason to celebrate.”

Until the trial sometime next year, Awadallah’s movements will be monitored with an electronic ankle bracelet.

His first stop after being greeted by a crush of reporters at San Diego’s Lindbergh Field was at the marshal’s office downtown, where he was fitted with the device.

His San Diego attorney, Randall B. Hamud, said he is seeking permission from federal authorities to allow Awadallah to attend mosque, despite the home-confinement provision.

Awadallah refused to discuss the perjury charges or his incarceration. Defense attorneys had charged in court papers that he was roughed up by federal guards while jailed in Manhattan.

“It was a long and difficult process. The hardships were many in New York,” Awadallah said in the interview.

Hamud told reporters at the airport: “What has been overwhelming for him are the conditions of his incarceration up until now. Freedom is not overwhelming.”

Jamal Awadallah said his brother would soon telephone family members in Jordan to tell them he is back in San Diego. Their father, Ismail Awadallah, is a U.S. citizen living in Jordan.

The homecoming capped a turbulent autumn for Awadallah, caught up in the post-attacks sweep after a teacher told authorities that Awadallah had written in an exam booklet the first names of two hijackers who lived in San Diego last year.

Awadallah was charged later with lying to the grand jury during testimony in September. He acknowledged having met hijacker Nawaf Alhazmi, who worked at the same gas station and prayed at the same mosque as Awadallah. Awadallah’s name was found in Alhazmi’s car at Dulles International Airport near Washington, D.C., after the attack on the Pentagon.

But Awadallah told authorities that he did not know Khalid Almihdhar, one of the hijackers in the Pentagon attack. He also denied having written the name “Khalid” in the exam book.

He reversed that testimony soon after, but prosecutors charged that Awadallah was “promoting terrorism” by his misstatements.

Last month U.S. District Judge Shira Scheindlin in New York deemed Awadallah eligible for bail, labeling the government’s case “not particularly strong” and saying the defendant’s ties to San Diego and his clean record made him a low flight risk.

“I really think she wants justice in my case,” said Awadallah, one of four San Diego men who were arrested as material witnesses.

Two former roommates of Awadallah are still in federal custody on charges filed after they were detained as material witnesses. Mohdar Abdullah is being held in San Diego on immigration charges as friends seek to raise $500,000 in cash and assets to secure his release on bail.

Abdullah, a student at San Diego State University at the time of his arrest, was also detained because he knew Alhazmi.

A third man, Yemeni citizen Omer Bakarbashat, is being held on charges that he overstayed his student visa and worked in violation of the visa terms.

In hurried remarks at the San Diego airport, Awadallah said he looked forward to the release of the other detainees.

“I’m waiting for my brothers in custody to get out, as I got out,” he said.