U.S. Ties 5 to Afghan Camp

Bush administration officials celebrated two breakthroughs in the war on terrorism Saturday, saying the arrest of five U.S. citizens of Yemeni descent in upstate New York and the capture overseas of a top suspect in the Sept. 11 attacks offer significant opportunities to cripple Al Qaeda operations.

The five alleged Al Qaeda soldiers, all in their 20s, appeared Saturday afternoon in a federal courthouse in Buffalo, N.Y., where a judge entered a not guilty plea for each on charges of conspiring to provide material support and resources to a terrorist organization. They were ordered held in jail pending a detention hearing Wednesday.

Authorities alleged that the men, who were arrested Friday night in the Buffalo suburb of Lackawanna, all received training at an Al Qaeda camp in Afghanistan in the spring of 2001. At least one of the men has told FBI agents of the group’s travels to Afghanistan, according to an affidavit unsealed Saturday.

Some of the men were taught how to fire automatic weapons and were in attendance when Al Qaeda founder Osama bin Laden visited the camp and urged trainees to join him in a jihad, or holy war, against the United States and its allies, said Deputy Atty. Gen. Larry D. Thompson.

With their arrests, “United States law enforcement has identified, investigated and disrupted an Al Qaeda-trained terrorist cell on American soil,” Thompson said at a news conference at Justice Department headquarters in Washington. He was flanked by FBI Director Robert S. Mueller III and New York Gov. George Pataki.

One U.S. official said the discovery of the alleged Al Qaeda cell was a sobering reminder that tens of thousands of Islamic militants have been trained at war camps in Afghanistan and dispatched for potential attacks, including the United States.

“Unfortunately, we are aware that this is not an isolated case,” said the official, who is familiar with the domestic counter-terrorism effort. “There are other cells in this country in which American citizens are actively participating.”

In recent weeks, federal authorities have accused a U.S. citizen from Seattle of trying to help Al Qaeda set up a terrorist training camp in Oregon and have accused three men in Detroit of supporting terrorism by acting as an organized “sleeper cell.”

“Terrorism and support of terrorists is not confined to large cities and metropolitan areas of America,” Thompson said. “It lurks in small towns and rural areas as well.” He added that the arrests “send an unambiguous message that we will track down terrorists wherever they hide.”

Authorities said the Lackawanna investigation is continuing at an intense pace, even though there were no conclusive indications that the suspects had imminent plans for an attack or that they had kept in contact with Al Qaeda operatives.

Those arrested were Yahya Goba, Sahim Alwan, Shafal Mosed, Yasein Taher and Faysal Galab.

FBI officials released little information about them, but they said their arrests culminated a long-running investigation that involved agents on several continents. They also said the investigation was one of several reasons why America’s terrorist alert status was elevated last week to the “orange” level, the second-highest, but not the only reason.

“We do not fully know the intentions of those charged today, and our investigation is continuing,” Mueller said. He added that authorities suspect that other co-conspirators of the five men remain at large, and that “they will be investigated, and they will be charged.”

At a second news conference Saturday held at FBI offices in Buffalo, N.Y., Special Agent in Charge Peter J. Ahearn said no weapons were found when authorities searched five residences and two cars Friday.

Ahearn also said the American Muslim community helped with the investigation, but he did not provide details.

On Saturday afternoon, the men appeared before Judge H. Kenneth Schroeder Jr. in a small, packed courtroom. Goba, 25, a heavyset man with a thick beard, was the first to appear.

Answering the judge’s questions, Goba said he worked until May 2000 at a wholesaler and married three months ago.

Alwan, 29, who was well-dressed and wore glasses, said he earned a moderate income at a firm called Satellite Services in the nearby town of Medina.

Mosed, 24, appeared nervous and used his copy of the criminal complaint to hide his face. He told the judge that he was married, with a 2-year-old child, and that he was a part-time student at Erie Community College.

Taher, 24, said he had a job until August. He has a 3-year-old son and pays child support.

Galab, 26, was the only suspect who had a private attorney, Joseph LaTona. The lawyer said the affidavit was based on hearsay information; he said that, as far as he knows, his client has never been to an Al Qaeda training camp in Afghanistan.

At Camp David, Md., President Bush appeared buoyed by the arrests in upstate New York, as well as by the capture of Ramzi Binalshibh in Pakistan, which came after months of often-frustrating efforts to apprehend Al Qaeda leaders.

A Yemeni national, Binalshibh, 30, was among the most-wanted of terrorists, along with Bin Laden himself, for his alleged central role in the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon and other terrorist plots. His arrest Wednesday during a shootout between Al Qaeda operatives and Pakistani authorities was disclosed Friday night and confirmed Saturday by Bush.

Bush called Binalshibh “one of the planners and organizers of the Sept. 11 attack.”

“One by one, we’re hunting the killers down,” Bush said. “We are relentless, we are strong and we’re not going to stop.... We’re doing everything we can to protect our homeland by hunting down killers, one person at a time.”

A Justice Department official said the arrests in both cases prompted a rare moment of jubilation among those leading the counter-terrorism investigation. Suspects in both cases, the official said, could provide authorities with invaluable leads in their investigation into the Al Qaeda terrorist network.

“These are the kind of days that not only advance our efforts but also are a real morale booster for everybody that is fighting this war on terrorism,” the official said. “There is an obvious excitement about this. You can’t overstate the importance of capturing Binalshibh, and you can’t overstate the powerful message that this sends to those who think they can hide in this country and evade our notice.”

The developments capped an emotionally wrenching week in which Americans mourned their dead on the anniversary of the suicide hijackings, even as they were asked to go to an officially heightened state of alert due to fresh concerns about looming terrorist attacks.

U.S. officials confirmed that they are trying to gain unfettered access to Binalshibh, who was a former roommate of alleged Sept. 11 ringleader Mohamed Atta in an apartment in Hamburg, Germany.

Authorities also believe that Binalshibh was meant to be the 20th hijacker, but that he was thwarted by four unsuccessful attempts to get a U.S. visa.

After that, they allege, he sent money to several hijackers in the United States, including Zacarias Moussaoui, who may also have been trying to join in the hijacking conspiracy. Moussaoui is in custody in the U.S. and faces terrorism conspiracy charges.

U.S. officials have so far been granted only limited access to Binalshibh, who is in the custody of Pakistan’s intelligence service, the Inter-Services Intelligence agency, they said.

In the Lackawanna case, the FBI said four of those arrested were born in the U.S.; the other was naturalized when he was a teen. All of them lived within blocks of each other in the steel town that has become home to thousands of immigrants from the Arab nation of Yemen.

Friends and relatives said they were stunned, describing the men as friendly, nonviolent and interested in the teachings of Islam.

“I know three of them and I’m totally shocked,” said Khalid Qazi, president of the American Muslim Council of Western New York and a nearby resident. “They are very good people, as far as I know, and they never talked about anything related to terrorism.”

Another local resident said three of the men are talented soccer players and stars in the local adult league.

Federal law enforcement officials portrayed the suspects far differently.

Seven men of Yemeni descent from Lackawanna traveled to Afghanistan in two groups last year, according to an FBI affidavit filed in connection with the case and unsealed Saturday. The two other men are believed to be in Yemen, the FBI said.

While in Afghanistan, the FBI said, the seven men attended the same Al Qaeda “basic training” camp as John Walker Lindh, the so-called American Talib who fought alongside the Taliban before his capture last year.

Lindh has since pleaded guilty to terrorism conspiracy charges as part of a deal with federal prosecutors that requires him to cooperate in ongoing terror investigations; authorities would not comment Saturday on whether Lindh has identified any of the defendants as attending the camps.

While at a guest house near the camp, Alwan and an unidentified co-conspirator “received lectures on jihad, prayers and justification for using suicide as a weapon,” according to the affidavit by FBI special agent Edward J. Needham.

Days later, Alwan arrived at the Al-Farooq training camp near Kandahar, where he saw the four other defendants, the affidavit said. Some of the men told Alwan “that they had been in training for 3-4 weeks, receiving instructions on firearms and mountain climbing,” it said.

During the second of seven weeks at the camp, Bin Laden arrived and gave a speech studded with “anti-United States and anti-Israel statements,” Needham wrote. “Alwan saw all of his acquaintances from Lackawanna” at the speech.

Authorities would not comment on whether Alwan or several unnamed co-conspirators mentioned in the affidavit are cooperating in the ongoing investigation, even though the document makes clear that some have provided information to the FBI.

Buffalo defense attorney LaTona said he received a phone call from Galab about a month ago after Galab was contacted by FBI officials. LaTona said he talked with FBI officials about setting up a meeting, but before it could be done, the arrests occurred. After the hearing Saturday, Qazi emphasized that he believed the U.S. justice system would treat the suspects fairly.

“They all have family and friends in the community. We want to make sure the charges will prove to be wrong,” Qazi said. “That will be the hope of the families,” he said.

Each defendant faces a maximum of 15 years in prison if convicted.

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Meyer reported from Washington, Mulligan from Buffalo.