Scarpa, Jr.

’s co-operation was disputed at his sentencing since it was limited in

its scope and Scarpa had not supplied information about the Mafia, just about a group
of innocuous al-Qaeda members: “While the Government’s agreement to work with him
and to evaluate his assistance without requiring him to first plead guilty was prompted
by the serious nature of his initial proffer ‘regarding imminent terrorist acts, including
acts of violence directed at Assistant United States Attorneys or judges,’ (Affirmation of
Valerie Caproni, at 13), Ms. Caproni made clear that the Government’s interest was not
exclusively in obtaining information that might ‘thwart a terrorist attack.’ Thus, at the first
meeting with Mr. Scarpa, Ms. Caproni ‘asked Scarpa whether he had information on the
issue of his father having a law enforcement source,’ and told him ‘that if he really
wanted to co-operate with the government it was in his interest to provide as much
information as he can...’ Later, in the course of his work with the Southern District
Assistants and agents, Mr. Scarpa was asked to - and did obtain information that may
have been relevant to the investigation of the terrorists, but clearly was not designed to
‘foil’ a terrorist attack. For example, after the explosion of the TWA jet on July 18, 1996,
Mr. Scarpa was directed to try to obtain information from the terrorists as to whether or
not they were involved.”

EYAD ISMAIL’S ATTORNEY’S LETTER TO JUDGE RAGGI

As assigned counsel, the undersigned represents Eyad Ismail, one of the

defendants convicted, in November 1997, of the 1993 bombing of the
World Trade Center, in the trial of U.S.A. v. Ramzi Yousef and Eyad
Ismail, the appeal of which is presently pending in the United States Court
of Appeals for the Second Circuit.

This letter is respectfully submitted as a motion to unseal the record of the

proceedings held on May 7, 1999, in the above referenced matter, and to
provide a transcript of same to the undersigned, for purposes of
determining whether any basis exists for a defense motion pursuant to
F.R.CR.P. 33. [Newly discovered evidence in a motion for new trial.]
Bernard Kleinman, Ramzi Yousef’s attorney, joins this motion. The basis
for this motion and the relevant facts are as follows:

As Your Honor is aware, Scarpa testified at his own trial in 1998 that he
spied for the FBI on Yousef and Eyad Ismail while all were incarcerated at
the MCC awaiting their respective trials. After obtaining the minutes of
Scarpa’s testimony, counsel for Ismail and Yousef requested information
regarding Scarpa’s allegations in letters, dated December 1, 1998, to the
FBI and the United States Attorneys for the Southern and Eastern Districts
of New York, (SDUSA and EDUSA), in order to determine whether any
basis existed for a motion pursuant to F.R.Cr.P. 33, due to the Scarpa
matter. The FBI and the EDUSA’s office responded that they deferred to
the SDUSA in this matter. The SDUSA never responded to the
defendants’ requests. After waiting seven weeks for the response that
never came, defendants moved in the Circuit Court for an Order
compelling disclosure.

The SDUSA opposed the motion, claiming that it was brought in the wrong
forum and should be made before Judge Duffy. They also claimed that ‘in
the appropriate forum’, they were ‘prepared to demonstrate that Scarpa’s
purported co-operation’ was handled properly and that defendants had no
basis for relief. A Second Circuit judge denied the motion, stating that it
should ‘more appropriately’ be brought in the district court, due to the
latter’s ‘fact finding capability’. On April 8, 1999, the defendants filed a
motion for disclosure and other relief in the district court. The government
once again failed to respond and after four weeks of waiting, defendants
requested that Judge Duffy calendar the motion. Following defendants’
request, the SDUSA, for the first time, requested an extension of six
weeks, until June 18, 1999, in which to respond to defendants’ motion.
Defendants opposed the extension, pointing out that the government has
known about this matter since last December and has had more than
ample time in which to respond, particularly in light of its claim to the
Second Circuit that it was prepared to demonstrate that the Scarpa matter
was handled properly. Over defendants’ objections, the Court granted the
extension.

No government agency has ever denied or attempted to refute the

allegations made by Scarpa during his trial testimony. Whatever
determinations have been made regarding the quality or veracity of the
information Scarpa provided to the FBI, it is apparent that he did spy on
the defendants and that it was done with the knowledge and assistance of
the government. Defendants have been seeking information relating to
Scarpa’s claims since December 1, 1998, and have met with repeated
resistance and delaying tactics by the government.

Defendants respectfully submit that the complete record of the Scarpa

proceedings must be available for defendants’ inspection to assist in their
investigation as to whether any of their constitutional rights were violated,
and whether any basis for a Rule 33 motion exists. Judge Duffy has
already signed the appropriate approval for C.J.A. (Criminal Justice Act)
payment for the transcript. I have been informed that Your Honor has
sealed the record of the November 7, 1999 proceeding, thereby
necessitating this request.

Since the Scarpa trial has been completed and the sealing of the record
applied to a post trial matter, the unsealing of the record will pose no
threat to Scarpa’s right to a fair trial. Furthermore, any needed instructions
by the Court limiting the use by counsel of said records should alleviate
any valid concerns. Defendants therefore respectfully request that the
Court unseal the record of the May 7, 1999 proceedings so that the
 transcript may be obtained by them. A proposed order is enclosed
herewith.1

Judge Raggi responded: “This application should be made on formal motion with
notice to both the prosecution and Mr. Scarpa’s counsel. So ordered.”

THE GOVERNMENT’S RESPONSE

The Government argued that the fruits of Scarpa’s co-operation -- the so-called
“Scarpa material” -- had been the subject of two protective orders that had been
obtained ex parte during the 1997 World Trade Center trial. The first such order was
issued on July 9, 1997 under Rule 16(d)(1), Fed. R. Crim. P., and the second protective
order was obtained from the Court on August 11, 1997 under 18 U.S.C. § 3500(c).

Rule 16(d)(1) provides that a Court “may permit” the Government to make its
showing in support of a protective order on an ex parte basis. 18 U.S.C. § 3500(c)
states: “If the United States claims that any statement ordered to be produced under
this section contains matter which does not relate to the subject matter of the testimony
of the witness, the court shall order the United States to deliver such statement for the
inspection of the court in camera. Upon such delivery the court shall excise the portions
of such statement that do not relate to the subject matter of the testimony of the
witness.”

The Government attempted to establish in each application that the Scarpa

material: (1) was not relevant to the prosecution; (2) would not be used by the
Government at trial; (3) was equally accessible to the defendants as it was the
Government; (4) was not exculpatory under Brady; (5) did not constitute impeachment
material of any witness under Giglio; and (6) did not contain statements that related to
the subject matter of any witness’ testimony.

In April 2003 the Appellate Court ruled on Bernard Kleinman’s motion that the
Brothers were not given a fair trial because they were not told of, nor were their
attorneys allowed to see the Scarpa material: “We agree that there were procedural
defects in the handling of the Scarpa materials. The Advisory Committee Note to Fed.
R. Crim. P. 16(d) (1), which governs the first protective order, explicitly states that ex
parte protective orders and their supporting documents are to be ‘preserved in the
records of the court to be made available to the appellate court in the event of an
appeal.’

Similarly, Fed. R. Crim. P. 26.2(c), which governs the second protective

order, states that any portion of a witness’s statement that is withheld from
the defendant over the defendant’s objection must be preserved ‘under
seal, as part of the record’ in case the defendant appeals. The handling of
these proceedings was such that the sealed documents and Scarpa’s role
as a jailhouse informant would not have come to the attention of this Court

1
. Letter Aidala to Raggi May 25, 1999.
or Yousef or Ismoil but for fortuitous newspaper reporting. There were,
therefore, serious procedural deficiencies.

The procedural defects do not, however, entitle Yousef or Ismoil to a new

trial or even full disclosure of the materials. Such relief is available only if
the nondisclosure of these materials was error and was substantially
prejudicial.

The Government, in ex parte affirmations that we have reviewed in

camera, has provided various reasons why the Scarpa materials should
continue to be sealed, including the protection of confidential informants
and the need for secrecy about how it investigates and responds to
terrorist threats. After reviewing these affirmations, we conclude that the
District Court did not err in issuing the protective orders although a public
docketing reflecting the existence of the sealed proceedings should have
been ordered at the time of the Government’s applications and certainly
no later than the date on which the judgments became appealable.
Moreover, our review demonstrates that there was no prejudice to Yousef
or Ismoil in the nondisclosure of these materials, and that the
Government’s affirmations are sufficient to justify the continued sealing of
the materials.

Yousef’s and Ismoil’s claims that the Scarpa materials must be disclosed
in order to determine whether there was a Massiah or Brady violation are
without foundation. In Massiah, the Supreme Court held that the
government violates a defendant’s Sixth Amendment rights when, acting
through an undisclosed agent, it deliberately elicits incriminating
statements after the defendant has been indicted and his rights to counsel
have attached.

Scarpa’s information concerned threats that Yousef had made against

United States interests that were unrelated to his attack against the World
Trade Center or the airline bombing plot. The eliciting of such information
cannot violate Yousef’s or Ismoil’s Sixth Amendment rights under Massiah
because these rights attach only to criminal conduct charged in an
indictment. Additionally, Yousef and Ismoil have forfeited their rights under
Massiah by deliberately colluding with Scarpa to provide the Government
with (mis)information they now claim was wrongly elicited.

Our in camera review of the sealed materials also demonstrates that they
do not contain exculpatory information that would support a Brady claim.
Because the Scarpa materials contain no information that has any bearing
on Yousef’s and Ismoil’s convictions, the District Court did not abuse its
discretion in refusing to hold a fact-finding hearing or unseal the
sentencing minutes from Scarpa’s trial.
WHO DID YOUSEF PATCH OVERSEAS CALLS TO?

On at least one occasion Brother Yousef was in direct communication with his
uncle, Khalid Shaikh Mohammed who was wanted by America for his involvement in
Bojinga. The 9/11 Commission reported: “Yet another link to Khalid Shaikh Mohammed
was made when Yousef, who was apprehended shortly after fleeing the Philippines,
made a call from detention to Qatar and asked to speak with ‘Khalid.’ This number was
similar to the one found by the Philippine police.” On other occasions he used go
betweens who parked nearby MCC to pick up Yousef’s faint radio signals.

In late 1996 Khalid Shaikh Mohammed was trying to sell Bojinga to Usama bin
Laden but he said he was always working on more than one operation at a time and in a
written statement stated:

I know that the materialistic Western mind cannot grasp the idea, and it is
difficult for them to believe that the high officials in al-Qaeda do not know
about operations carried out by its operatives, but this is how it works. We
do not submit written reports to our higher ups. I conducted the September
11th operation by submitting only oral reports. I would travel for a day-and-
a-half until I reached bin Ladin, and I informed him of what was
happening. Sometimes, I scratched down my notes on a small piece of
paper about 1 cm long. This is unacceptable in operations administered by
the West. We sent meaningless letters of few lines. We spoke nonsense
on the telephone with the operatives and the go-between people like
Ramzi Muhuhammed Abdullah Bin al-Shibh. But in the end the operation
was a success. I know that running an operation in the West demands
specific administrative work. Yet, you must believe that the same
operation could be run successfully with simple primitive means. 2

Khalid Shaikh Mohammed communicated with al-Qaeda cells by courier, e-mail,

coded telephone conversations and short-wave radio; when he was in a rural hideout he
communicated by donkey. Back in 1996 the FBI and CIA had been given orders by the
Jew Jamie Gorelick and her homosexual boss, USAG Janet Reno not to investigate
Usama bin Laden, whose name appeared on the Rahman Unindicted Co-Conspirator
List. The FBI was hamstrung when it came al-Qaeda – even when Gregory Scarpa Jr.
offered the feds a chance to meet members of an al Qaeda cell on U.S. soil by getting
Yousef to organize a sit-down between the mob and al Qaeda they found a way to not
do so. Yousef first wanted $3,000 from the Mafia, sent to an address, before the
meeting would take place. But the FBI insisted the only transfer of money could be face-
to-face. Yousef got paranoid, and the plan was shelved. Yousef began to grow
impatient with Scarpa's failure to come through with money and with bomb scares: At
one point Yousef was eager to solidify a bond between al Qaeda and the mob and
suggested each group phone in three bomb threats to United Airlines in the same week
- to show their combined might. His plan was to make sure the flights were international

2
. KSM Substitution Testimony at Moussaoui Trial
and the calls were made "a few hours after departure, not before." On hearing about the
plan, the FBI told Scarpa, "No bomb threats will be made." 3

During Yousef’s appeal, his attorney, Bernard Kleinman wrote: “Yousef, at that
time, was believed to possess very powerful, imminently harmful connections on the
outside, including the latest alleged master international terrorist, Usama bin Laden. The
Appellant was also believed linked to several ongoing threats to national security.”
There was a warrant out for Khalid Shaikh Mohammed so the “no pro-active
investigation” order did not apply to him, yet the FBI did not use Yousef and bait to
catch his uncle. Neil Herman, a former top FBI counter-Islamist officer said: “If Khalid
Shaikh Mohammed had been caught in 1996 who knows what could have been
prevented?” The NSA must have traced Yousef’s calls from “Roma.”

The al-Qaeda instruction book says this regarding telephones - “The telephone
is the most dangerous form of communication, but it can very useful if one is always
extremely prudent in its use. Therefore, coded language should dominate every
organization-related conversation and two parties must use symbols rather than facts to
prevent falling into the enemies trap” 4 Was Yousef’s code too difficult to crack? Did the
FBI intercept Yousef’s radio transmissions?

After TWA Flight 800 was destroyed, in September 1996, MCC cut off Yousef’s
telephonic communication to the outside world and put him under Special Administrative
Measures (SAMs). Yousef told Scarpa, “that the government is trying to keep him from
contacting his people outside. Yousef stated that he has many ways of getting word or
plans out. Yousef said he gets word out through his paralegal and through Murad and
Eyad Ismail’s visitors. Yousef stated that when he has mail to get out, Murad and Ismail
put the letters in their pants and give them to their visitors to mail. Yousef said the
government would never understand the letters even if they found them because they
are written in Arabic and coded. Yousef said he had an emergency way of getting word
out but did not elaborate on this method…Yousef insisted on a telephone call to his
paralegal. Lieutenant Desmond denied Yousef and told him that he can only call his
lawyer. Yousef then phoned his lawyer and returned to his cell. Yousef told Scarpa that
he does not understand why MCC is making things so hard for him. Scarpa told Yousef
that it started after the TWA explosion. Yousef replied, ‘Do they honestly think that I
can’t get messages out?’”5

In 1998 Bernard Kleinman requested that Yousef be allowed mail and telephone
privileges. The Assistant United States Attorney responded:

You state that Yousef should be permitted to correspond with his family in
Iran and Pakistan in Arabic. The current S.A.M. requires Yousef to
communicate in the English language: All of the Inmate’s [Yousef’s]
Communications shall be in English - All of the inmate’s communications,
whether the communication is via telephone, written, or in any other form,
3
. http://www.nypost.com/news/regionalnews/22532.htm NY Post April 11, 2004
4
. USA v Ramzi Yousef TT 7425
5
. FBI 302 265A-NY-258172 September 4, 1996
 shall be in English. If the inmate attempts to communicate in any language
other than English the communication will be interrupted by B.O.P.
(Bureau of Prisons)6 Yousef is required to communicate in the English
language to prevent him from communicating terrorist information /
instructions in coded messages, which he has previously attempted, and
to prevent him from using coded messages to circumvent the security of
the B.O.P. institution in which he is housed. As you must know, Yousef
speaks several uncommon Arabic dialects. His ability to utilize his
language skills to attempt to communicate terrorist information causes the
government great concern. Therefore, the SAM restricting Yousef to
communicating in the English language is a reasonable restriction and will
remain in place.

You state that while at B.O.P.’s Metropolitan Correctional Center in New

York City, Yousef could telephone anyone he pleased, including family
and friends, and this privilege is not available at the United States
Penitentiary, Administrative Maximum, Florence, Colorado (ADX). An
official at the MCC has reported that this was simply not the case. At the
MCC, once the S.A.M. was in place, Yousef was only permitted to have
telephone contact with his attorneys of record. The current S.A.M. restricts
Yousef’s telephone calls to his attorneys: Telephone Call Limits - The
inmate is limited to telephone calls only to/from his attorney(s). 7

Aside from the government’s concern that Yousef would use his global
contacts to continue his terrorist mission, normal B.O.P. policy/procedure
only permits inmates to telephonically communicate with individuals on an
approved call list. Because the government has not even been able to
confirm Yousef’s true identity, it would be impossible to confirm the true
identify and relationship to Yousef of any person in the Mid-East. Also,
here again, Yousef’s language abilities and the government’s difficulties
with contemporaneous monitoring of his communications raise additional
obstacles to allowing Yousef unrestricted access to telephones. Therefore,
the SAM restricting Yousef to telephone contact only with his attorneys of
record is a reasonable restriction and will remain in place.

Based upon Yousef’s worldwide terrorist contacts, his prior terrorist

actions - for which he was convicted, his own statements, his prior
behavior while incarcerated, and the reality that some of his fellow indicted
terrorist co-conspirators still remain at large, it is obvious that Yousef,
even though incarcerated, poses a substantial risk that his
communications or contacts with persons could result in death or serious
bodily injury to persons, or substantial damage to property that would
entail the risk of death or serious bodily injury to persons. 8

6
. August 10, 1998, 28 C.F.R. § 501.3 restrictions on Yousef
7
. August 10, 1998, 28 C.F.R. § 501.3 restrictions on Yousef
8
. AUSA’s letter to Kleinman dated September 11, 1998.
 Kleinman responded:

I am counsel of record for inmate Ramzi Ahmed Yousef and have read the
‘Notification of Special Administrative Measures’ (SAMs) dated November
21, 2000, consisting of six pages. I will not patch any calls by inmate
Yousef through to third parties (or otherwise transfer such calls), nor will I
allow third persons to participate in the conversations. I have also
instructed the staff in my office that such staff are not to patch any calls by
inmate Yousef through to third parties (or otherwise transfer such calls),
nor will such staff allow third persons to participate in the conversations. I
also agree that I will not record any conversations with inmate Yousef or
allow any member of my office or staff to do so.

Not only are al-Qaeda phone calls coded, court documents and letters also
contain encrypted messages: On September 19, 2002 Federal prosecutors warned that
Zacarias Moussaoui might be issuing coded messages to other followers of al-Qaeda
through handwritten court motions and urged a federal judge to bar him from filing
documents that might contain secret messages. When the turncoat Ali-Mohamed
contacted an associate overseas he wrote: “At any rate please give my best regards to
your friend O’Sam [Usama bin Laden] and his co-partner and tell him – Sam – that I
apologize that I could finish what he requested of me due to some personal problems.
As far as Mr. Wadeeh, he’s presently staying in Texas…He told me that while finishing
a business deal with Mr. Sam and while returning home he was contacted by one of the
opposition company called Food and Beverage Industry [FBI] based in the U.S.” Other
codes are more complex. When Ajaj contacted his uncle in Texas this conversation took
place:

Ajaj: God is our helper, my friend. Most importantly, how is your health?

Rashed: (Inaudible)

Ajaj: Insha’allah you’re happy.

Rashed: (Inaudible)

Ajaj: What about fixing me a hamburger sandwich over the phone?

Rashed: What?

Ajaj: A hamburger sandwich or a steak sandwich.

Rashed: (U/I)

Ajaj: Abu Omar?

Abu Omar: Yeah?

 Ajaj: Make us smell a steak. The smell of a hamburger. The smell of a –

Abu Omar: The smell of hamburgers only.

Ajaj: Fine. Make us smell a hamburger of yours. Make us smell a

hamburger of yours over the telephone.

Abu Omar: Most welcome, once you come over.

A few days later Ajaj was patched to a pay phone at a restaurant named “Big
Five Hamburgers.” Muhammad Salami testified that Ahmad Suleiman told him that a
man named Mohammad owned the Big Five Hamburger Stand in Texas, and that
whenever they wanted to send out money, they usually sent their money through him,
and they also had meetings at the Big Five. Many telephone calls were bridged for Ajaj
from the Big Five to the Al-Farooq Mosque in Brooklyn, where Sheikh Rahman
preached.

Shadi Abdullah, a 26-year-old Jordanian, was a witness against Brother Mounir

el-Motassadeq, who had helped several of the September 11 th crew when
they resided in Germany. Abdullah provided the Germans with a glossary
of code words used by our operatives across Europe. “Seven Seas”
referred to a forged visa used to gain unobstructed entry to 15 European
Union countries. “Honey” was a CD-ROM containing recipes for making
explosives. A “toy” was a pistol. A “little girl” was a forged driver’s license.

A LESSON UNLEARNED

Despite our use of the prison telephone system to co-ordinate our activities
according to Bureau Of Prisons telephone records, in 2006, 8 of the 10 BOP institutions
visited by the Justice Department’s Office of the Inspector General were not consistently
meeting the Bureau Of Prison’s goal of monitoring 100 percent of the conversations of
inmates on telephone Alert lists. Alert lists are a subset of the telephone monitoring lists
and include inmates that meet special criteria, including those convicted of so-called
terrorist activities. Alert calls trigger a signal on the telephone system so that SIS staff
know they are to monitor the call “live.” Even the country’s highest security federal
prison, ADX Florence, which houses the most dangerous high-risk inmates, monitored
less than 50 percent of the calls of inmates on the Alert list in fiscal year 2005. Only one
of the four institutions visited that house inmates under Special Administrative Measures
recorded those inmates’ cellblock conversations as authorized under federal regulations
and SAMs procedures. The Special Investigations Supervisor and other management
staff at the other three institutions stated that while they wanted to monitor such
cellblock conversations, they were constrained by a lack of equipment, staff, and
translators. ADX Florence was able to record SAMs inmates’ cellblock conversations
because the prison already had recording equipment available as part of the cellblock
construction. The BOP has no guidelines specifying when cellblock conversations of
SAMs inmates are to be recorded. In addition, neither the FBI nor the U.S. Attorneys’
Offices (USAO) for the sites visited had ever requested that the BOP record cellblock
conversations of SAMs inmates.9

LARRY SILVERMAN’S COMMENTS

On October 10, 2003 Abu Jihad called Larry Silverman to ascertain how much he
knew about the demise of TWA Flight 800. This was what he said:

I believed at the time when it happened that it wasn’t a natural occurrence.

I was in the minority. Scarpa wanted to believe that he had alerted them to
something but it was in their interest not to agree that he provided them
with a forewarning for several reasons. One, they would have to accept
the blame for not doing anything with the information he had given them.
Two, they would have to give him a downward departure. We were in a
very precarious position.

He, at the very beginning, had alerted them to a possible attempt on the
prosecutor, judge etc. When that occurs and you change the routine of the
possible victim you have no way of knowing if in fact you have saved that
persons life. So you get no credit because in fact nothing happened: They
didn’t catch the guy coming down the street with the machine gun, so you
don’t get credit.

Then in addition to that they put in place this phone system where they
were able to overhear the conversations - and they did - but we were not
privy to the results. The evidence we were looking for we would have to
have gotten from a Freedom of Information Act request or from an in
camera inspection by a judge.

It was pointed out to Silverman that the Appellate Court had reviewed the
transcripts and found nothing. He responded: “When you are an advocate you are
looking at something in a much different way then someone who’s looking at it to see
whether or not there is a smoking gun lying there where someone says ‘We are going to
blow up the plane on Tuesday.’”

I was really at a disadvantage but I can tell you for a fact Jim Kallstrom
[the FBI agent who headed the TWA Flight 800 investigation] and I had
worked together in the organized crime section back when I was a new
assistant back in the 1970’s. He called me right after the plane went down
and implored me to have my client co-operate because my client was
saying ‘Hey wait a second I don’t mind doing something altruistic but I’m a
little selfish here because I want to get a benefit if I am correct.’ The worst
possible world is to be correct and not get credit for it. So Kallstrom called
me on personal level and said ‘I am going to take a look at it myself.’

9
. http://www.usdoj.gov/oig/reports/BOP/e0609/index.htm
 My guy, he and some of his family members, were put in a very precarious
position of at one point being revealed, as it is now known, that he is co-
operating. He gets the worst of all worlds. First he could help the
government, secondly they don’t give him credit and third the bad guys
know he co-operated.

Silverman was asked about the government’s claim that Scarpa’s co-operation
was a scam in collusion with Yousef.

What it meant was both of them could be simultaneously making believe

they were co-operating on the other. Listen I don’t put it past these guys.
But Scarpa was equipped with a camera and he took pictures of certain
notes that were passed back and forth. The FBI agent who was working it
shared it with me because I said to him ‘We don’t want to be wasting time
here so lets forget this whole thing.’ He became incensed at this remark
because the material that was in those kites had certain technical
information that if it was just you and I sending these notes back and forth
they would have thrown these things in the garbage and said lets turn this
thing down. But because of the technical information that was in there I
was assured that it was of a very sophisticated level so it wasn’t like one
guy scamming the government. The information that was on these kites
was as to how to assemble these bombs on a plane was not something
out of some science fiction novel. It was the real thing. Once I knew that
then I felt okay. Then I felt at one point I this could get someone else to
say this was of substantial value. What also made me believe this was no
scam was that Yousef was almost about to construct a bomb in prison.

Another reason I thought my client’s information was real - I’m not

someone who is sophisticated in international intelligence but I read the
newspapers back then, I didn’t have a clue who this guy bin Laden was.
Now here it was in the notes Scarpa is taking the name of Usama bin
Laden. You have to understand Scarpa - he may be a sophisticated
criminal but he doesn’t even know where Tel Aviv is located. He wouldn’t
have a clue to who bin Laden was so now I am convinced that it was a
real exchange of information coming down.

As we have seen Scarpa mailed some of the FBI reports concerning his snitching
on Ramzi Yousef to Angela Clemente, a legal researcher. You evaluate them, my
Brothers: “Yousef has been talking constantly about Scarpa turning Muslim because
Yousef can trust him more, Scarpa advised Yousef that he decided to become Muslim.
Yousef said a few sentences in Arabic and Scarpa repeated them. Scarpa had to take a
"bird bath" (wash in the sink). Yousef and Scarpa agreed not to tell the other inmates or
MCC so that no one would suspect them of planning an escape. Yousef now calls
Scarpa "Brother". Scarpa advised the interviewing Agent that he considers himself
Catholic and still eats pork…Scarpa advised that Yousef had been avoiding any
conversation pertaining to the explosion [of TWA 800]. Yousef asked to be moved next
to Scarpa. Once next to Scarpa, Scarpa started a conversation by saying, “Okay buddy,
give me the news. I know you wanted to be near me for a reason.” Yousef answered,

I thought that you were going to give me the news that your people were
going to do this.” Scarpa advised that Yousef was waiting for a response.
Scarpa told Yousef that it was not his people, because his people have
problems regarding the information received. Yousef wanted to know what
kind of problems. Scarpa responded that he did not know yet because he
does not know how to get the questions into MCC. Scarpa asked Yousef
what he thinks of the TWA situation and Yousef responded, “All I know
was that it was bad timing and I would rather not discuss it.” …Scarpa
asked Yousef if he thinks it was a bomb on the TWA flight. Yousef
responded that he will not discuss the explosion because he is afraid that
the Government will link him to it if they hear him talking about it. Scarpa
advised that Eyad Ismail told him, “I [was] told that this was going to
happen.” Ismail’s father had visited him weekly. Scarpa asked Yousef
about the TWA explosion. Yousef stated that the FBI has nothing and
personally thinks that the United States Government is responsible.
However, Yousef says he has reasons why he will not discuss the crash…
Yousef requested to see Scarpa’s newspaper because of an article about
bin Laden. Scarpa advised that the article pertained to money and funding
by bin Laden and that Yousef was arrested at his guesthouse. Yousef was
very interested in this article. Scarpa suggested that bin Laden is Bojinga
because of the money and his location in Afghanistan…Scarpa said that
Yousef spoke of kidnapping an Ambassador or hijacking a plane…On
September 15, 1996 Scarpa questioned Yousef about the U.S.
Ambassador that is the target of a kidnapping. Scarpa told Yousef that his
people have ties to a few Ambassadors. Yousef revealed that the
Ambassador is from the Philippines and is named Neoponti [Negroponte].
Scarpa indicated that Yousef is extremely loyal to bin Laden. Yousef
stated that the newspaper article regarding bin Laden is not true and the
press lied about Yousef staying at his guest house and that his address
was found on Yousef when he was arrested. Yousef stated that he sent a
letter out with Ismail and that his friends will make some noise after the
verdict whether they are considered guilty or innocent. Yousef said that his
people were low on funds so they are going to make the bomb threats on
airlines instead of blowing up anything. Scarpa told Yousef that this would
only cost Scarpa money. Yousef told Scarpa, that due to the juror
situation, Yousef says he could have received a mistrial, but has a good
feeling that the juror that made the phone call has bee lined by the entire
defense.10

TWO FLIGHT 800 JULY 18, 1996

10
. FBI 302 265A-NY-258172 July 24, 1996 August 1, 1996, August 28, 1996, September 4, 1996
 Yousef had told Scarpa that he had discussed contingency plans with “the
underboss” – KSM – so the possibility existed that TWA’s New York to Paris flights had
already been targeted. TWA Flight 800 originated in Athens and was destined for New
York City after making a stop in Paris. From New York it would fly back to Paris. When
the Abdul Hakim Murad was interrogated under extreme duress in the Philippines he
had made reference to Paris and TWA Airlines. This was the subject of lengthy debate
during the 1996 Bojinga show trial:

THE COURT: I received from somebody, at least my law clerk did, a copy
of Murad interrogation January 7, 1995, 760-T. I don’t know whether my
clerk was teasing me, or what? He said there is something in there about
going to Paris. We all know that last night an explosion occurred in Flight
TWA 800 to Paris. Now, whether it was an explosion caused by the
airplane itself or by some object that shouldn’t have been on an airplane, I
have no idea, and you don’t either. None of us do. I just assumed that the
jury would hear about it, and arrived only to find out that my secretary
hadn’t heard about it, and she’s under no -- this might shock you all,
particularly from the media, but it shouldn’t shock you.

MR. KULCSAR: I’m sorry your Honor. I was advised that on at least two
stations Mr. Yousef was mentioned in the context of reporting of the
incident specifically, and the charge against him, and plans both American
Airlines -- I did not hear them myself. I don’t know given the specific nature
of the charges in this case and the apparent circumstances that are
speculated on explosion of Flight 800 and, again, the unfortunate
confluence of circumstances wherein this tape would be played today,
whether some other course might be considered, I don’t know. As a matter
of fact, until your Honor pointed out the fact that the transcript does reflect
references to Paris…I think that a general instruction was certainly
sufficient for my purposes the last time. I don’t know if that’s really
sufficient with respect to the situation here. It may be one reason these
people didn’t ask for newspapers is because of their willingness to be
forthright and comply by your Honor’s ruling and anticipating that any
newspaper account would have something in it.

THE COURT: I still think I’m going to have to remind them of their oath
and tell them that they can’t decide anything that has to do in the
newspapers and so on, so forth.

MS. BARRETT: Your Honor, the transcript I believe on page 7 also makes
reference to TWA.

MR. SNELL: Your Honor, just so we’re clear on that reference of the
transcript Mr. Murad is talking about his own travel history, and he took
TWA apparently at that time. I don’t think that’s in the same league as
what we’re talking about.
MS. BARRETT: I didn’t hear this myself, your Honor, but I was told by
someone that there was speculation, I believe on CNN, some terrorists or
somebody like that was talking about nitroglycerine, and the tapes we
want to play today, your Honor --

THE COURT: That’s the kind of speculation you’re going to end up with.
You’ve listened to the tape. Is the tape clear on Paris? TWA doesn’t
bother me, but the Paris bothers me, since this was a flight to Paris. Is
there some way of taking that out? We’re going to bleep someplace else?

MR. SNELL: Your Honor, as far as the tape is concerned I don’t know
whether we could take out the word “Paris.” I just don’t know enough
about this stuff. The only thing I can suggest is to delete a portion of the
conversation entirely.

MR. GREENFIELD: Your Honor, at this point I will object to the playing of
this tape. I can’t let this thing in today…Well, I’ve been objecting
throughout the trial. You want to play the tape, play the tape. I’ll leave the
courtroom, your Honor.

THE COURT: You won’t leave the courtroom.

MR. GREENFIELD: You know what I mean. I’m sorry for being curt.

THE COURT: You’re not going to do it.

MR. GREENFIELD: I’ll move for severance if they think it’s important to
their case.

MS. BARRETT: Your Honor, this will in fact impact on Mr. Murad’s
defense, and this was something that was mentioned in my opening
statement.

THE COURT: Yes, I know. This is the witness that you think you’re going
to get it in through. Now, can you get Paris out of the tape? I thought you
guys had these things that you were going to be handing out. What are
you going to do with it?

MR. SNELL: We can just not play that portion of the tape, your Honor, fast
forward through it. I think that can be done fairly easily. I think we would
go back to our office and redo it on the word processor. It’s on the word
processor and we can take that section out. That part is much easier than
eliminating it from the tape…Your Honor, I think it is clear and
unfortunately it’s mentioned several times. I couldn’t stand here and say
 that it’s a chance that everyone can take that it wouldn’t be heard by some
juror.

The word “Paris” was removed from the tape and the transcript.
The jury was summoned:

THE COURT: It’s just he’s going no place, is that what you are telling me?
He is going to blank, not indicating that he was talking about going to
Paris.

MR. SNELL: Your Honor, the way the transcript reads now maybe I should
just hand up the page to the Court, page 20. It says “I was planning also to
go to,” and then there are brackets with an empty space. And then a
similar redaction appears on page 21 in two places.

THE COURT: “I was going to” brackets with an empty space…

THE COURT: But it is Murad saying, “I was planning also to go to Paris.”

MS. BARRETT: That’s what he said, your Honor, “I.”

EXPLODING STOVES: I LOVE PARIS WHEN IT SIZZLES

The Philippine authorities had found that Ramzi Yousef had purchased several
small portable Tecnogas Model Tec-6 heating stoves and they asked Murad about
them:

Murad: I don’t have anything to do in the Philippines.

Interrogator: You have everything to do with this country. You are here.

Murad: I am just taking the explosion to Singapore. I didn’t have anything

here.

Interrogator: What’s the heater for?

Murad: These are for, we used to take it, I was to take it to…maybe I’ll
take - I was planning also to go to Paris.

Interrogator: Now we are going to Paris. What for?

Murad: What for? To kill people there also.

Interrogator: You are going to use a heater?

Murad: Yeah, there are many ways.

 Interrogator: You are fooling us. How are you going to use that?

Murad: By timer…How? Easy way. Connect – there is from timer, there is

one wire for load and one wire for power. Put the power in the plug in the
power and one loading load and eh,

Interrogator: You are going to bring the electric stove to Paris? The
heater?

Murad: Cooking, yeah. I’ll tell you what we’re going to do with it. You put
nitrobenzene on it, over it, it will heat until it explodes.

Interrogator: Then why did you have four?

Murad: We take one to Paris. One will teach our students in Pakistan,
Algeria. We have very good students.

Interrogator: Kill the Pope?

Interrogator: Ahem, we are not going to do anything in the Philippines. I

mean you are looking, you are expecting from me that I tell you that we
are coming to kill the Pope? We are nothing to do anythings in the
Philippines. Our target is the United States, Israel. That’s it.

Interrogator: How about the 25 kilos of sodium chlorate? Where will that
be used? You’re going to export 27 kilos of sodium chlorate?

Murad: Yeah, why not?

Interrogator: That’s impossible.

Murad first claimed the reference to the stove was a code word for “a heater” – a
semi-automatic weapon in Murad’s possession but no one believed him. Ramzi Yousef
commented on Murad’s confession regarding the stove: “Still, Mr. Murad tells him he
has taken a stove to France that didn’t work. They tell him he is lying.” The stoves, of
course, were to be transformed into bombs, and shipped to various destinations by
American commercial passenger aircraft. The question of the stoves that were found at
the Dona Josefa safe house arose during the Bojinga trial and the defense wanted any
reference to them expunged:

MR. Snell: And [change] that electric stove to blank question mark…

SLEEPER AGENTS AND CELLS AT AIRPORTS

Mohamed Atta tried to get a job with Lufthansa Airlines that would have granted him
access to secure areas of the busy international airport in Frankfurt, Germany. Atta
applied for a job with Lufthansa on February 15, 2001. Atta did not know that
Lufthansa's personnel division had access to law enforcement files that indicated he
had once been under investigation for petty drug crimes and falsifying phone cards
while a student at the Technical University at Hamburg-Harburg in 1995. As a result he
did not get the job.11 During a meeting at Sheik Rahman’s home at which airline
hijacking was discussed the subject of Islamist moles working at airports was brought
up, “Haggag indicated that he was unaware of any of al-Gama'a's contacts at "the
airport" but other were aware of these Brothers and Sisters. 12 We had agents working at
numerous airports. Mohamed Abdi’s name and phone number were on a Washington
road map found in a car registered to September 11 th Shaheed Nawaf al-Hazmi. An
airport caterer had once employed Abdi.13 Even illegal aliens who just wished to support
their families were able to get airport jobs. About 900 airport workers were charged in
the United States because of background checks during 2002. In July 2002 federal
agents raided an aviation repair facility at Fort Worth Meacham Airport and arrested
numerous workers on immigration violations. Some of those arrested were alleged to
have ties to the Abu Sayyaf group in the Philippines, however, when the case came to
trial there was no mention of terrorism, just the use of false Social Security and Green
Cards.14 In November 2002 twenty-one employees at Newark Liberty International
Airport were arrested for having used fake identification to get jobs that allowed them
into restricted high-security areas.15 In the other cases there have been many plea
bargains but few convictions and none for belonging to a so-called “terrorist” group. In a
2002 lawsuit naming Transportation Secretary Norman Mineta as a defendant, the
American Civil Liberties Union challenged a policy prohibiting noncitizens from working
as airport security screeners.16 On November 1, 2006 French authorities charged with
assessing security risks at Charles de Gaulle Airport stripped 72 Muslim workers of their
access badges because they had traveled to Pakistan or Afghanistan, or were
suspected of having links to jihadi. Several are suspected of having trained in terrorist
camps in Pakistan and Afghanistan, though a mere trip to one of those countries would
be enough for a revocation. One of the suspended workers was a friend of Richard
Reid, the so-called shoe bomber. 17 Justice Minister Nicolas Sarkozy affirmed he had
declared seven Islamist places of worship clandestine and illegal at the airports of
Roissy and Orly and that 18 Imams whose sermons were incompatible with the values
of the French Republic had been expelled since the beginning of the year from French
territory.18

DETROIT

The name “Nabil Al-Marrabh” (also spelled Marabh) appeared on a United States
Government list of those believed to have had a hand in the September 11 th Events.
11
. Netzwerke des Terrors (Networks of Terror) by Juergen Roth
12
. http://www.lynnestewart.org/transcripts/100504.txt
13
. Karen Gullo “Virginia Man Linked to Hijacker Associated Press September 27, 2001.
14
. Filipino Reporter - July 5 to11, 2001.
15
. Maria Newman “Newark Airport Employed 21 with False IDs” New York Times November 15, 2002 Section B Page 1 Column 5.
16
. http://www.investors.com/editorial/editorialcontent.asp?secid=1501&status=article&id=241053202809193
17
. http://select.nytimes.com/search/restricted/article?res=F30F10F7395B0C728CDDA80994DE404482
18
. http://www.lefigaro.fr/france/20061021.WWW000000051_sarkozy_justifie_le_retrait_des_badges.html
 When FBI agents came to question him at his Detroit apartment they found
that it was occupied by Karim Koubriti and Ahmed Hannan. The FBI agents
discovered a photograph of Youssef Hmimssa and two Skychef Detroit
Metropolitan Airport identification badges in each of the Brothers’ names. 19
These airport identification badges gave them the ability to gain entrance
into forbidden areas. Their leader, Abdelilah I. Elmardoudi instructed them
to “locate security breaches that would allow them to…directly access
airliners.”20 On September 27, 2001 Youssef Hmimssa, Karim Koubriti and
Ahmed Hannan were indicted for credit card fraud. On August 28, 2002 the
United States government indicted Karim Koubriti, Ahmed Hannan and
Abdelilah I. Elmardoudi saying they were part of a “terrorist sleeper cell”
operating in the Detroit area and was planning attacks in the United States.

Brother Elmardoudi seemed to have an affinity for airports. Prior to moving to

Detroit Elmardoudi stole calling card numbers in the Minneapolis Airport. These card
numbers were used to make $745,000 worth of calls to Egypt, East Africa, the
Philippines, the Middle East, and the Balkans. In June 1999 and in May 2000
Elmardoudi was accused of abusing Whitney, his former wife. This brought him to the
attention of the authorities and in February 2001 Elmardoudi was charged with
numerous counts of possessing unauthorized access devices. 21 He fled to Greensboro,
North Carolina, and was eventually arrested there. In a superceding indictment,
prosecutors alleged that Elmardoudi received thousands of dollars from Brothers in
Europe and that he planned to donate the money to Al-Gama’a al-Islamiyya and the
Armed Islamic Group in Algeria.

The Brothers were a support group and a “sleeper operational combat cell,” the
indictment said. The cell’s mission was to obtain weaponry and intelligence and
establish a support network for our activity, including mail drops and safe houses as
well as fake driver’s licenses, passports and Social Security cards. This team began its
operations in the middle of 2000 by videotaping several U.S. landmarks such as
Disneyland and the MGM Grand Casino and Hotel in Las Vegas.

Co-operating defendant Youssef Hmimssa, who had been in the United States
since 1996 and had worked in Chicago as a cab driver until his license was revoked
after spitting in the face of a passenger said Elmardoudi sympathized with Sheik Omar
Abdel Rahman. Elmardoudi and Koubriti were convicted in June 2003 of conspiring to
provide material support to terrorists and document fraud 22 but were never sentenced –
although they remained in custody - due to prosecutorial misconduct – until the Jewish
Republican Judge Gerald E. Rosen reversed their convictions.

In February 2006 the Assistant United States Attorney that handled the case,
Richard Convertino of Plymouth, Michigan, and FBI Special Agent Michael Thomas and
19
. USDC District of Michigan USA v Amed Hannan 01 M 80778 Criminal Complaint
20
. Danny Hakim “Four Are Charged with Belonging to a Terror Cell” New York Times August 29, 2002 Section A Page 1 Column 5;
Danny Hakim “Trial To Begin For Four Men Accused of Being in Terror Cell.”New York Times March 17, 2003 Section A Page 15
Column 5.
21
. USDC District of Minnesota USA v. Elmardoudi 01-CR-52-ALL
22
. Robert E. Pierre “New Twists in Terror Verdicts” Washington Post January 4, 2004.
another witness in the trial, U.S. State Department security officer Harry Raymond
Smith were indicted in March 2006 for withholding a photo of a Jordanian Hospital so
that the jury could not see that it did not match an alleged “target sketch.” 23 From now
on all Italian-Americans who convert to Islam will be known as Convertinos!

Now it is much more difficult to place an agent at an airport: An alien arrested in

early October 2001 in the New York City area had been employed by a Middle Eastern
airline, although not as a pilot. The alien, who entered the United States as a crewman,
had been ordered removed from the country in 1995. His appeal of that order had been
dismissed in 1996. In October 2001, he was arrested based on a lead received by the
FBI indicating he was employed in the airline industry.

ATHENS INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT

Numerous actions had been previously launched from this city including many of
Black September’s activities. It was easy to operate there – the Western media
described it as a “haven for terrorists” and Athens International Airport was on the U.S.
government list of dangerous airports. In November 1983 the Abu Nidal organization
attacked security guards in front of the Jordanian Embassy in Athens, killing one guard
and wounding another. In March 1984 they assassinated a British diplomat working in
Athens.24 In December 1984 Black September issued a communiqué announcing its
rebirth to draw suspicion away from the Abu Nidal Organization, which was operating
out of Syria.

In March 1985 they attacked the Royal Jordanian Airlines offices in Athens. In
April 1985 they fired a rocket at a Jordanian airliner as it took off from Athens airport.
Although the rocket did not explode, it left a hole in the fuselage. In 1988 Athens denied
the unlawful extradition to Italy of an Abu Nidal mujahedeen who participated in an
attack in 1982 on a synagogue in Rome. In May 1988 Brother Mohammed Rashid, who
had destroyed numerous airliners with sophisticated bombs, including a TWA jet as it
flew between Rome and Athens in 1986, was captured at Athens International Airport.
However, Greece, apparently fearing reprisals, refused an American request for his
extradition. After many delays and considerable pressure from Washington he was tried
in Greece and sentenced to 15 years. In 1996, after serving only 8 years of his 15-year
sentence, despite all efforts by the U.S. to prevent it, the Greek authorities released
Rashid for good behavior. Mohammed Saleh, who was involved in the first World Trade
Center Event, had lived in Greece for many years.25
23
. Marwan Farhat, 34, an illegal immigrant from Lebanon with two weapons convictions who was indicted in March 2001 on
cocaine distribution charges was used as an informant against Islamists. After nine months of incarceration AUSA Convertino freed
Farhat in December 2001 to work not only as an informant, but also as a translator of documents found in our Detroit sleeper cell.
As a result, Convertino persuaded a U.S. District Judge Julian Cook Jr. to sentence Farhat time served rather than the nine to
eleven years called for by federal sentencing guidelines and told the judge he wanted to obtain a visa for Farhat that would allow
him to stay in the United States. The case became even more complex after Farhat wrote a letter complaining that the feds never
gave him the 25% of any assets he helped seize and turned on them by announcing he was asked by FBI Agent Robert Pertuso to
steal mail from our Brothers. David Shepardson The Detroit News January 27, 2004. Convertino’s attorney implied that Farhat had
been shot at after his identity was revealed. Sarah Karush Associated Press January 29, 2004. David Ashenfelter “Terror case
prosecutor is probed on conduct” Detroit Free Press January 17, 2004
24
. International Policy Institute for Counter-Terrorism June 12, 2001 “Jordanian Court Tries Abu Nidal in Absentia.”
http://www.ict.org.il/spotlight/det.cfm?id=621
25
. Ltr. McCarthy to Mukasey August 31, 1994.
 Many jihadi have studied aviation and knew the weak points of the aircraft and
the procedures involved in refueling: During a sham re-sentencing hearing for Brother
Murad Judge Duffy remarked, “After having attained what you wanted, a license as a
commercial pilot, you go about trying to blow up airliners? It amazes me. You take that
knowledge that you got as a commercial pilot, how the airplanes were put together,
where their weak points were, and translate that into a hideous conspiracy to blow up
not only that Philippines airliner, but a least eleven U.S. airliners filled with people that
you never knew.” After his capture, Ramzi Yousef told the FBI that since the World
Trade Center bombing, he had read numerous chemical encyclopedias and had
become much more proficient in the construction and use of explosives. He also
remarked that, subsequent to the World Trade Center bombing, he had instructed
others in training camps in Pakistan, near the Afghan border. This instruction was in the
use of explosives, through a ten-day “basic” and twenty day “expert” course. He noted
that the only cost to the students was the expense for materials used. In discussing his
expertise and proficiency regarding explosives, he spoke of a device, which he had
designed and constructed, described by him as a type of gun, made from a pen, and
capable of explosively firing a projectile. Just as the Japanese excelled at miniaturizing
transistor radios in the 1950’s, Ramzi Yousef excelled at miniaturizing IEDs and more
importantly, the detonators that triggered them.

The device that destroyed TWA Flight 800 on July 18, 1996 had been created by
Ramzi Yousef before his capture and was positioned in the airliner in Athens, Greece by
a sleeper agent who had access to secure areas at Athens International Airport. This
Brother was able to plant this small, Improvised Detonation Device, (IDD) about half the
size of a ball-point-pen, inside the Central Wing Fuel Tank. Even if there was a port
next to the Central Wing Fuel Tank the detonation device was not powerful enough to
penetrate the fuel tank wall nor could the IDD be attached to the outside of the fuselage.
A passenger or attendant could not position the IDD over the Central Wing Fuel Tank
since it could not penetrate the cabin floor and metal wall of the fuel tank. Yousef had
constructed a miniature submersible detonator complete with a timer that could be
placed inside a fuel truck and transferred to the aircraft’s tank though a hose and
coupling or placed directly into the central fuel tank by a sleeper agent. Yousef was very
creative when it came to both bomb and detonator construction. Evidence gathered at
the time of Yousef's February 1995 arrest included dolls wearing clothes containing
nitrocellulose.26

The timer was set so that the IDD would explode after the tank became empty
since a mixture of jet fuel fumes and air was needed to cause an explosion. This
explosion would trigger other explosions in the fuel tanks that were full or partially full.
Subsequent to the planes’ destruction fuel from Greece was flown in an attempt to
recreate the explosion since the aircraft had flown to JFK from Greece the previous day,
and the remaining fuel sloshing in its Central Wing Fuel Tank was the fuel from Greece.
According to the fueling record, the airplane carried a total of 181,800 pounds of fuel for
the flight, including 300 pounds remaining in the center wing tank after the flight from

26
. 9/11 Commission Report Notes to Chapter 5 p488
Athens. During the time the aircraft was being fueled at JFK, the automatic (volumetric)
shutoff to the fueling system activated before it should have, due to the presence of the
IDD. The automatic shutoff is designed to prevent more fuel than is desired from being
pumped into the aircraft's tanks. Thank Allah this was a common occurrence. The fueler
reported the shutdown and a TWA mechanic came out and pulled a circuit breaker and
fuse and he finished fueling the aircraft manually. According to the fueler, when he
finished refueling the aircraft, the mechanic reset the fuse and circuit breaker. 27

The tapes from the cockpit voice recorder seemed to indicate that there was a
problem with the aircraft’s fuel tank:

2029: 15: Look at that crazy fuel flow indicator there on number-four.

2029: 23: See that.

But problems on such gauges are very common on 747s 28 and this
additional warning that something was amiss in the Central Wing Fuel
Tank was also overlooked. There was no sign of any problems with the
fuel system, no fear or desperation until our bomb exploded, as evidenced
by the cockpit flight recorder tapes:

2029: 35: Some where in here I better29 this thing (in/up).

2029: 39: Huh?

2029: 39: Some place in here I better find out where this thing's trimmed.

2030: 18: Climb thrust.

2030: 24: Ollie.

2030: 24: Huh?

2030: 25: Climb thrust.

2030: 28: Climb to one five thousand.

2030: 35: Power's set.

2030: 42: (Sound similar to a mechanical movement in cockpit)

2031: 03: Unintelligible

27
. NTSB Report February 1998 reprinted on Aviation Web
http://www.avweb.com/news/safety/183022-1.html
28 Newsday Sylvia Adcock Staff Writer December 11, 1997
. .
http://www.newsday.com/news/nytwa97-crash1211.story

29
. Adjustment of wing flaps.
 2031: 05: (Sounds similar to recording tape damage noise).

The Cockpit Voice Recorder then recorded a very loud sound for a
fraction of a second (0.117 second) on all channels immediately before
the recording ended.

2031: 12: End of recording.

The Cockpit Voice Recorder recorded noise characteristics that were most
similar to those recorded by the Cockpit Voice Recorder on board a Philippine Airlines
737-300 that experienced a fuel/air mixture explosion in the Central Wing Tank as it was
being pushed back from the gate at Ninoy Aquino International Airport, Manila,
Philippines, on May 11, 1990. The initial explosion that detonated the mixture of air and
fuel in the tank was much too small to be detected by the Cockpit Voice Recorder, and
additionally it had occurred deep in bowels of the aircraft.

THE CONSTRUCTION OF THE IDD:

THE TRACE AMOUNTS OF RDX AND PETN

Ramzi Yousef was perhaps the world’s best bomb maker. He could even
construct a bomb from human or animal urine!

The necessary ingredients are: Human or animal urine, nitric acid, water.
The Method of Production: Take 15 cups of urine and heat it under flame
until it becomes one cup. After this strain the cup, using filter paper, and
throw away the granules, which remain on the filter paper. Then add to
urine one cup of nitric acid. Leave it for a period of one hour so that it can
interact. After that, strain the solution. Urea nitrate granules will assemble
on the filter paper. Then wash the small granules by pouring water on
them. They are on the filter paper. Let them dry. Add aluminum powder to
them. If you have four cups of urine nitrate then add one cup of aluminum
powder to it. The explosion will be by means of detonator. 30

When Ramzi Yousef was imprisoned the Bureau of Prisons restricted the items
he could purchase in commissary, since they believed he could use, or had used, some
of them to construct an explosive device.

Even the Learned Elders of Islam are unsure of the IDD’s specific nature
however, during the Bojinga trial FBI explosives expert Burmeister testified he had
discovered methenamine among Ramzi Yousef’s chemistry set: “Methenamine has
other chemicals uses, one in the area of explosives is used to manufacture the high
explosive RDX.” He was asked:

Q. The top of page three, do you see the letters RDX? What is RDX?

30
. USA v. Ramzi Yousef et. al. Daniel Redirect 7402 41V1SAL2
 A. RDX is considered a high explosive. It’s not the chemical name for this
particular explosive. RDX has several different acronyms. You can call it
cyclonite; it’s called hexogen. Some have even called it C4. But it has a
large chemical name of cyclotrimethylenetrinitramine. RDX in itself is the
white crystalline material and it serves as a high explosive.

Q. Are the steps for the manufacture of at least one type of RDX outlined
in the text that follows below the designation RDX on Government Exhibit
357?

A. It’s one technique that could be utilized to manufacture it, yes.

FBI investigators found microscopic traces of a chemical explosive, PETN, on a

piece of Flight 800 wreckage between rows 15 and 25. Officials identified other residue
as RDX. RDX and PETN are the main ingredients of detonators. The FBI attributed the
traces of explosives to the fact that, “On June 10, 1996, [Officer Herman Burnette of] the
St. Louis Airport Police Department conducted canine explosives training aboard the
victim aircraft. The residue collected after the explosion of Flight 800 was consistent
with the explosives utilized during the exercise. Overseas law enforcement agencies
routinely conduct canine training utilizing explosives with little or no documentation.”

Was the residue consistent with the explosives used by Officer Herman
Burnette? The FBI reported:

The patrolman retrieved four types of explosives from the ALAPD

explosives bunker for use in the training. The explosives retrieved were
Water Gel, ammonia dynamite, detonation cord and C-4. He also used
smokeless powder, which was stored in the trunk of his patrol car, in the
training.

Traces of Water Gel were not found nor were traces of ammonia dynamite.
Detonating Cord consists of a cotton core, covered by a continuous core of PETN
explosive bound in nylon fibers, a plastic sheath. The cord is wrapped in a color coded
high strength synthetic textile. There was no report of these additional materials having
been recovered. The explosive material found in C-4 is cyclo-trimethylenetrinitramine
(RDX). The additive material is made up of polyisobutylene, the binder, and di (2-
ethylhexyl) sebacate, the plasticizer (the element that makes the material malleable). It
also contains a small amount of motor oil and some 2, 3-dimethyl-2, 3-dinitrobutane
(DMDNB), which functions as a chemical marker for security forces. Why weren’t traces
of these additional chemicals found? Traces of nitro-glycerin were also aboard the
aircraft. Smokeless powder contains nitro-glycerin but is a mixture of several chemicals,
none of which were found.31

This explosives spill was not reported until after the detection of PETN and RDX
within the wreckage of F800, and the area of the spill was inconsistent with the
31
. These include nitro-cellulose, ethyl centralite, diethyl phthalate, dimethyl phthalate, dinitrotoluene, carbon black,
potassium sulphate, and potassium perchlorate.
explosive traces detected in the wreckage. Officer Herman Burnette of the St. Louis
Police Department, carrying out the bomb sniffing exercise, failed to record the tail
number of the wide body plane in question, 32 while two such TWA planes existed in
close proximity during the exercise. Burnette stated that he neither saw nor heard any
individuals aboard the plane during the exercise that ended no earlier than 12:15 PM.
The wide body plane that later flew as TWA Flight 800 left its St. Louis gate for Honolulu
at 12:35 PM, fully catered, with all of its passengers and crew aboard. Could officer
Burnette neither see nor hear any passengers, crew, or caterers 20 minutes before the
plane left its gate? Did Burnette conduct his exercise on a nearby, nearly identical TWA
747 which left its gate at 1:30 PM? Compounding this investigative error, if Burnette did
conduct his explosive training exercise on the 747 that later flew as TWA Flight 800,
why did the locations of the alleged spills conflict with the traces detected with the Flight
800 wreckage?33

The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) wrote: “Investigators

considered several scenarios to determine how the trace amounts of explosive residue
might have gotten on the wreckage from the accident airplane. Trace amounts of
explosive residue could have been transferred to the contaminated pieces from the
military personnel (and their associated clothing, boots, and equipment) that were on
board the accident airplane when it was used to transport troops during the Gulf War in
1991. In addition, explosives were placed and then removed from several locations in
the accident airplane during a dog-training explosive detection exercise about one
month before the accident.

However, testing by the Federal Aviation Administration’s Technical

Center indicated that residues of explosives found on the accident
airplane would dissipate completely after two days of immersion in
seawater. Very few pieces of airplane wreckage were recovered during
the first two days after the accident, and those pieces that were recovered
were found floating on the ocean’s surface; several days of side-scan
sonar searching preceded any underwater wreckage recovery operations.
Therefore, it is very likely that the pieces on which the explosive residues
were found were immersed in ocean water for considerably more than two
days before they were recovered. Thus, it is quite possible that the trace
amounts of explosive residue detected on wreckage pieces from the
accident airplane were not present before the airplane entered the water
but, rather, were deposited during or after recovery operations. The
military personnel, ships, and ground vehicles used during the recovery
operations had come into frequent previous contact with explosives. Trace
amounts of those substances could have been transferred from the
surfaces of the ships or ground vehicles, or from clothing and boots of
military personnel, onto wreckage pieces during the recovery operations

32
. Matthew Cox and Geoffrey Mohan “Official: agency made mistakes” Newsday September 23, 1996.
33
. Thomas F. Stalcup “Anomalies within the Official Crash Investigation of TWA Flight 800” Independent Researchers Organization
May 3, 1999 http://www.apfn.org/apfn/TWA800.htm
T. Shoemaker and Kay Pennington – TWA 800 Case Files Newsletter January, 1999 Volume 3, Number 6
http://www.multipull.com/twacasefile/january.html
 or through subsequent contact with the pieces in the airplane hangar
where the airplane wreckage was later assembled and laid out.

This conclusion was based upon a study entitled: “Federal Aeronautics

Administration (FAA) Studies on the Effects of Sea Water on Explosive Residue
Contamination” that read:

FAA personnel at the FAA’s William J. Hughes Technical Center in

Atlantic City, New Jersey, conducted tests to study the effects of sea
water on cloth and aluminum airplane parts that had been exposed to
explosives contamination. Pieces of aluminum from the wing of a
commercial airplane and pieces of airplane seat covers were
contaminated with explosive residue by manually deposited explosives
and by exposure to an actual explosion and were then immersed in sea
water. In both cases, when the cloth and aluminum airplane parts were
examined after two days of immersion in seawater, the explosive residues
were completely dissipated.” The FAA’s report concluded: “Our
experiments have shown that there is very little likelihood that blast
deposited explosive materials remain very long on cloth or aluminum
aircraft parts after immersion in [sea water].

The FAA attributed this, in part, to the explosive residues being “somewhat
soluble in [sea water].” What was the magnitude of the explosion used in this
experiment? Would a high velocity explosion tend to fuse RDX and PETN with other
material?

The traces of RDX and PETN were found in the same general area of the aircraft
as the test bomb that was planted by Ramzi Yousef during the Bojinga operation, and
this was above the Central Wing Tank. 34 The water solubility of RDX and PETN is low to
moderate, and these traces could have survived the baptism of Flight 800 in the
Atlantic, and could have come from the IDD that was placed in the Central Wing Tank
due to their positioning. What is more interesting is that PETN and RDX are not primary
explosives, but are designed to start a detonation train. They may be constructed to
detonate instantaneously, or may contain a delay element. Most RDX/PETN detonators
are triggered by electricity (a small charged capacitor will work), while others contain
non-electric initiation systems.

THE NTSB INVESTIGATION

One thing is for certain – no one used a missile - as it is very difficult to bring
down a civilian jet using one portable missile. It is only possible if we get a lucky shot,
causing extensive damage to aircraft flaps, or if a panicked crew loses control. The
warheads of such missiles weigh no more than three or four pounds. Damaged
passenger jets have more than one engine and pilots can attempt an emergency
landing.

34
. Peter Lance One Thousand Days for Revenge Regan Books 2003
 Let me read to you from the testimony of the Jewish federal government
employee, Dr. Bernard S. Loeb,35 of the NTSB, regarding the possibility that a high
energy explosion, such as a ground-to-air missile brought down Flight 800: “High-
energy explosions leave distinctive damage signatures, such as severe pitting,
cratering, hot gas washing, and petalling. No such damage was found on any portion of
the recovered airplane structure.”

The report seemed to deal with the possibility of a strategically placed low energy
detonation level explosion, but on closer inspection, it did not. 36 The report stated:
“Another potential ignition source that investigators considered was the detonation of a
small explosive charge (reference is made to footnote 585) that had been placed on [not
in] the Central Wing Fuel Tank that could have breached the fuel tank and ignited the
flammable fuel/air vapor. However, testing by the Safety Board and the British Defense
Evaluation and Research Agency in August 1997 at Bruntingthorpe Airfield,
Leicestershire England, demonstrated that when metal of the same type and thickness
as the Central Wing Fuel Tank walls was penetrated by a small charge, there was
petalling of the surface on which the charge was placed, pitting on the adjacent
surfaces, and visible hot gas washing damage in the surrounding area.”

This test was irrelevant! First off, the IDD was in the fuel tank. Secondly, during
the recreation, metal similar to that of the Central Wing Fuel Tank was penetrated by a
small charge, which left telltale forensic evidence, but there was no subsequent
explosion to mimic the major explosion that would have occurred on Flight 800 which
would have obliterated any evidence of pitting and petalling from the smaller blast. The
British were not about to sacrifice an airliner to carry out this experiment properly! In
light of the meltdown of steel beams that occurred when jet fuel exploded in the second
World Trade Center attack how likely was it that the area around the central fuel tanks
remained intact after this vapor explosion ignited the jet fuel in the other fuel tanks?

Reference was made to footnote 585 as dealing with low velocity explosions,
however, the footnote read: “For the purposes of this discussion, the term ‘bomb’ means
an explosive device designed to release destructive material at high velocity upon
detonation. The term does not refer to an explosive device designed only to set off a
small charge of sufficient strength to penetrate the fuel tank and ignite explosive vapors.
The possibility that such a device might have ignited the fuel/air vapor in the Central
Wing Fuel Tank is discussed in section 2.2.1.2.” The report continued:

35
. Employed at the NTSB for more than 20 years, Dr. Loeb served the Board as the Director of the Office of Research and
Engineering, Acting Director and the Deputy Director of the Bureau of Accident Investigation, the Chief of the Aviation Engineering
Division and the Chief of the Safety Studies and Data Analysis Division, and as an Aerospace Engineer during which time he
researched and wrote numerous safety studies. Prior to joining the NTSB, Dr. Loeb worked for about 15 years in various
aeronautical engineering research positions in the aerospace industry and in government research laboratories. Dr. Loeb has
authored numerous reports and papers on aeronautical engineering topics and on transportation safety issues. He has been the
recipient of numerous job related awards, including most recently, the Managing Director’s Award at the NTSB and the Presidential
Distinguished Rank Award. Education and Training: Bachelors degree (1960) from the University of Maryland in aeronautical
engineering; Masters (1963) and Doctorate (1966) from the George Washington University in engineering science.
36
. National Transportation Safety Board Washington, D.C. 20594 Aircraft Accident Report In-flight Breakup Over the Atlantic Ocean
Trans World Airlines Flight 800 Boeing 747-131, N93119
Near East Moriches, New York July 17, 1996 http://www.ntsb.gov/Publictn/2000/AAR0003.pdf
 As discussed in section 2.2.1.2, none of these damage characteristics
were found on the recovered Central Wing Fuel Tank wreckage, and none
of the areas of missing skin were large enough to represent the damage
that would have been caused by the detonation of a small explosive
charge. Therefore, it is very unlikely that a small explosive charge
detonated on the Central Wing Fuel Tank, breached the fuel tank, and
ignited the fuel/air vapor.

But SECTION 2.2.1.2 did not deal with the detonation of a small explosive charge:

“SECTION 2.2.1.2 Consideration of a High-Energy Explosive Device Detonation

(Bomb or Missile Warhead)

Several factors led to speculation that the accident might have been
caused by a bomb or missile strike. These factors included heightened
safety and security concerns because of the 1996 Olympics then being
held in the United States, the fact that TWA Flight 800 was an
international flight, and the sudden and catastrophic nature of the in-flight
breakup. In addition, numerous witnesses to the accident reported seeing
a streak of light and then a fireball, which some people believed
represented a missile destroying the airplane. Further, some anomalous
primary radar targets were recorded by the Islip, New York radar site in
the general vicinity of TWA Flight 800 at the time of the accident that
apparently could not be explained. Accordingly, the Safety Board
considered the possibility that a bomb exploded inside the airplane or that
a missile warhead from a shoulder-launched missile exploded upon
impact with the airplane.

Testing performed by the FBI found trace amounts of explosives on three

separate pieces of airplane wreckage (described by the FBI as a piece of
canvas-like material and two pieces of floor panel). However, none of the
damage characteristics typically associated with a high-energy explosion
of a bomb or missile warhead (such as severe pitting, cratering, petalling,
or hot gas washing) were found on any portion of the recovered airplane
structure, including the pieces on which the trace amounts of explosives
were found. Only about 5% of the airplane’s fuselage was not recovered,
and none of the areas of missing fuselage were large enough to have
encompassed all of the damage that would have been caused by the
detonation of a bomb, or missile. Although several large holes are visible
in the reconstructed portion of the airplane fuselage, almost all of the
structure that originally filled in these holes is attached to the remaining
structure but is folded either inward or outward. No area of structure in the
reconstructed portion of the airplane contained any unexplained holes
large enough to represent the entry point of a missile. Further, the victims’
remains showed no evidence of injuries that could have been caused by
 high-energy explosives, nor was there any damage to the airplane seats
and other interior components consistent with a high-energy explosion.

Despite being unable to determine the exact source of the trace amounts
of explosive residue found on the wreckage, the lack of any corroborating
evidence associated with a high-energy explosion indicates that these
trace amounts did not result from the detonation of a high-energy
explosive device on TWA Flight 800. Accordingly, the Safety Board
concludes that the in-flight breakup of TWA Flight 800 was not initiated by
a bomb or a missile strike.

Loeb continued:

The bottom line is that our investigation confirmed that the fuel/air vapor in
the Center Wing Fuel Tank was flammable at the time of the accident and
that a fuel/air explosion with Jet A fuel was more than capable of
generating the pressure needed to break apart the center wing tank and
destroy the airplane. The next obvious question is: what ignited the
flammable vapor inside the Center Wing Fuel Tank and caused the
explosion? One ignition scenario that we could not deem unlikely,
however, was that a short circuit involving electrical wiring outside the
Center Wing Fuel Tank somehow transferred excess voltage to fuel
quantity indication system wiring leading to the Center Wing Fuel Tank.
Although the voltage in the fuel quantity indication system wiring is limited
by design to a very low level, a short circuit from higher-voltage wires
could allow excessive voltage to be transferred to fuel quantity indication
system wires and enter the tank. We cannot be certain that this in fact
occurred, but of all of the ignition scenarios that we considered, this
scenario is the most likely.

Was this a certainty? “…that we could not deem unlikely…” “…it somehow
transferred…” “…We cannot be certain that this in fact occurred…” How did the wire
from one system attach itself to the other? The fuel flow measurement circuitry is totally
separate from the fuel probes and their associated circuitry 37 that are the only electrical
wires entering the Center Wing Fuel Tank.

THE FBI PROBE OF TWA FLIGHT 800

Alhumdulallah, for he makes our enemies blind! The FBI probe of our activity
cost $14 million to $20 million, for naught, for the pig James Kallstrom, and his FBI New
York Office had authorized then shut down the investigation of Ramzi Yousef, Murad
etc by Scarpa and were not about to admit that the planning for this action was done
with FBI help. Kallstrom’s four top aides who handled the day-to-day operations of the
investigation included Thomas Pickard, who, in 1993 was transferred to the New York
City Office to serve as the Special Agent in Charge of the National Security Division,
37
. Aviation Today Special Report: TWA Flight 800 Investigation Uncovers Safety Problems With Electrical Systems on Geriatric
Airliners http://www.aviationtoday.com/reports/aswspecial.htm
supervising such matters as the trials of the World Trade Center defendants, the trial of
Sheik Rahman and the members of his cell, and the conviction of Ramzi Yousef and his
associates for Bojinga. Pickard, a devout Catholic, had experience persecuting those
who dealt with Arabs in the ABSCAM sting. On September 10, 1996, FBI Director Louis
Freeh named Pickard to the position of Assistant Director in Charge of the Washington
field office where he supervised the capture our Brother Mir Aimal Kasi. 38 On November
1, 1999, Pickard was appointed Deputy Director, the number two position at the FBI. On
June 25, 2001, Pickard was appointed Acting Director of the FBI by former Attorney
General John Ashcroft. Pickard was there because people connected to our New York-
Jersey City cell were suspected of involvement with the explosion. FBI officials Joseph
Cantamessa Jr. and Louis Schiliro, who had previously focused on organized crime,
also assisted Kallstrom to tie up and lose ends when it came to Gregory Scarpa, as did
Carson Dunbar.39 FBI Agents set out to authenticate and investigate all the names listed
on passenger manifests of TWA Flight 800. They matched passenger names with lists
of known “terrorists,” calling places of employment and examining credit histories. All
airport personnel who had authorized access to TWA Flight 800 underwent a similar
investigation. Sleeper agents are unknown so-called “terrorists.”

S.A. Robert Fuller was involved in the TWA Flight 800 investigation. After serving
eight years in the U.S. Navy as a fighter pilot, in April 1996 Fuller became a special
agent in the FBI's New York Office. In July 1996 he was assigned to the TWA Flight 800
investigation because of his experience as army pilot. Shortly after the East African
Embassy Events in August 1998, he was transferred to the New York's Bin Laden
Squad to assist with the investigation, and then was assigned as one of the case agents
on the investigation the USS Cole attack. Shortly before September 11 th Fuller was
assigned to the New York FBI's counterterrorism squad that handled only al-Qaeda
investigations.

What if the FBI had found that TWA Flight 800 was our work? What if the FBI
discovered that Ramzi Yousef had carried out this plan from his cell in the Special
Housing Unit of MCC with the help of the FBI? More heads would have rolled at the FBI
and CIA than in “Chopping Block Square” in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia!

THE FBI REPORT ON TWA FLIGHT 800

The FBI admitted:

At the time of this tragedy, Ramzi Yousef was on trial in the United States
District Court in the Southern District of New York charged in a conspiracy
to blow up twelve U.S. airliners, simultaneously, over the Pacific Ocean.
Yousef’s plot, for which he was subsequently convicted, was not the stuff
of science fiction. In fact, he had already tested his theory of concealing a

38
. Thomas J. Pickard Acting Director June 25, 2001 - September 4, 2001
http://www.F.B.I..gov/libref/directors/pickard.htm
39
. http://www.newsday.com/news/nytwa96-jet04F.B.I..story
 small shaped explosive charge on an aircraft, a test that resulted in the
death of a Japanese citizen.40

The FBI’s report read:

It became apparent by the end of November 1996, about four months into
the FBI’s criminal investigation, that no aircraft debris recovered to that
time had clear indicia of a high explosive event…In the face of no ‘classic’
explosive artifacts (Bomb technicians and FBI Laboratory scientists often
cited, based on their experiences, the associated presence of variable-
depth surface pitting, melting, penetrations, spalling, and hot gas
impingement as examples of classic explosive artifacts) little forensic
documentation or guidance on large-body aircraft missile engagements,
and no supportable mechanical or operational explanation for the crash of
TWA 800, FBI management decided that ‘any investigative or scientific
avenue that was reasonable and which could assist in providing a factual
cause of the incident should and would be pursued.’

To supplement the already extensive scientific effort the FBI Laboratory

was applying to the investigation, provide scientific peer review and a
fresh perspective, and to have access to a nearby government facility with
materials science experts capable of performing advanced imaging
examinations in short turnaround, Brookhaven National Laboratory was
approached for assistance with a favorable response…As a preface to
discussions about the investigation, Brookhaven National Laboratory
personnel were informed of the sensitivity of the case regarding possible
criminal prosecution and civil litigation. They agreed to restrict discussion
and dissemination of the related subject matter to those involved in the
investigation. None of the non-governmental NTSB party members (e.g.
Boeing, TWA) were involved in the Brookhaven National Laboratory
activities.

Three projects ultimately resulted from this collaboration one of which was
chemical analysis of an unknown ‘splattered’ material. “The unknown
‘splatter’ material was found at various locations on the top of the wing
center section. The location was significant because of the early role the
wing center section had in the NTSB’s sequence theory…NTSB’s
sequence theory points to the ignition of the fuel-air mixture in the center
wing tank, part of the wing center section, as the event that led to the
catastrophic airframe failure. The ignition source is as of the date of this
report unknown. As of the date of this report the NTSB was still studying
the relationship and implication the splatter material had to the overall
mishap sequence…Several specimens [of the splatter material] were
taken for analysis by the NTSB and the FBI, one of which was submitted
to [deleted] National Synchrotron Light Source, Brookhaven National
40
. FBI Press Room - Congressional Statement - 1999 - Congressional Statement - TWA 800 - Lewis D. Schiliro –
http://www.fbi.gov/congress/congress99/twa800c.htm
 Laboratory. Once a preliminary chemical identification was done, several
control specimens from known aircraft structure were submitted for
comparison. [Deleted] report, Attachment (A), comprehensively
documents his analysis and will not be addressed further.

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) also analyzed the
splatter material: “A piece of the aircraft's center wing tank (labeled CW-504 during
reconstruction) was sent to NASA for chemical analysis by the NTSB, for examination.
On it was a residue in a “splatter” pattern. Test results concluded the presence of
nitrates in this residue, alarming NASA scientist Charles W. Bassett, as nitrates may
indicate the presence of explosives such as RDX or PETN, which are Nitrate Esters or
Nitramines.

To chemists, nitrates are anions, and when combined with cations, the resultant
molecule is explosive. If urea (a cation) was detected in the splatter pattern, a strong
case could be made for RDX or PETN. Therefore, when investigators determine the
presence of an anion, the next step is to look for a cation within the same material.

Charles W. Bassett reported the nitrate (anion) presence in CW-504 to Dr. Merrit
Birky and concluded in report 97-1C0063: “An attempt to determine the origin of the
anions present in both samples was not conducted at this time but is of concern and is
under further investigation.” However, instead of requesting that Charles W. Bassett
determine the nitrate's possible explosive identity, Birky sent other aircraft parts for
testing which lacked the questionable residue. No further testing of CW-504 was
requested, the source of the nitrates was not determined, and Charles W. Bassett’s
report, quoted above, was never released to the public.

The materials sent to Charles W. Bassett after the nitrate-report were parts from
the plane’s air conditioning units. Dr. Birky instructed Bassett to determine whether
these parts could have possibly been the source of the splatter pattern on CW-504.
Bassett concluded in report 97-1C0089 that: “There is no indication that any of the
reference materials examined in these analyses, served as the source of the surfactant
coated polyester which was discussed in report 97-1C0064…nor is there evidence to
indicate any of the reference materials served as the source of the nitrate presence in
[CW-504].”

Less than a month prior, a redundant report comparing air conditioning materials
to the CW-504 splatter pattern by the FBI appeared to conflict with Bassett’s conclusion,
and made no mention of any nitrate presence. Here, in a summary, the FBI concluded:
“Based upon the comparison examinations conducted, specimens [Central Wing Fuel
Tank splatter material] are consistent with having originated from the sources
represented by [foam air duct material], or a similar source.” 41 The FBI clearly wished to
explain away any evidence of the presence of our responsibility for the crash.

41
. Thomas F. Stalcup “Anomalies within the Official Crash Investigation of TWA Flight 800” Independent Researchers Organization
May 3, 1999 http://magnet.fsu.edu/~stalcup/sub_rep3.htm
THE ISLAMIC MOVEMENT FOR CHANGE
CLAIM OF RESPONSIBILITY

The day before TWA Flight 800 was destroyed Al-Hayat received a faxed threat
from the Islamic Movement for Change (as we have seen this is a name used by Al-
Qaeda for actions it does not want to take credit for due to certain repercussions against
its members) saying action would be taken shortly against the U.S. UPI reported,

...A Saudi extremist group called the Movement for Islamic Change took
credit for the bombing and U.S. officials say it is a leading suspect in the...
attack [against an American military barracks near Dhahran, in June]. The
violent organization also issued a veiled threat to attack American targets
12 hours before TWA Flight 800 exploded and plunged into waters off
Long Island.42

On July 19, 1996 Newsday.com reported,

In the absence of explanations [for the downing of TWA Flight 800],

theories abounded. One focused on a fax sent Wednesday to an Arabic
language newspaper in Beirut warning of an attack. State Department and
CIA officials confirmed they had received copies of the fax Thursday. The
message said "tomorrow morning we will strike the Americans in a way
they do not expect and it will be very surprising to them," according to one
official. A counterterrorism source familiar with the fax said that it was sent
at 11 a.m. New York time Wednesday, more than nine hours before the
bombing. But a CIA source said that the agency "does not attach too
much significance" to the fax. The fax, written in Arabic, ends with the
following threat: "The Mujahadeen will respond harshly to the threats of
the stupid American president. All will be shocked by the magnitude of the
response. The determining of the place and time are in the hands of the
Mujahadeen. The invaders must get ready to leave alive or dead; and their
rendezvous will be morning, and isn't morning near."

Another translation: “Under a quote from the Qu’ran was a communiqué thanking
God and threatening: “The mujahedeen will give their harshest reply to the threats of the
foolish U.S. president. Everybody will be surprised by the magnitude of the reply, the
date and time of which will be determined by the mujahedeen. The invaders must be
prepared to leave, either dead or alive. Their time is at the morning-dawn. Is not the
morning-dawn near? - The Islamic Movement for Change - Jihad Section - Arabian
Peninsula.”

This would not be the only prophetic note received by Al-Hayat. On August 4,
1998 the Al-Hayat newspaper office in Cairo received a fax from Egyptian Islamic al-
Jihad stating:

42
. http://www.iran-e-azad.org/english/boi/04640729.96;
Tehran's Terrorism in the Middle East, United Press International July 26, 1996
 We should like to inform the Americans that, in short, their message has
been received and that they should carefully read the reply that will, with
God’s help, be written in the language that they understand.” Three days
later, the U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania were bombed.
Montassar Zayyat reported, “I was surprised to see the statements issued
by the International Islamic Front for Jihad on the Jews and Crusaders
claiming that the issue of Sheikh Abdel Rahman was one of the reasons
that led the Front to blow up the American embassies in Nairobi and
Darussalam.

As exhibited in courtroom testimony there were rumors of news stories that

linked the TWA Flight 800 event with Ramzi Yousef:

MR. KULCSAR: Your Honor, the reason I am taking this opportunity to

address the court is that I am sure the court is aware that between Friday
and today there has been a substantial amount of publicity both on
television and in the newspapers concerning the Flight 800 and the
unfortunate speculation by former law enforcement persons and news
personnel, news people, as to the cause of the explosion on the airline. I
did not see but I was told by a number of people that on Friday ABC
network news Peter Jennings in point of fact carried a story - as I
understand it they had information from some law enforcement source -
unidentified, obviously - that the source had received some kind of
correspondence from a group or a person that claimed responsibility for
the explosion and that this person or group caused this explosion in
retaliation for the capture and arrest and prosecution of Mr. Yousef. Mr.
Garcia and I spoke about it and we were trying to get a transcript. I don’t
know if Mr. Garcia was able to get one as yet.

AUSA GARCIA: Your Honor, I have heard about this news story. I think
that we were able to obtain a videotaped copy of the news story. I haven’t
seen it yet. My understanding is that there is no quote from a named or
unnamed law enforcement source but that a former law enforcement
official is on the TV speculating. But again, I haven’t seen the tape yet.

THE COURT: Let me give you one more speculation, one that was tossed
out to me. Your client believes that he has a perfectly wonderful shot of
being acquitted. He believes also that he would be not acquitted if the
case went through at this time. He believes he would be acquitted if there
were a mistrial and the government was forced to redo the entire thing,
including bringing people from overseas. Therefore your client contacted
his buddies on the outside and they are the ones responsible. Is this a
possibility? You are about to say no, this could never happen. Believe it or
not, someone suggested that to me, and I said what you think I would say.

MR. GREENFIELD: Am I allowed to put those things on the record?

 THE COURT: No. God forbid that we would shock the Court of Appeals.
Utter nonsense, but that is the wild speculation that is going in. To say that
we should at this point go and do something precipitous is something that
I refuse to do, and that is why I refuse to do it. But by Wednesday if not
before, I will be talking to each one of them [the jury], for sure. I am not
insensitive as to what is going on here. By the way, this thing about your
client, it didn’t come from law enforcement or anybody connected with law
enforcement. It is the wildest thing I ever heard. I am not going to tell you
who but it is just absolutely off the wall wild.

MR. GREENFIELD: It certainly is off the wall.

THE COURT: Maybe he doesn’t think it is but I told him no. But I am not
going to do anything I am going to try to get some more facts.

The absence of a specific claim of responsibility for the downing of TWA 800 has
puzzled some, but in fact only about half of all incidents carried out by these young
Muslim men who are pure, believing, and fighting for the cause of Allah [subhanahu wa
ta’ala] are credibly claimed. The rest are anonymous contributions toward paving the
road that leads to majestic Allah and establishes a caliphate, according to the prophecy.
Hamas leader Brother Muhammed Abdul Hamid Khalil Salah recalled: “He reminded me
of the action in Hirbatah, and how the Islamic Jihad had assumed responsibility for its
perpetration even though it was not responsible for it. (He said) that the Jews knew it
was Hamas that carried out the activities for which no one assumed responsibility.”

Actually a note that was never mailed was found in the home of Brother Abu
Mezer and Lafi Khalil claiming responsibility for the crash of TWA Flight 800. The claim
was one of the thousands of leads the FBI pursued. The demands included the release
of Ramzi Ahmed Yousef.43

In December 2002 the Federal Aviation Administration developed a simple

lightweight system for preventing what it believed to be similar fuel tank explosions,
however, no similar explosion has occurred before than. The New York Times reported:
“The fumes in the almost-empty center tank on Flight 800 exploded. Safety investigators
later determined that the mixture of air and fuel in such tanks is frequently capable of
supporting combustion. The spark’s source was never found.” 44

THE MAY 1996 BOJINGA SHOW TRIAL

From May to August 1996 Wali Khan Amin Shah, Murad, and Yousef stood trial
for Operation Bojinga. Ramzi wished to disrupt his trial with an operation against an
American airliner, or an assassination of a federal official. With news reports of actions

43
. Joseph Fried “Worlds Intermingle at Juxaposed Criminal Trials in Brooklyn.”New York Times July 12, 1998 Section 1 Page 24
Column 1.
44
. Matthew L. Wald “F.A.A. Tests System to Avoid Fuel Explosions” New York Times December 13, 2002 Section A Page 28
Column 4. http://www.nytimes.com/2002/12/13/national/13PLAN.html
of this nature being disseminated the Brother hoped for a mistrial. Judge Duffy was
aware of this tactic and one day after TWA Flight 800 was destroyed he said: “Your
client believes that he has a perfectly wonderful shot of being acquitted. He believes
also that he would be not acquitted if the case went through at this time. He believes he
would be acquitted if there were a mistrial and the government was forced to redo the
entire thing, including bringing people from overseas.” None-the-less the defendants’
lawyers entered these objections on the record:

MR. KULCSAR: I was told by a number of other people that on Channel

13 on Sunday morning they had some kind of news program during which
they had some retired FBI person and that person went into an extensive
discussion about the fact that Mr. Yousef was alleged to have carried an
explosive device onto a Philippine Airline jet and a similar device in the
lavatory, and how that type of device could very well be the same type or
similar device as caused the explosion on Flight 800, and then there was
some type of group discussion. Obviously there has been widespread
publicity in the various newspapers.

MR. GREENFIELD: With respect to what the jury might or might not know,
or what is different about this than the other cases, is that regular
broadcasting went off the air when this happened. Whatever stations
anybody was watching last night they know what happened. They know a
plane exploded. There is no question that there was speculation early on.
Every station on the TV was carrying it. But the point is, in my mind it’s not
an issue of speculation. They know it. There is no question they know it. I
think, if I might make a suggestion to the Court, that your Honor
individually interview each juror and ascertain what they heard and will it
affect where we go.

THE COURT: I don’t think the time to do it is right now. I might do it next
week, if you want it done next week, but I didn’t think the time to do it is
now…

A few days later Judge Duffy interviewed all of the jurors and alternates and they
either denied hearing about TWA Flight 800 – some said they were more interested in
the Three Stooges than in the news – or said they had heard about in passing and it
had had no affect on their decision-making process. The jurors had already made up
their minds to convict the Brothers.

DUFFY REFUSES TO RECUSE HIMSELF

In an appeal it was argued that Judge Duffy should have recused himself from
this case, and his refusal to do so was wrong. Judge Duffy’s opinion:

In March 1996, Scarpa, Jr. contacted the government and claimed that
Ramzi Yousef and others were planning terrorist activities from within the
MCC Scarpa named specific individuals - including a young prosecutor -
and targets that, he claimed, Yousef was plotting against. In addition,
Scarpa claimed that Ismoil and Yousef had discussed the advisability of
kidnapping and possibly hurting an unnamed federal judge. Scarpa also
claimed, however, that the defendants rejected any attempt against a
judge because they perceived that security for judges was too tight. At the
time Scarpa provided this information to the government, Yousef had
already confessed to a string of senseless, cold-blooded killings around
the world. Because the government rightly believed that like-minded
terrorists remained free, defendants’ threats and the potential for death
and destruction could not be ignored. Accordingly, the United States
Attorney’s office set up a special unit of prosecutors and agents to
investigate these new allegations made by Scarpa. The prosecutors and
agents in this unit had nothing to do with the prosecution of the World
Trade Center and Manila Bombing cases.

This separate special unit then set about to surveil the defendants’
activities, through various means, for several months. The Government
also took measures to thwart any potential terrorist attacks. In the end, it is
now clear that Scarpa’s claims were actually a hoax concocted by Scarpa
and the defendants. The government has provided the Court with various
affidavits detailing the compelling evidence that all Scarpa’s allegations,
including the threats, were merely a ruse. The details surrounding the
investigation into Scarpa’s claims need not be recounted here. The hoax
was apparently an attempt to waste the government’s time and energy, as
well as to set up Scarpa’s claims of ‘co-operation in return for leniency’
with regard to the prosecution against him in the Eastern District of New
York.

The District Judge presiding over Scarpa’s prosecution, Judge Reena

Raggi, properly denied Scarpa’s claims of co-operation. Now, Yousef and
Ismoil seek to benefit from these shenanigans of their own and upset the
convictions each so richly merited. The Recusal Motion is based on the
Defendant’s claim that, as a result of Scarpa’s claims:

…It would have been grossly negligent for any law enforcement agency…
not to have alerted likely targeted judges of same. It would be expected
that precautions would have been taken to ensure their safety and that of
their families. It may reasonably be assumed that Judge Duffy would have
been considered by law enforcement agencies, or any reasonable person
with knowledge of the facts, to have been the most likely target of the
alleged plot by Yousef, and to have been informed of Scarpa’s
disclosures. Thus, this is a situation in which the Court’s impartiality might
reasonably be questioned.
 This argument is based on inaccuracies and assumptions that alone
mandate its rejection. For example, despite defendants’ contention, there
were ‘targeted judges.’ As Scarpa informed the government, Yousef
expressly ruled out any attack on a federal judge as too difficult. Clearly, a
statement that judges would not be targeted cannot be deemed a death
threat against a particular judge…

It is of particular note that Yousef’s threats made absolutely no change in

my life. I have received death threats for the last quarter century. Such are
well known to trial judges. Like most of my colleagues, such threats do not
inhibit the fulfillment of our oath of office to ‘faithfully and impartially
discharge’ the duties of our office. In sum, there is absolutely no basis for
recusal in this case. Accordingly, Defendants, motion for my recusal is
denied.

It must be noted that the government must thoroughly investigate any

threat from an international terrorist such as Yousef -- even threats lacking
credibility. The risk of ignoring a seemingly innocuous threat that later
turns out to be deadly is simply too great. Nevertheless, for a court to
accept defendant’s argument, any threat at all by a terrorist against a
district judge, regardless of the threat’s credibility, would require recusal
simply because all such threats require an appropriate response by the
government. As a result, terrorists would have license to frustrate the
judicial system through threats and innuendo. Clearly, justice would not be
served by such a state of affairs.45

RAMZI GOES PRO SE

Brother Yousef chose to represent himself when he was put on trial for the
Bojinga Operation. This was his opening statement: “Now, the opening statement that
you heard from the government is all allegations and accusations about the events that
took place from August 1994 until February 1995. And the government alleged that I
was in the Philippines sometime during that period of time, but the evidence which will
be introduced by the defense will show that defendant Yousef was actually in the
custody -- was in prison by the Pakistani Military Police at the end of November 1994
until February 1995. During that period of time the Pakistani Military Police imprisoned
Mr. Yousef and the evidence would show that he was tortured during that period of time.
He was deprived from food. He was shackled in a very painful way. And the evidence
would also show to you that many of his relatives were arrested with him and they were
tortured and forced -- in order to force him to write many documents and in order to
force him to give many statements.

The evidence will show, ladies and gentlemen, that defendant Yousef,
after he was secretly imprisoned by the Pakistani Military Police during the
period from November 1994 until February 1995, that in February he was

45
. Memo and Order September 10, 1999 93Cr180
 placed in a building which the government claims is a guest house, and he
was made to appear as if he was just arrested at that time. And the
evidence will show that when the U.S. agents entered that place, he was
transferred to that building by the Pakistani Military Police just to make it
appear to the U.S. Government that it was the first time Mr. Yousef was
being arrested.

Now, during the period of time in which Mr. Yousef was in the Pakistani
government’s military police custody, when he was tortured there, he was
bleeding sometimes, and his blood has stained some objects which you
may see during the -- they will be introduced during this trial [Yousef told
Scarpa he smeared blood on his watch in order to falsify evidence].

Now, the government, in its effort to support its claim that I was not in the
Pakistani Military Police custody in that period of time, they will introduce
many documents and I.D., passports, in order to support their claim, but
you will see that all of these I.D.s and documents and passports were
fabricated when you learn that I was -- defendant Yousef was in Pakistan
during that period of time. One of the evidence which I will anticipate the
government is going to introduce is a Pakistani passport which indicates
that it was used for a trip from Pakistan to Thailand during that period of
time, from November 1994 until February 1995. The government is going
to link this passport to defendant Yousef to show that he was not in the
Pakistani government’s custody. But you will learn, as I just said, that the
overall evidence would show that defendant Yousef was secretly
imprisoned by the Pakistani government, could have not been that person.
Now, the government has also talked in its opening statement about what
it’s called confession which defendant Yousef gave after his arrest. But
once you learn that defendant Yousef was in Pakistani government’s
custody for two months and that he was tortured, then you have the
reason to question the conditions under which he gave these statements
and the truthfulness of these statements. And you should bear in mind,
also, the conditions in which he was kept during his custody in Pakistan.

Murad told the court in broken English

They want me to say I’m in the Philippines to make bomb, I said yes. They
want me to say that I’m in the Philippines that I’m going to blow up
American airlines. I said yes. They want me to say I’m in the Philippines
that I’m going to help the rebels in the South. I say yes. Whatever they
want me I said yes. They told me to memorize how to make certain kind of
bombs, how to take to put bombs on airplanes, how Yousef going to kill
the Pope and other thing.

Plotting the assassination of the Pope was a world-class crime, nonetheless,

when the Bojinga Jihadi were brought to trial in late May 1995 the prosecutor stated:
“The government is not planning to elicit any attempt on the Pope’s life or anything of
that nature…”

Despite this vow, there was no way to avoid mentioning this part of Bojinga
during the proceedings and Brother Wahid Shah’s attorney stated: “The last full
paragraph on page three: ‘Similarly, the government believes that the evidence will
reveal the arrest of the defendant Shah on January 11, 1995 was based on investigative
leads developed from evidence recovered from 603 and that the motivation for the
arrest was again the Philippines government’s overriding concern to insure the Pope’s
safety.’ The government, as I heard it, with respect to my client and the general
argument with respect to all defendants is that they’re not going to argue the truth of the
plot against the Pope, they’re just going to throw it out there. It’s like saying we’re not
going to argue that there are rotten fish in the courtroom, we’re just going to throw it out
there. The odor is enough to so prejudice the case that they don’t have to argue once
the rotten fish are thrown into the jury box.”

On September 5, 1996, Judge Kevin Duffy sentenced the three to life in prison
for Operation Bojinga. When the Bojinga defendants appealed their convictions part of
their appeal was based on the irrefutable fact that the police in the Philippines had
tortured Brother Murad into confessing. The Appeals court opined:

In particular, he alleges that he was beaten, raped, burnt on his

hands and feet by cigarettes, and subjected to simulated drowning. Yet
the District Court found that some of the contorted positions Murad
claimed to have been forced into were ‘physically impossible,’ and it
discerned no scars on Murad’s body or other evidence that Murad had
been burned. Furthermore, the American physician who examined Murad
on the plane did not find any evidence of torture or mistreatment, nor did
Murad tell that doctor that Philippine authorities had abused him. Murad
introduced a transcript of a tape-recording of his interrogation by
Philippine authorities on January 7, 1995 in order to support his theory…
Soon after Murad insisted that he was being truthful, the tape recorder
was turned off. When the tape recorder was turned back on, Murad
sounded highly agitated and stated that there was a plan to bomb the
Pope’s motorcade during his trip to Manila. The fact that Murad changed a
portion of his statement while the tape recorder was turned off does not
establish the vicious torture Murad alleges. Moreover, based on the
numerous internal inconsistencies in Murad’s story, the overwhelming
evidence rebutting Murad’s allegations, and the absence of corroborating
physical evidence of mistreatment, the District Court did not err, much less
clearly err, in finding that Murad’s testimony regarding his torture and
forced co-operation with the Philippine authorities is not credible.

THE JURY IN THE SECOND WORLD TRADE CENTER TRIAL

 Jury selection was held between July 15, 1997 and August 4, 1997 at the trial of
Ramzi Yousef for his part in the first World Trade Center Event. One issue addressed
during voir dire was the religion of the prospective jurors. Judge Duffy sought to limit the
number of Jewish jurors because the defendants were charged with a conspiracy to
wage Jihad in order to influence United States policy in the Middle East, namely, United
States policy toward Israel. Ultimately, as was the case in the first World Trade Center
trial, the jury did not include any Jewish jurors. The Brothers would have been better off
if there were Jews on the jury: In the trial of the East African American Embassy attacks
we almost had one Jew frightened enough to hang the jury “Maybe I’m overly fearful but
these are crazy times we live in. It was just hearing in the testimony how much the bin
Laden people target Jews, as well as Americans. They see only one Jew on the jury. I
just felt like I stood out. I was thinking of my own safety.” This Jew did ultimately vote for
conviction but voted against executing the Brothers.46 A Jewish juror almost hung the
Ahmed Sattar jury.

THE MYTH OF HYDROGEN CYANIDE

Hydrogen cyanide, or prussic acid was effectively used against the Jews in a
concentrated form known as Zyklon B. When Ramzi Yousef was sentenced Judge
Kevin Duffy stated: “You had sodium cyanide around and I am sure that it was in the
bomb. Thank God the sodium cyanide burned instead of vaporizing. If the sodium
cyanide had vaporized it is clear what would have happened is the sodium gas would
have been sucked into the North Tower and everybody in the North Tower would have
been killed. To my mind that was what was intended.” 47

Secret Service Agent Brian Parr was asked about a conversation he had with
Ramzi Yousef on the way back from Pakistan:

Q. What, if anything, did you say to Mr. Yousef and he say to you about
the presence of a compound with cyanide in it at the Space Station?

A. I had told Mr. Yousef that we had recovered cyanide at the storage
facility and I asked him if it was used in the Trade Center bomb. He
indicated that was not used. And the reason he had cyanide, he said
originally he had considered doing a poison gas attack on the World Trade
Center, and he was going to use this hydrogen cyanide in some other
form of a bomb, not as large a bomb, but a different type of bomb to
disperse that in the Trade Center.

Q. What did he say about that option?

A. He decided not to use that option. He said it was going to be too

expensive to implement.

46
. Benjamin Weiser “A Jury Torn and Fearful In 2001 Terrorism Trial” New York Times January 5, 2003 Section 1, Page 1, Column
1, http://www.nytimes.com/2003/01/05/nyregion/05JURY.html
47
. S1293CR.180 USDC/S.D.N.Y. The Sentencing Statement of Judge Kevin Duffy in USA v Ramzi et al.
 The FBI found no traces of cyanide at the scene of the attack, and the fighters for
Islam were not charged with constructing a chemical weapon nor did the FBI did find
hydrogen cyanide in the cell’s storage locker: The FBI found sodium cyanide, that can
be made into hydrogen cyanide by adding acid to it. United States Senator Sam Nunn
used Judge Duffy’s misstatement to squeeze money out of the Jewish-controlled
Senate for an “anti-terrorism” bill: “The trial judge at the sentencing of those responsible
for the World Trade Center bombing pointed out that the killers in that case had access
to chemicals to make lethal cyanide gas ... and probably put those chemicals into that
bomb that exploded.” Laurie Mylroie also wrote that the bomb contained cyanide in one
of her Iraqi atrocity stories.

Although Yousef did not incorporate sodium cyanide into the World Trade Center
scenario, this did not preclude its use in other operations. During a motion to force
Judge Schlesinger to set bail for El-Sayyid Nosair, Michael Warren, an associate of
William Kunstler filed this motion: “The Court also relied upon an item allegedly found in
Nosair’s locker at his place of employment. This Item was a vial of sodium cyanide. In
spite of its conceded industrial uses, and the Court’s recognition that Nosair was an
industrial engineer, speculation was advanced by the Court that this substance was
‘normally used either to poison somebody or as was used in the Nuremberg trials to
commit suicide in the event of having been convicted.’ The Court’s biases become overt
at this point, where, not only is there wild speculation and baseless assumption, but the
connection to a Holocaust-related historical event, signifies to the supporters of the
decedent in this case that the Court is willing to mollify them.” 48

RAMZI YOUSEF’S LAST WORDS

A life sentence was bestowed upon Ramzi Yousef life for his part in the first
World Trade Center Event. Ramzi Yousef had this to say to Judge Duffy:

You don’t believe in human rights nor ethics nor anything. All that you
believe in are your own interests and being bribed. This is what you
worship, money. Money is your god hypocrisy is your courier. You don’t
care about innocent people. This is all you care about. All that you care
about is your own interests. You keep talking about human rights in China
and the Chinese prisoners where the only thing which you care about is
because the Chinese inmates who work free without being paid, they
make products which are flooding this country and they are very cheap
and they are affecting the economy in this country and this is why you

48
. In February 2002 police in Rome took nine Moroccans into custody who planned an attack on the American Embassy. They
intended to poison the Embassy’s drinking water with cyanide and were also involved in a bomb attack near the Interior Ministry.
This was an al-Qaeda operation. In November 2002 three of our operatives were arrested for a plot that involved releasing cyanide
gas on crowded trains in the London underground. One of them was in touch with the Iron Perchloride Jihadists arrested in Paris.
During the American war of aggression against Iraq the FBI said it had recently obtained information about a chemical weapon that
can be made with easily available items. “The device could produce a toxic gas such as hydrogen cyanide. Little or no training is
required to assemble and deploy such a device due to its simplicity. The design could include the use of a pierced canister like a
paint can.”
Warren Hoge “Three are Accused of Planning to Attack London Subways” New York Times November 18, 2002 Section A, Page
13, Column 5.
care about them, but you never tell the truth because you are a coward,
that’s why.

And the same type of hypocrisy applies when you talk about human rights
in Iraq and killing of civilians there and the execution and the torture. But
you don’t remember when Saddam Hussein in the 1980s when he killed
his own people, he was one of your closest allies and he killed thousands
and thousands of them back then and you were supporting him. You were
even the one who built his chemical arsenal, but you never talked about
human rights back then, and you never talked about the childrens and
womans that he killed. He killed thousands of them back then with
chemical weapons, tens and thousands of them. He killed more of them
back then than he is killing now because he is facing international
pressure now, but back then you never talked about it. You might say you
were supporting him because he was in a war with Iran and you wanted to
stop the spread of Iran and revolution, which is also another hypocrisy
because it was this coward back then that you were shipping weapons
and arms to Iran. Why? Didn’t you say it was an evil government? Why
were you selling weapons to both countries? Because you enjoy seeing
innocent people being killed. You enjoy sucking blood and shedding
blood, and then you have the nerve to talk about terrorism and have the
nerve about talking about innocent people. Saddam Hussein have even
more mercy for the people which he kills than you.

You are killing them by economic embargo, by starving them to death,

while people who he is killing, he is executing them. He is targeting the
men from opposition parties and those who stand against him, while you
are targeting the childrens and womans and elderly people with your
economic embargo. And he is killing them because he is a dictator while
you are killing them under the so-called democracy which is nothing but
hypocrisy…

You keep talking about collective punishment and killing innocent people
to force governments to change their policies, you call this terrorism when
someone would kill innocent people or civilians in order to force the
government to change its policies. You were the first one who killed
innocent people and you were the first one who introduced this type of
terrorism to the history of mankind when you dropped an atomic bomb
which killed tens of thousands of women and children in Japan…And you
killed civilians in Vietnam with chemicals as with the so-called then orange
agent…

When I was first arrested and brought to his country, I was approached by
the government to make a deal with them. And I wasn’t told what the deal
was about, what I was told is I was going to be asked to testify against
some people who I don’t know. And in order to learn the rest of the deal
 and the details I accepted the deal. And what I later found out was that the
government was going to ask me to testify in front of the grand jury and in
front of a trial at a later time if possible to testify about some people who I
never know or met, some of them Iranian intelligence and people who
worked for the Sudanese intelligence and Sudanese government, that
they were the ones who supported me and financed me and trained me to
carry out the World Trade Center explosion. And I was told that I was
going to identify those people, I was going to be shown their pictures and
point to them in court in case they were arrested. And everything was
explained to me the same way in which the government witnesses in the
Philippine case which I never saw in my life nor they saw me, pointed to
me to the court and they claimed they saw me before they identified me.
The same way I was asked to testify. But when I refused this deal later I
know what the deal was about, and despite of the government appeals to
ask me to accept this deal and offering me a more generous deal after I
finally refused it and they became sure I am not going to accept it, they
fear that this information may leak out to the press, to the media. It was
then they prevented me from having any contact with the press and the
media…

Although it is very painful to kill innocent people and very painful for
anyone to lose a close relative or friend...it was necessary. This is what it
takes to make you feel pain...Yes, I am a terrorist, and I am proud of it.
And I support terrorism so long as it is against the United States
Government and against Israel...You are butchers, liars and hypocrites. 49

Scarpa advised the FBI “that prior to meeting with the interviewing Agent on
December 16, 1996, he had a conversation with Yousef regarding co-operating
witnesses on the L-unit. Yousef was curious as to what kind of deals the Government
makes with the witnesses. CS explained that it depends on the information obtained
and how well the witness does at trial. CS told Yousef that he should make a deal with
the Government. CS advised that Yousef should give up "Bojinga" or bin Laden. Yousef
responded that the Government would never go after bin Laden because the
Government knows that within one week of capturing bin Laden twelve US airplanes
would be blown up.”50 On April 27, 1998 Yousef again offered his co-operation:

I am writing in furtherance of Mr. Kleinman's motion of relief dated

April 15, 1998 to advise the Court of one of the motions about my desire to
relieve Mr. Kleinman, which was not mentioned in his motion. I have a
desire to co-operate with the prosecution and I do not trust Mr. Kleinman
advices in this manner when I do not feel I can confide in him due to the
sensitivity of some of the information, which would be discussed, in case
of my cooperation with the government. I believe, due to some of the
special circumstances surrounding my case that it would be impossible for
me to co-operate with the government if Mr. Kleinman represents me.
49
. 93CR180 Doc 675
50
. FBI FD-302 265A-NY-258172 December 26, 1996 obtained from Scarpa by Angela Clemente
 However, there was no indication that the FBI took him up on this offer, although
after years in solitary confinement Ramzi Yousef might have been sincere. Ramzi
Yousef recently composed this poem:

With our Jihad we will attain victory

And tear apart the tyranny and blasphemy
With a mighty will
And determination that knows no defeat.

And we will employ conscience and ideology,

And, with our blood, we will color the dawn.
And we will win victory for our nation,
With our strife we will change the course.

We will vanquish
The night of polytheism and idolatry will vanish
And we will wage it with determination and persistence.
We will throw off the tyranny of shackles and chains.

WE WILL NOT REST UNTIL THE SHEIK IS FREE

Sheik Rahman was transferred to the Federal Medical Center in Rochester,

Minnesota in 1997 then moved to the United States Medical Center Federal Prison in
Springfield, Missouri. We were not about to allow this frail holy man to die in prison.
Clinton the Degenerate was alerted to our plans o n D e c e m b e r 4 ,
1 9 9 8 .

SUBJECT: Bin Ladin Preparing to Hijack US Aircraft and Other Attacks

1 . R e p o r t i n g [ - - ] s u g g e s t s
b i n L a d i n a n d h i s a l l i e s a r e
p r e p a r i n g f o r a t t a c k s i n t h e
U S , i n c l u d i n g a n a i r c r a f t
h i j a c k i n g t o o b t a i n t h e
r e l e a s e o f S h a y k h U m a r A b d
a l - R a h m a n , R a m z i Y o u s e f ,
a n d M u h a m m a d S a d i q A w d a .
O n e s o u r c e q u o t e d a s e n i o r
m e m b e r o f t h e G a m a ' a t a l -
I s l a m i y y a or Islamic Group ( I G ) s a y i n g
t h a t , a s o f l a t e O c t o b e r ,
t h e G a m a ' a t a l - I s l a m i y y a
h a d c o m p l e t e d p l a n n i n g f o r
a n o p e r a t i o n i n t h e U S o n
b e h a l f o f b i n L a d i n , b u t t h a t
t h e o p e r a t i o n w a s o n h o l d . A
s e n i o r b i n L a d i n o p e r a t i v e f r o m
S a u d i A r a b i a w a s t o v i s i t
G a m a ' a t a l - I s l a m i y y a
 c o u n t e r p a r t s i n t h e U S s o o n
t h e r e a f t e r t o d i s c u s s o p t i o n s —
p e r h a p s i n c l u d i n g a n a i r c r a f t
h i j a c k i n g .

* G a m a ' a t a l - I s l a m i y y a leader
Muhammad Shawqi Islambouli in late September 1998 was planning to hijack a U S
a i r l i n e r d u r i n g t h e " n e x t
c o u p l e o f w e e k s " t o f r e e A b d
a l - R a h m a n a n d t h e o t h e r
p r i s o n e r s , a c c o r d i n g t o w h a t
51
m a y b e a d i f f e r e n t s o u r c e .

* The same source late last month said that bin Ladin might i m p l e m e n t p l an s
t o h i j a c k U S a i r c r a f t b e f or e
t h e b e g i n n i n g o f R a m a d a n o n
D e c e m b e r 2 0 , 1 9 9 8 a n d t h a t t w o
m e m b e r s o f t h e o p e r a t i o n a l t e a m
h a d e v a d e d s e c u r i t y c h e c k s
d u r i n g a r e c e n t t r i a l r u n a t a n
u n i d e n t i f i e d N e w Y o r k a i r p o r t .
[ - - ]

2 . S o m e m e m b e r s o f t h e b i n
L a d n i en t w o r k h a v e r e c e i v e d
h i j a c k t r a i n i n g , a c c o r d i n g t o
v a r i o u s s o u r c e s , b u t n o g r o u p
d i r e c t l y t i e d t o b i n L a d i n ' s a l -
Q a e d a o r g a n i z a t i o n h a s e v e r
c a r r i e d o u t a n a i r c r a f t
h i j a c k i n g . B i n L a d i n c o u l d b e
w e i g h i n g o t h e r t y p e s o f
o p e r a t i o n s a g a i n s t U S a i r c r a f t .
A c c o r d i n g t o [ - - ] t h e G a m a ' a t
a l - I s l a m i y y a i n O c t o b e r
o b t a i n e d S7 A -
m i s s i l e s a n d
i n t e n d e d t o m o v e t h e m f r o m
Y e m e n i n t o S a u d i A r a b i a t o
s h o o t d o w n a n E g y p t i a n p l a n e
o r , i f u n s u c c e s s f u l , a U S
m i l i t a r y o r c i v i l i a n a i r c r a f t .

* A [--] in October told us that unspecified "extremist elements" in Yemen had acquired SA-7s. [--]

3 . [ - - ] i n d i c a t e t h e b i n L a d i n
o r g a n i z a
t i o n o r i t s a l l i e s a r e
m o v i n g c l o s e r t o i m p l e m e n t i n g
a n t i - U S a t t a c k s a t u n s p e c i f i e d
l o c a t i o n s , b u t w e d o n o t k n o w
w h e t h e r t h e y a r e r e l a t e d t o
a t t a c k s o n a i r c r a f t . A b i n
L a d i n a s s o c i a t e i n S u d a n l a t e
l a s t m o n t h t o l d a c o l l e a g u e i n
K a n d a h a r t h a t h e h a d s h i p p e d a
g r o u p o f c o n t a i n e r s t o
A f g h a n i s t a n . B i n L a d i n
a s s o c i a t e s a l s o t a l k e d a b o u t t h e
m o v e m e n t o f c o n t a i n e r s t o
A f g h a n i s t a n b e f o r e t h e E a s t
A f r i c a b o m b i n g s .

51
. Before our September 11th Victory Bush was told, “We have not been able to corroborate some of the more sensational threat
reporting, such as that from a ... (redacted portion) ... service in 1998 saying that Bin Ladin wanted to hijack a US aircraft to gain the
release of "Blind Shaykh Umar Abd al-Rahman.” USA v Moussaoui DE 910 Cr 01-455-A
 * In other [--] bin Ladin associates in November 1998 discussed picking u p a p a c k a g e
i n M a l a y s i a . O n e t o l d h i s
c o l l e a g u e i n M a l a y s i a t h a t
" t h e y " w e r e i n t h e " n i n t h m o n t h
[ o f p r e g n a n c y ] .

THE PRISON GRAPEVINE

Thomas Oses, who was also a prisoner at the Springfield Medical Center,
claimed to have spoken with Sheik Rahman in July and August 1997 during a hunger
strike staged by the inmates. Thomas Oses claimed the Sheik told him that the World
Trade Center was going to be attacked again, along with a nuclear power plant. If this
were true it would indicate that the Sheikh knew about the September 11 th attacks in
1997. Sheik Rahman would never have betrayed our plans to a stranger and we are
generally wary of tales told by jailhouse snitches but after years of sensory deprivation
the Sheik may have broken down. Thomas Oses claimed he informed the FBI of the
Sheik’s predictions, “After being transferred to another Federal Prison, Some Where
Between The End of 1997 to towards the middle or end of 1999 I met with the Two
Special Agents of the FBI through one of the Federal Prison Lieutenants (Lt. Coley) who
agreed that the information was extremely serious. In this personal interview I gave the
two agents from the Montgomery, Alabama Field Office a lengthy handwritten report.”

Oses was released prior to 9/11 and on September 19, 2002 Oses said he again
contacted the Montgomery FBI Agents and reminded them of his report. Oses
attempted to obtain a copy of his interview and report under the Freedom of Information
Act, but “Recently the FBI Classified my materials in connection with this ugly mess a
National Security issue.” Oses filed suit against the United States Government for
damages however Judge Mukasey dismissed the action because Federal officials are
immune to prosecution and because Oses had failed to exhaust all his administrative
remedies under the Freedom of Information Act. Judge Mukasey took the time to write
a lengthy opinion of why he was dismissing Oses’ case, rather than just a few lines.
Oses claimed to have “worked undercover on serious high profile cases with the FBI
and they provided extremely powerful positive letters attesting to how truthful I am…I
had to be put in protective custody and when I am transported to court it is in a van by
myself.” The only way to know if Oses was telling the truth would be to view these FBI
documents.52

Oses seems to have mental problems and was probably in the psychiatric unit of
the prison. When Sheik Rahman was transferred from Springfield to Rochester,
Minnesota he was kept in the psychiatric section of the prison in order to completely
isolate him:

Q. Well, where was Sheik Rahman housed?

52
. Oses v. Rahman USDC SDNY 2003cv01107, 2003cv01108, 2003cv01109
A. He had a special housing area of his own in building 1, which is
considered the psychiatric and the seclusion facility within the Rochester
prison.

Q. Was he diagnosed with any psychiatric condition that would indicate

that he should be in a psychiatric unit?

A. No, not that I'm aware of.

Q. Were you aware that he was evaluated by staff psychiatrists or

psychologists?

A. Yes.

Q. And did you have occasion to review the results of those psychiatric
evaluations?

A. I do not recall specifically.

Q. Would it refresh your recollection -- first of all, do you know a Steve

Norton? And would it refresh your recollection if I showed you a document
prepared by Mr. Norton?

A. I have read it.

Q. So that at least as of the year -- as of December 2000, do you concur

that he did not have -- did not exhibit significant mental health problems?

A. Yes, I do.

Q. And were there administrative reasons then for putting him in this
special housing unit, this psychiatric unit? And those were decisions that
were made by the Bureau of Prisons, correct?

A. Yes. That was my understanding.

Q. And you mentioned a while ago the word seclusion. What did you
mean by that?

A. Seclusion is a term that means the patient is segregated from other

contact with other inmates.

Q. As a general matter -- we will get to exceptions in a minute -- he would

not have contact with other inmates, correct?

A. That's correct.
 Q. And there was a time when he did attend prayers with other inmates.
Were you aware of that?

A. I was not aware of that.

Q. As a general rule, no contact with other inmates?

A. Yes.

The Government claimed he was moved to Rochester “so he could have access
to the Mayo Clinic. It was an effort to make sure that he had the best medical care we
could give him, which is both trying to make sure that an inmate was treated properly,
but also to make clear to anyone who would check, wanted to verify this, that he was
getting the medical attention he deserved and he was not being abused in prison and
his medical needs were not being ignored.”

WALID ARKEH

In late 2000 Jordanian criminal Walid Arkeh fled to England from

the United States to avoid standing trial for theft and for slapping his child.
He was apprehended and sent to London's Brixton Prison pending
extradition. There, he met Brothers Khalid al-Fawwaz, Adel Abdel-Meguid
Abdel-Bary and Ibrahim Hussein Abdel Hadi Eidarous 53, who were
awaiting extradition to the United States for their part in the East African
Embassy Events. Eidarous, 42, and Adel Abdel-Bary, 39, were arrested
on extradition warrants in London following a request from the United
States. One fax claiming responsibility for the African Embassy bombings was received
at a shop in London and another was sent after the bombings from a post office,
Arvinder Sambi, appearing for the Crown Prosecution Service on behalf of the U.S.
government said at the hearing in Bow Street Magistrates Court. She said originals of
the faxes, with the men's fingerprints, were subsequently found at the London offices of
The Advice and Reform Committee (ARC). 54 When members of his family denounced
Usama, bin Laden formed the Advice and Reform Committee as a political arm of al-
Qaeda that specifically target the Saudi Royal Family.

Walid Arkeh claimed they told him that the 1993 attack on the World Trade
Center was “unfinished business,” and that another attack on it was being planned as
well as an attack on government buildings in Washington, D.C. “A lot of United States
government buildings were mentioned, airports, federal buildings. The Trade Center
was mentioned to me. When it got bombed and nothing happened to it…one of the guys
said, ‘In 1993, it wasn't successful. But you can bet on it: It will now.’”

53
. In July 2002 Eidarous, who was suffering from cancer, was released from a top security psychiatric facility, so that he could die
in dignity.Tom Parry - “Suspect Set Free” – Mirror UK – July 22, 2004
54
. Miami Herald July 14, 1999
 After Walid Arkeh was brought back to the United States in July 2001 to serve a
30-month sentence he contacted the FBI and was interviewed by two agents and an
INS official on August 21, 2001. 55 On September 9, 2001 Arkeh told another inmate that
time was running out who requested a meeting with a corrections official, but the officer
was away from work for the next several days. Arkeh was re-interviewed on September
11th. The FBI felt that his story was not credible and he was unable to trade more details
for his freedom. The FBI released a statement saying, “In fact, this individual was
interviewed on four occasions; the information vetted to FBI New York, the Acting
Special Agent in Charge of the Tampa Division and the United States Attorney for the
Middle District of Florida. All agreed the information provided by this individual was
vague and unsubstantiated.”56

None-the-less Arkeh was moved to Manhattan Correctional Center, a federal

facility where he was interviewed as a material witness. Labe Richman Walid Arkeh’s
New York court-appointed lawyer said the Justice Department found his information
“credible and helpful.” "Let me tell you something," Arkeh recalled an FBI agent saying.
“If you know what happened in New York, we are all in deep shit. We are in deep
trouble.” Arkeh was then returned to the Florida State Prison system until he was
ordered deported to Jordan on March 12, 2003. 57 He is doing well there and plans to
move to Turkey. Again, the only way to accurately evaluate the value of Arkeh’s
information would be to review the FBI report generated in August 2001. We do know
August 6, 2001 a memorandum was presented in an intelligence briefing the White
House entitled, "Bin Laden Determined to Strike in U.S.” 58

PROTOCOL 2: WE SHALL WORK WITH THE ENEMY WITHIN

Whether the United States exhausts itself in its own convulsions, whether it is
internal discord brought on by the leftists, right wing extremists, anti-globalists, who see
Islam as America’s prime enemy and lend us their support and help to bring America
under the power of external foes -- in any case American democracy will be accounted
irretrievably lost: It is in our power to defeat America and the axis of evil allied with it.
Should anyone of a western democratic mind say that such reflections as the above are
immoral, I would put forth the following questions: If every State has two foes and if, in
regard to the external foe, it is allowed and not considered immoral to use every manner
and art of conflict, is this not permissible?

LYNNE STEWART
THE ZIONISTS GIVE HER A PRIZE

Sister Lynne, born Lynne Feltham59 in Brooklyn in 1939 gave this version of her
life to the jury during her “terrorism” case: “I went to Martin Van Buren High School, City
High School, first graduating class…I wrote an essay for the B'nai B'rith [a Zionist
55
. Doris Bloodsworth “Inmate Says He Told FBI About Danger to New York”
Orlando Sentinel January 6, 2002 Page A.1.
56
. “FBI Gives Terror Tip Second Look” Orlando Sentinel October 30, 2002 Page A1.
57
. Doris Bloodsworth “Tipster Sent To Jordan, Orlando Sentinel March 12, 2003; pg. B.1
58
. David Johnston and Jim Dwyer “Pre-9/11 “Files Show Warnings Were More Dire and Persistent” New York Times April 18, 2004
59
. Brother is Donald Feltham of West Lynne, Oregon. Daughter Zenobia Brown Venice, Florida.
organization] and won the prize of a fountain pen, Schaeffer fountain pen for the
Constitution and what it means to us today. I think that was in 1955. During the
summers my uncle was a stenographer in a Wall Street law firm, Cravath, Swaine &
Moore…[I worked there] for one summer…I became a proofreader…I ended up, not
without some counter attempts from some of the older partners, in the law library at
Cravath, Swaine & Moore, where I worked my summer of 17, 18, 19, 20 and 21, I
believe.

DISLIKES CHRISTIAN FUNDAMENTALISM

I went to college in the Midwest. I went to a small but highly rated school
called Hope College. It was a college that was run by, I would have to say,
a fundamentalist Christian group, the Reform Church in America. And in
1957, when I arrived there, women could not wear pants on campus, nor
smoke, nor be out of the dorms after 8:00. We could not go downtown
except with someone else along with us. We couldn't go alone, that is. So
I had a -- I guess a taste of fundamentalism in college. Didn't care too
much for it.

I left Hope to go on an honors political science semester at American

University in Washington, DC…I also met, during that semester, my
husband-to-be, Robert Stewart. And we were married in the fall of that
year and I did not return to Hope College. I got a bachelor's degree in
political science. I was expecting my first child in October, my daughter,
Brenna. And my husband was going to start medical school in
Philadelphia, so we moved to Philadelphia. And Brenna was born in
Philadelphia in October 1961.

My first job out of college was as a librarian in a public school on 135th

and Lenox Avenue in Harlem. It was also the beginning of a lifelong
involvement, commitment, if you will to a movement I really had no idea at
that point even existed. It was P.S. 175, the Henry Highland Garnett
School. It was K through 6, kindergarten through sixth grade, and I was
hired on as the librarian, the children's librarian, the teacher of library. It
was an all black community, which came as a surprise to me. I had grown
up probably not ten miles from Harlem and never knew it existed. It was
the way that things were done in those days, I think, that we just were not
made aware. That was not part of our social studies. And so I came to
Harlem to teach and was amazed at what I saw there, amazed, wanted to
know more, wanting to find out more, was very -- became very angry that
no one had ever told me that there was a problem, that racism existed,
that the world was not as I had expected it and a place where one could
rise because one had the ability to do so. This was now 1962, the fall of
1962, and it was a time when the civil rights and the human rights
movement was just beginning to get under way. I was at P.S. 175 until the
year 1965, when I then went to teach as teacher of library on the lower
 east side of Manhattan where I also lived. By 1965, my first husband and I
had been divorced. [Stewart’s first husband suffered a psychological
breakdown] I had two children. I was living in the projects on Pitt Street on
the lower east side of Manhattan between Rivington and Stanton Streets. I
transferred to P.S. 64.

I had also, in the intervening years, become very active in the school's
movement, as we called it. That was in the early 1960s. There was a push
in the black community for community control of their schools. Started at
I.S. 201 in Harlem. And Ralph, my husband, was very, very involved in
that. He was also a teacher. We had met at P.S. 175. And we went from
there to having other branches at the lower east side and in Williamsburg,
Bedford Stuyvesant, the movement for change in the schools, which is still
very dear to my heart.

Sister Lynne married Ralph Poynter and began to work together combating the
Jewish Defense League in the Oceanville-Brownsville community-school movement.
Poynter was a left-wing organizer and enforcer who lost his job and served six months
on Rikers Island for three felony counts of assaulting a police officer. He also attacked
Jewish teachers. God Bless Him! Poynter had many other women and seven children,
only one being between them. Lynne’s daughter’s common-law husband was arrested
on drug charges.

In 1971, I was teaching on the lower east side, Ninth Street and Avenue B.
In 1971, anyway, it was a point at which the movement for change in the
schools had basically been co-opted in my view. The people who had
fought for change basically became part of the great society. They
basically were behind desks. And there was not much push anymore to
change the schools. And I felt that I was somewhat of an anachronism. I
was a librarian at a school where nobody could read. It broke my heart
and I thought to myself, I always wanted to be a lawyer. Maybe this is the
time to take my principles and my ideas and my ambition and do that.
Well, the consideration was that I had a very young baby at the time, my
third child had been born, and I wanted to be close to home. And so I
applied to NYU and Fordham and Rutgers Law School. Rutgers wasn't so
close, but it was financially a place I wanted to go to. It was the first
consideration. Other things entered in later. I ended up going to Rutgers
after NYU wanted a substantial down payment in August of the year I was
no longer teaching. We had a fledgling business, motorcycle shop on the
lower east side, and we just couldn't come up with that kind of money.
Rutgers gave me a full scholarship. They were anxious to have a class
equally balanced, male and female, so they were willing to give us the way
to do that. I was still living on Pitt Street, same place, in the projects. I did
take the PATH train that used to leave from Greenwich Village, Eighth
Street and Ninth Street, and go over that way. For a period of time there
were sometimes cars available that usually didn't last very long. And I also
 rode a motorcycle to Rutgers from Manhattan. And people probably
remember me more for that than anything else at Rutgers. Rutgers in
1971 was a place that was a client-centered approach. It was also a place
that taught you mainly through the efforts of their great constitutional law
professor, Earnest Kanoy, to give back, to go to court to change the world,
in essence. He believed that by bringing the right cases and fighting the
good fight you could change the world through the law, and that spirit
infused the entire law school. I took an extra year to graduate because I
had to drop out due to some family medical problems. But I came back
and I graduated actually in 1975, in the spring of 1975. Rutgers had a very
aggressive policy of affirmative action, Black, Latino students attended.
And it had a series of clinical education, poverty law clinic, basically as a
service that the law was to serve the people. It was called I think the
people's electric law school. Those were the T-shirts we wore. I graduated
in the spring of 1975. Through our motorcycle shop I had met a criminal
defense lawyer who indicated that he needed some help in the
summertime. And I went to work for Stanley L. Siegel, who had offices
over here at 401 Broadway. Stanley represented people mainly who were
accused of drug crimes; in those days, mostly marijuana and cocaine,
which was interestingly enough considered a soft drug in those days. He
also represented the Hell's Angels, and I was hired on to be the "law
man," if you will; that is, the person who wrote the briefs, who did the
motion work, who basically was the researcher and writer and carried on
that part of the practice for him and his partner, Herman Graber, who is
still practicing law.

THE POLITICS OF SISTER LYNNE

Stewart claimed to be a revolutionary communist - the very people that her client
Sheik Rahman had fought against in Afghanistan. The New York Times quoted her as
saying:

I don’t believe in anarchistic violence but in directed violence. That would

be violence directed at the institutions that perpetuate capitalism, racism
and sexism, and at the people who are the appointed guardians of those
institutions, and accompanied by popular support. It is my personal view
now that in a righteous struggle -- that is, where people are trying to
overcome oppression, such as South Africa during the 1980s and 1990s
and Ireland during many centuries -- it is an appropriate response when
there is no other response, is to fight back, to use -- act in self defense
and to accomplish political goals by those actions. I don't believe in
anarchistic violence, however -- my political view is I am a revolutionary
with a small R, that I do believe that basic change is necessary. I think
some of it will be accomplished nonviolently such as the fact that my
granddaughter now plays NCAA basketball and maybe can play in
Madison Square Garden someday. That revolution happened nonviolently.
 But I think to rid ourselves of the entrenched voracious type of capitalism
that is in this country that perpetuates sexism and racism, I don't think that
can come nonviolently. I am against anarchistic violence, meaning by that
the kind of violence that is not supported by the majority of the people. I'm
talking about a revolution of the people that overthrows institutions. [I do
not support terrorist violence] because it's basically anarchistic. It is not
directed against institutions or -- it is directed against civilians and
therefore it cannot be excused. Well, I don't believe in civilian deaths. And
for that reason it seems to me that at some ultimate point the institutions
which perpetuate capitalism -- and by that I mean the institutions of
government which protect it and make sure that it functions -- do have to
be attacked. Perhaps could be banking institutions, if they were the -- a
possible thought, but I'm sure those decisions -- we're not in those times
yet, Mr. Dember. And I'm sure when time and circumstances occur, as I
have had a lifelong belief they must occur, that the people will make the
right decisions about which institutions to attack. New York City Board of
Education could be such an institution.

Lynne had helped hang herself when she came out for revolutionary violence. In
his summation her Attorney Michael Tigar tried to explain this away,

Of course, if they want to do more about Lynne Stewart's politics, although

the prosecutor summed up first and said no more needs to be said, I think
more will be said. That's fine. Those who wrote the Bill of Rights were not
cowards. We have a society based on the bill of rights, members of the
jury. There are risks. There are risks from people expressing unpopular
ideas, risks that those who might be guilty will be freed because there is
not lawful evidence beyond a reasonable doubt, risks that wild religious
doctrine will get loose and have a bad influence. And we take those risks
because with the decades of our freedom piled so high, they are what
makes a society great. And I'm not going to do that either. 60

Stewart defended many atheistic communist terrorists including the Jew David
Gilbert, a former member of the Jewish-led Weather Underground, who was convicted
of assisting the Black Liberation Army in the 1981 Brinks armored-car robbery in Nyack,
New York, which resulted in the death of two police officers and a security guard. The
Elder’s understood her motivation was primarily to destroy America. But there was no
excuse for her representing sexual deviants who she calls “people in the gay
community. New Jersey still had those sodomy laws and used peepholes.” 61 It was
obvious Lynne and Sheik Rahman could not have come from more different
backgrounds. Lynne was from a counter-culture East Village milieu, whereas this was
anathema to the Blind Sheik Rahman. Friends said that he was a “religious Islamic
fascist” who opposed everything that the feminist, atheist and revolutionary Marxist
Stewart stood for. But not only did Lynne help out the Sheik, she became an associate
of the Al-Gama'a al-Islamiyya. If it means death for the Jews Lynne will agree with us
60
. USA v Sattar http://www.lynnestewart.org/transcripts/010505.txt
61
. AKA gloryholes: Booths used by perverts to perform oral sex without seeing the sexual partner.
that all the backstabbing Communists must die. This came to light when the Americans
recorded her meetings with Sheik Rahman in May 2000:

Yousry: [Brushing the table with the napkins] Thank God, they killed the
communists in Yemen, thank God, they killed the communists in Yemen.

ABDEL RAHMAN: Yeah.

Stewart: [Knocks on the table]

Yousry: [Laughing] See, I do remember.

ABDEL RAHMAN: [Laughs]

Yousry: Okay Sir, [shaking hands with Abdel Rahman] peace be upon
you, Sir, may God keep you safe, we’ll see you soon, in good health.

In December 2002 Sister Lynne, Yousry and the

Sheik got their wish granted when an al-Qaeda cell
assassinated a prominent secular politician, Jar Allah
Omar, 60, leader of the Yemeni Socialist Party 62 after
Jarallah Omar was lured to the scene of his death by
Sheikh Abdul Mejid al-Zindani, who invited the
communist to speak at the meeting of the Islamic Reform Party that is deeply rooted in
the powerful Hashed tribal confederation in northern Yemen,
whose military branch is headed by Sheikh Abdul Mejid Al-
Zindani. From 1984 until the end of the decade, Al-Zindani sent
between 5000 and 7000 Arabs, including Yemenis, to
Afghanistan and Pakistan via Saudi Arabia for military training,
Jihad, and religious teaching under his guidance. Zindani himself
fought in Afghanistan against the Soviets alongside bin Laden, and
his party is part of bin Laden’s organization. The Islamist al-Islah provided shelter to
returning fighters from Afghanistan and encouraged them to settle in Yemen. 63 Specially
Designated jihadi64 Sheikh Abdulmajeed al-Zindani is head of Islah Central Committee
and Rector of al-Eman University. Ali Al-Jarallah who dropped the hammer on Jarallah
Omar said people like Jarallah Omar belonged to "secular infidel parties and had to be
killed," an official in the Islamic Reform Party said. A Yemeni court overturned the
verdicts and prison sentences of six men who had been accused of aiding Ali Al-
Jarallah in the assassination of Jar Allah Omar but Al-Jarallah was hanged. 65

A few weeks before this action, Abed Abdul-Razak al-Kamil, a member of the
same al-Qaeda cell as Al-Jarallah wrapped a gun like a baby and killed three Americans
in December 2002 at a Baptist missionary hospital in central Yemen. Allah Akbar! After

62
. http://www.nytimes.com/2003/01/03/international/middleeast/03YEME.html
63
. http://www.ict.org.il/articles/articledet.cfm?articleid=138
64
. http://www.yementimes.com/article.shtml?i=726&p=front&a=1
65
. http://www.ajc.org/site/c.ijITI2PHKoG/b.1717401/k.931D/iCounterterrorism_Watchi_brAcquittals/apps/nl/newsletter3.asp
the shooting, Abed Abdul-Razak al-Kamil was taken by special security agents of the
Islamic Reform Party's leader, Abdullah al-Ahmar, to al-Ahmar's home where he was
questioned before being handed over to the Interior Ministry. Abdullah bin Hussein al-
Ahmar, the hereditary leader of Yemen’s largest confederation of tribes, the Hashid,
worked with Sheikh Tariq al-Fadhli. Sheikh Abdulmajeed al-Zindani criticized the US
Ambassador to Yemen Edmund Hull for the accusations that al-Eman University
promotes extremism in Yemen and helps fund terrorism. Hull said, “the killer of the
doctors in Jibla is a member of the al-Eman university and it has a role in promoting
extremism.” A state-run Yemeni weekly newspaper, September 26, 2003 said Abed
Abdel Razzak Kamel told police he joined Yemen's militant Islamic Jihad group in 1997
after he met the man who three years later took part in the attack that killed 17 sailors
on board the US destroyer in Aden harbor. This was either our brother Hassan al-
Khamiri (aka Abdullah al-Misawa) originally from Shabwah Governorate, but was born
at Al-Ta'if in Saudi Arabia or our brother Ibrahim al-Thawr from Sanaa who was also
born at Al-Ta'if. Both Shaheeds had family ties in the Yemeni province of Hadhramaut
the ancestral home of Osama bin Ladin. They were veterans of the Afghan conflict.
According to the Yemeni Interior Minister, one of the bombers had been arrested for
plotting a terrorist attack in Yemen in 1999, shortly after he returned from a visit to
Afghanistan. He and 15 others served short terms in prison and were released. 66Kamel
also admitted to knowing other suspected al-Qaeda members," the newspaper said.
"He also told interrogators to kill him since he was going to go to heaven anyway." 67
Abed Abdul-Razak al-Kamil was hanged.

Lynne Stewart rhetoric is that of a communist who wishes to see an Islamic

government take power that kills Communists: “I believe in self-determination. Sheik
Rahman’s is one way to lift off the yoke of imperialism. If the next step is worse, then
the people will rise again. It’s a process of development.” Workers of the World Arise
again! You have nothing to loose but your Qu’rans! But once Islamists assume power
the enemies of the Almighty are dealt a deathblow from which they do not recover. And
Islamists would all die in battle rather than see the Communists come to power! On
other occasions Lynne said that she wished to see the imposition of Shari'ah in Egypt if
it frees her client:

Q. Did you believe at that time, Ms. Stewart, that if President Mubarak was
removed from office in Egypt and what you called Abdel Rahman's
political party took over, that they would, in some way -- or the American
government would be compelled or forced in some way to exchange him
or transfer him for something or someone else?

A. Well, I believed it might be a case of enlightened self-interest, perhaps,

that to remove this person, Sheikh Omar, who was such a lightning rod
that attracted so much controversy, so many problems; and to do a good
deed, if you will, for the Egyptian people and for him. It's been known to
happen.

66
http://www.ict.org.il/spotlight/det.cfm?id=536
67
. http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2003/01/03/1041566230154.html
 Stewart was asked if she supported an Islamist revolution in Egypt because it did
not work out for women and progressives in Iran and Afghanistan.

The fact of the matter is I believe in self-determination. I believe people

have the right to decide for themselves how their lives should be led,
under what kind of government…I’m not going to second-guess people
who are living in Egypt under conditions they know better about than I do.
They have to decide for themselves. And my understanding is that the
Islamic revolution is the only hope of every succeeding in unseating a
group of what I consider to be charlatans, Mubarak, the king of Jordan,
people who run the Gulf states and Saudi Arabia. They are not in their
people’s best interest, and if their people see they want to reinstate a
system of laws and government that was in existence for hundreds and
hundreds of years, I’m not going to judge. There’s a body of law, the
Shari'ah, that was in place and, and can be put back in place. And it was
certainly not what the Taliban were living under – they had their own
system that was probably to the right of what most Islamists consider to be
the law. I only know what I read from sources in this country, but certainly
if they were not permitting women to attend school, this is not Islam. I
mean the Sheik does not twist what he sees as the law of Islam to suit his
own desires. He basically sees the Qu’ran as championing women in
some ways Westerns might do well to emulate. Women do not take their
husband’s names. Women marry under contract, which can be broken –
with the husband’s consent I admit. 68

Sister Lynne supports Islamic revolution and is going to jail for helping it achieve
its goals. If it looks like a camel, if it walks like a camel it probably is a camel! And
believe the Learned Elders of Islam, she looks like a camel. Although she will not admit
it, but thanks to her hatred of Jews, 69 we have recruited her into Islamism. Her loyalty to
our cause is unceasing to the point where it was suggested she become one of
Rahman the Elder’s wives:

ABDEL RAHMAN: [My wife] is very pleased with you, very, very pleased!

Yousry: [Laughing] She says, the Sheikh said that his wife was very happy
to meet you, and she was very pleased to see-

ABDEL RAHMAN: She is telling me to marry her.

Yousry: And she was asking him to marry you.

Stewart: Yes, I know.

68
. Bill Weinberg Shadow July-August 2002 “Interview With Lynne Stewart.”
69
. Lynne publicly betrayed her feelings about the chosen people when she wondered aloud whether the Center For Constitutional
Rights might be withdrawing from her defense “because they get a lot of their support from Zionists. Well, from Jews, who aren’t all
Zionists, but some of them are.” This was also a brilliant maneuver to force the Leftist Jews to support her, by questioning their
loyalty to anti-Zionism.
ABDEL RAHMAN: I said to her, no, she is married, I am not going to
marry her, she is my sister.

Yousry: I told her that you are already married and I consider you as a
sister.

Stewart: Hmm. [Laughing]

ABDEL RAHMAN: I told her I left two sisters in Egypt -

Yousry: Yes, sir.

ABDEL RAHMAN: -I have not seen them for a very long time....

Stewart: (UI) it was such a great honor actually, a true honor, I must say.

Yousry: Lynne says, Sir, this is an honor, it gives me a feeling of dignity.

ABDEL RAHMAN: Ah, she is pleased, she says you (UI) the Sheikh is
keen that I convert to Islam, things like that.

Yousry: She told me that, the Sheikh’s wife told him that you spoke with
her and you told her that the Sheikh was very concerned about you and
he wants you to learn more about Islam, and, and that’s why she was very
happy and she liked you a lot.

Stewart: Yes, she is, I can see that she and I, in a, in a better world, would
be very, very, good friends.

Yousry: She says, Sir that, God willing, if she and her met some other
time, at some other place, they would be very good friends.

ABDEL RAHMAN: God willing.

Stewart: God willing.

Yousry: [Simultaneously] God willing.

Stewart: Do they usually sit like this and watch us?

Yousry: Yes. Lynne is asking, what is going on, why are the three of them
sitting next to each other and looking at us?

ABDEL RAHMAN: [Laughs]

 Stewart: They have to read lips, I guess. (UI) are looking (UI).

Sheik Rahman once stated: “False accusations have been leveled against me in
the news media by governing ministers, marriage to an African-American; meeting with
Saddam Hussein of Iraq when I was in the United States.” 70 Mamdouh Zaki Zakhary
claimed, “They brought Rahman Negro girls to make some affairs. He have no
girlfriend. Make him a little hot. Some pleasure. He’s a human being, he’s sick in mind.”

THE CEASE-FIRE AND ATTACKS ON TOURISTS

In the early 1990’s Sheik Rahman commented: “As for attacking the tourist
buses, they do not attack the tourists to kill them but only to disable the bus; had they
intended to kill the tourists, they would have attacked 200 or 300 or 500 tourists; only
one tourist has been killed so far. Just one female British tourist, only one was killed.
The intention of the Muslim Brothers who carry out these actions is not kill the tourists
but rather to pressure the Government for the release of the Brothers.” 71

Later the Sheik took a harder line. Rahman would say that tourism in Egypt
spreads low morals and diseases such as AIDS. “I send recordings to Cairo in which I
call upon my people to attack tourists. I explain to them that we must stop tourism to
Egypt. Tourism is a plague. [Western] women come dressed in provocative clothing in
order to arouse the believers. Tourists use drugs they party all night in the clubs and
casinos, and feel up the belly dancers. And our people [the Egyptians] their eyes are
popping out from envy in trying to imitate the kuffar tourists.”72

Khalil Marwan, a clever propagandist who works out of Amman, Jordan,

propagated the charge the Israeli tourists bring AIDS to Egypt. 73 His story first appeared
on Muslimedia74 in 1997: “Equally diabolical Israeli plots are coming into the open about
AIDS-infected Israeli prostitutes75 disguised as tourists who have been let loose in Cairo
70
. Application for Political Asylum page 3 - Page 266 Rahman v Reno
71
. Ltr. USA to Mukasey January 26, 1995.
72
. Yediot Ahronot January 1, 1993 “The Sheik Who Murdered Egyptian Tourism”
USA Today, February 22, 1993.
73
. Khalil Marwan Muslimedia July 16-31, 1997 ”Zionists perpetrate more sacrilegious acts as Arab rulers sue for peace.”
http://www.muslimedia.com/archives/oaw98/outrage.htm
74
. Muslimedia is part of the Institute of Contemporary Islamic Thought whose senior member, Imam Abdul Alim Musa of the Masjid
al Islam, in Washington, D.C., said “America placed this sword, this cancer, this Zionist state in the center of the crossroads of the
world” and condemned the “Zionists in Hollywood, the Zionists in New York, and the Zionists in D.C.” who “all collaborate” to
oppress Blacks and Muslims. Malik Zulu Shabazz: ADL Backgrounder “American Muslims Clerics Join Malik Zulu Shabazz of Anti-
Semitic New Black Panther Party for C-SPAN Press Conference.”
http://www.adl.org/Anti_semitism/shabazz_backgrounder.asp
75
. Israel may not dispatch AID’s ridden prostitutes to Egypt but there have been other accusations about Israel’s use of such
women: Brother Muhammed Salah told his Israeli interrogators: “Israel does not want the world to know about the prostitutes less
than twenty-years-old, planted by the intelligence as ‘traps’ (for recruitment to collaborate under threat of sexual blackmail). Israel
does not want the world to know about the prostitutes planted by the intelligence by pornographic photographs, sex and drugs.
Israel does not want the world to know that the intelligence sells weapons to our people. Israel does not want the world to know that
70% of the water in Gaza is urine, and must be boiled before drinking. Israel does not want the world to know that in Arab Jerusalem
alone there are 570 hashish addicts and 17 prostitute groups nurtured by Israel, which even arms some of them.” During another
part of his interrogation this was said:
Shin Bet Agent: Do you want to hear something? I interrogated Jamil Hamami! In Jerusalem (sound of chair scraping the floor) he is
a friend of mine.
Salah: But he told me that they had given him dirty pictures.
Shin Bet Agent: Jamil Hamami? Where, where? He was interrogated twice.
Salah: The last time he was released in 1992 (interrupted).
and other Arab cities.”76 Dr. Zawahiri wrote: “You are a nation that exploits women like
consumer products or advertising tools calling upon customers to purchase them. You
use women to serve passengers, visitors, and strangers to increase your profit margins.
You then rant that you support the liberation of women. You are a nation that practices
the trade of sex in all its forms, directly and indirectly. Giant corporations and
establishments are established on this, under the name of art, entertainment, tourism
and freedom, and other deceptive names you attribute to it. And because of all this, you
have been described in history as a nation that spreads diseases that were unknown to
man in the past. Go ahead and boast to the nations of man, that you brought them AIDS
as a Satanic American Invention.”

THE ATTACK ON GREEK TOURISTS

On April 15, 1996, the New York Times reported that Mr. Abdel Rahman
submitted a letter to a London-based Arabic daily newspaper, Al-Hayat, accusing prison
guards at the United States medical center for federal prisoners in Springfield, Missouri,
of racial discrimination and religious prejudice. Rahman called on his supporters to
"make your voice heard" to improve his living conditions. Rahman further stated that
"people of manhood, support, sacrifice and dignity: Rise up from your deep slumber and
make your voice heard. Rise up and see justice -- I'm sorry, rise up and see justice
done.”77

An attack on tourism occurred on April 18, 1996 when Gama’a al-Islamiyya jihadi
opened up with automatic gunfire on a group of Greek tourists, killing 18 of them,
including 14 elderly women. Twenty others were injured in the incident. Among the six
jihadi, all of whom were killed in the police counter-attack, the one that was identified
was Afghan-trained Medhat Abdel Rahman. Subsequently Gama’a claimed
responsibility for the attack and revealed that the gunmen wanted to take the tourists as
hostages to pressure the U.S. to release Sheik Rahman but the police provoked them to
carry out the massacre.78 This was our communiqué:
Shin Bet Agent: No, I speak about the fact that I brought him from prison (interrupted). I brought him and he had already been tried
earlier. New evidence came to light about him, and I brought him. I did not bring him from home when I interrogated him.
Salah: Who brought him from the airport?
Shin Bet Agent: Not I! He was interrogated – I do not remember if it was in Hebron or Jerusalem. And when I talk to you about the
interrogation. It was after he had been tried.
Salah: He told me: ‘They gave me a dirty picture’ (pauses). He was in person and I believe him. ‘A dirty picture’ he told me: ‘The
interrogator argued with me and I told him my level is higher than yours – people know me – why do you do this to me?’ He told me
the interrogator was ashamed and said enough, do not talk to me and then left. That is, he told me he has a feeling that
(interrupted).
Shin Bet Agent: He has a feeling, but about the pictures he told you strange things! Did you see the pictures?
Salah: No.
Shin Bet Agent: Do you want to see all the rooms?
Salah: I have seen them.
Shin Bet Agent: Then why? (interrupted)
Salah: They told me they will bring you girls who will seduce you.
Interrogation of Muhammed Salah Cassette #2 August 5, 1995.
76
. Muslimedia - July 16-31, 1997.
http://www.muslimedia.com/archives/oaw98/outrage.htm
The Institute of Contemporary Islamic Thought http://www.islamicthought.org/icit-intro.html
77
. http://www.lynnestewart.org/transcripts/100404.txt
78
. P.B. Sinha “Threat of Islamic Terrorism Egypt” Strategic Analysis: A Monthly Journal of the IDSA November 1998 (Vol. XXII No.
8)
http://216.239.39.100/search?
q=cache:Y1c44r5aWgcC:www.ciaonet.org/olj/sa/sa_98sip01.html+rahman+gamaa+ceasefire&hl=en&ie=UTF-8
 “In the name of God, the merciful, the
compassionate. There is no God but God and
Mohammed is His prophet. There is no place
for Jewish people in the land of Muslim Egypt.
The forces of martyr Tala'at Yassien (Military
Wing of Al-Gama'a al-Islamiyya in Egypt)
declare that they are responsible for the Jihadi
operation executed in Giza Province yesterday. The result of the operation
was 18 dead and 15 injured. We are taking responsibility now that our
Mujahadeen are safely back in their bases. The forces of Tala'at Yassien
announce that the purpose of this operation is to avenge the blood of the
martyrs killed in Lebanon by the sons of monkeys and pigs and the slaves
of the oppressive false idols (the Jewish people). It is important to mention
that the original target of this Jihadi operation was a group of Jewish
tourists who were supposed to be taking the bus to Alexandria at the
moment of the attack. We obtained this information through careful
monitoring of the hotel and intelligence received by our military wing. We
were surprised to learn that a group of Greek tourists left on the bus
instead of the Jewish group. This is not our fault; it is a security measure
randomly used by the Egyptian security forces to protect the lives of the
Jewish people only, and if they were not so concerned with protecting
Jewish tour groups only, the Greek group never would have been killed.
The forces of Tala'at Yassien declare that all the Jewish interests in the
land of Egypt will continue to be targets until the Zionist enemy stops its
barbaric air raids on Lebanon. We invite all Jihadi movements, namely
Hizb’allah, the Hamas movement, the Jihad movement in Palestine and
the Jihad movement in Egypt to increase their Jihadi operations against
the Jewish people until the liberation of our Muslim land and the Al-Aksa
Mosque. We would like to remind the Egyptian regime and its head, the
oppressor and traitor Mubarak, who is the biggest double agent in the
Middle East, that the war between us, and his system, will continue. We
would like to remind Mubarak's Interior Minister that he is hallucinating if
he thinks that he has eradicated the Mujahadeen and their Jihadi
operation, which they label terrorism. If the Interior Minister had spoken
the truth, what happened yesterday would never have occurred. We
challenge the system to confront our future operation. We advise them
that, instead of spending all this money to fight us, they should fight the
real terrorists, namely the Jewish people. We have repeatedly warned all
tourists not to come to Egypt. We are renewing this warning because we
are concerned for their lives. We advise them not to be fooled by the
mendacious secular system in Egypt. We challenge it to prove that we no
longer exist. The best proof to the contrary is what happened yesterday.
[Signed] by al-Gama'a al-Islamiyya in Egypt, April 19, 1996.
 On April 21, 1996 the New York Times reported, “the military wing of the Al-
Gama’a al-Islamiyya announces its responsibility for the holy war operation that
targeted a tourist group and killed 18 and wounded 15. It said that the claim was
delayed for two days to allow those who had carried out the attack to escape. The
announcement described Jews in derisive language typical of the writings of the group's
spiritual leader, Omar Abdel Rahman. The Egyptian military said today that they had
suspended five senior police officers and would place 13 on trial for negligence as a
result of investigations of the circumstances that allowed the attack to be carried out.”
The next day the New York Times reported:
April 22, 1996. “Militants in Egypt Threaten Americans with Retaliation,” by
Youssef M. Ibrahim, Cairo. Two militant Islamic groups threatened today
to kidnap American citizens and to target American and Israeli interests
around the world with bombings and sabotage. The organizations are the
Al-Gama’a al-Islamiyya, which took responsibility for killing 18 Greek
tourists in Egypt a few days ago, and an offshoot of the Jihad or Holy War
group, which sent a suicide bomber to blow up the Egyptian embassy in
Pakistan last year and which assassinated president Anwar el-Sadat of
Egypt in 1981…The most specific threat came in a rare interview with
Mustafa Hamza, believed by Egyptian intelligence to be the chief military
planner of the Al-Gama’a al-Islamiyya. The interview was with the Arab-
language daily Al-Hayat. In the interview Mustafa Hamza asserted that his
organization may kidnap American citizens to win the release of its
spiritual leader, Sheikh Omar Abdel Rahman. Nearly two weeks ago he
sent a message to his followers asking them to avenge his imprisonment.
Mustafa Hamza, of the Al-Gama’a al-Islamiyya, sought the interview with
Al-Hayat which was conducted at a remote area in Afghanistan. "The
question of kidnapping Americans to hold as ransom for the Sheikh has
been put forward," he said. He asserted that his organization remains in
touch with its jailed spiritual guide. "We have warned the United States in
our statements and the matter is now tied to the right circumstances to
achieve our goal," he said. Mustafa Hamza was under death sentence in
Egypt for planning a score of killings. He made no apology for ordering
killings of tourists by his group, saying further attacks on tourists will be
undertaken. He also asserted that he stood behind a failed assassination
attempt of President Hosni Mubarak. The United Nations Security Council
has threatened to impose sanctions on Sudan, which was believed to be
harboring Mustafa Hamza. Egyptian security officials here said it was
likely that one of the reasons Mustafa Hamza sought the interview in
Afghanistan was to challenge the impression that he lives in the Sudan,
which is seen as a hub for Islamic militant groups. Senior editors of the
London-based Al-Hayat said today that they were contacted by Mustafa
Hamza to seek the unusual interview four days before the Islamic group
carried out the killings of the tourists outside of a Cairo hotel.

NASSER AHMED
 When Nasser Ahmed, who emigrated from Egypt in 1986, became Sheikh Abdel
Rahman’s paralegal and translator in early 1995, he simultaneously became the subject
of an FBI investigation. Both the FBI and INS tried to convince Ahmed to become a
snitch and help convict the Blind Sheikh Rahman, or face deportation. He refused and
the INS arrested him on April 24, 1995 for having overstayed his
visa. He was released on $15,000 bond, and continued to work
with the Sheikh’s defense team under court authority and with
other al-Gama'a al-Islamiyya members. He was rearrested a year
later, in April 1996. “Translator and paralegal” and by this time Al-
Gama'a operative Nasser Ahmed visited Sheikh Omar Rahman on
specific dates in March and April 1996 just prior to the release of a
letter from Sheikh Rahman to the international media complaining about the conditions
of his imprisonment. Nasser Ahmed had carried the message from Sheikh Rahman to
the outside world and a few days later, the Al-Gama'a responded by killing a group of
Greek tourists in Cairo! He applied both for release on bond and for political asylum as
well. This time the INS introduced secret evidence claiming Ahmed was a “threat to
national security,” and he remained in jail without the option of paying what is typically a
nominal bond to remain free pending deportation. The Brother was held on secret
evidence that was summarized for the defense in one measly sentence!

Lynne Stewart and attorney Abdeen Jabara worked together on the Ahmed case.
Since Ahmed was jailed for three and a half years by the U.S. government, solely on the
basis of “secret evidence” many civil liberties groups helped al-Qaeda in its struggle to
free this important operative. We were active in New York City at the time and this
report was given to Bush the Younger on August 6, 2001, “Al-Qaeda members –
including some who are U.S. citizens - have resided in or traveled to the U.S. for years,
and the group apparently maintains a support structure that could aid attacks. Two al-
Qaeda members found guilty of conspiracy to bomb our Embassies in East Africa were
US citizens, and a senior Egyptian Islamic Jihad member lived in California in the mid-
1990s. A clandestine source said in 1998 that a bin Laden cell in New York was
recruiting Muslim-American youth for attacks”79 – and needed to be in communication
with our Sheik to obtain his approval for their acts.80

NASSER AHMED’S CONNECTION TO GAMA’A AND AL-QAEDA

By Allah it was around election time when Ahmed was granted a remanded
hearing. The immigration judge Donn Livingstone bought Ahmed’s load of camel dung
or at least pretended to! Livingstone wrote, “The implication that Ahmed was
responsible for the [Greek tourists demise] was apparent in the public record created in
the 1997 proceedings against Nasser Ahmed: In those proceedings the respondent
testified to visiting Sheikh Rahman in April 1996. Also, the INS introduced a newspaper
report dated April 15, 1996, describing the Sheikh's letter. Also disclosed was that
associates of the respondent had been arrested and convicted in the World Trade
Center ("WTC") bombing case and in Sheikh Rahman's case, and that respondent had
attempted to obtain bomb-making materials --Manuals to send overseas. Further
79
. USA v Moussaoui Def Exhibit 901
80
. http://www.ncppf.org/Ahmedpage.html
disclosure included a discussion of Usama bin Laden's alliance with the al Gama'a.
Nasser Ahmed testified at the remanded hearing, and part of his testimony concerned
his alleged affiliation with al-Gama'a al-Islamiyya. Nasser Ahmed spoke convincingly in
opposition to al-Gama'a. He spoke of his opposition to the culture of violence and to the
cycle of violence that the al-Gama'a promotes. Respondent testified that he believes
that the al-Gama'a tactics are futile. Although the respondent admitted his admiration for
Sheikh Omar Rahman, who is generally regarded as the spiritual leader of al-Gama'a,
the respondent adamantly denied any connection with al-Gama'a. Among the
documents submitted at the remanded hearing were affidavits (Exhibits R-7-1, R-7-2
and R 5-5) and articles (Exhibits R-5-6, R-5-7, R-5-8) describing the al-Gama'a. This
material was provided by both sides and the court found the material to be very helpful.”
Praise Allah, the judge took his self-serving statements at face value and regarded them
as truth!

The same charges were reiterated during USA v Sattar. In a once sealed letter to
Chief Judge Thomas P. Griesa in Manhattan, Government prosecutors asserted that
Nasser K. Ahmed was a member of Gama’a al-Islamiyya and that he had tried to obtain
a bomb-making manual to send overseas.

Office of the Immigration Judge. Reads as follows: Nasser Kadri

Ahmed, also known as (a/k/a) Nasser Ahmed, is a native and citizen of
Egypt. Ahmed was born on February 4, 1961, in Cairo, Egypt. Al-Gama'a
al-Islamiyya is an Egyptian based international radical
fundamentalist/extremist organization whose members espouse the
overthrow of the secular Egyptian government by using terrorism to
intimidate that government, its citizens and supporters of the Egyptian
government to include the United States. Al-Gama'a al-Islamiyya has been
formally designated a foreign terrorist organization by the United States
Secretary of State pursuant to her authority under the Anti-terrorism and
Effective Death Penalty Act of 1996 (AEDPA). This information is based
on a February 2, 1995, letterhead memorandum from the US Attorney's
Office, Southern District of New York. Ahmed was listed as an unindicted
co-conspirator in the United States vs. Omar Ahmed Ali Abdel Rahman.
Rahman is still publicly considered to be the spiritual leader of Al-Gama'a
al-Islamiyya and its brother terrorist organization, [Egyptian] Al-Jihad.
Other Islamic fundamentalist terrorist organizations, such as Usama bin
Laden's International Islamic Front for the Jihad Against Jews and
Crusaders, also recognize Rahman as an important Muslim scholar and
respect his knowledge and religious position. Bin Laden is a well-known
financier of terrorism who has been recognized by the US and foreign
governments as a significant terrorist threat to US interests. Ahmed has
maintained a close personal and professional association with Sheikh
Rahman during his trial in New York and following Rahman's conviction
and sentencing (October 1995 and January 1996). Prior to Rahman's
conviction, Ahmed was one of Sheikh Rahman's paralegals. Following
Ahmed's arrest by the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) on
 April 24, 1995, Judge Mukasey relieved Ahmed as Sheikh Rahman's
paralegal due to his illegal alien status.

SPLITTING HAIRS ABOUT GAMA’A v GAMA’AT

Judge Donn Livingstone:

Additionally, the respondent recalled Neil Hicks as a witness. Hicks

had testified during the initial deportation proceedings in 1997 on the issue
of country conditions in Egypt. During the remanded hearing, Hicks
focused on the al-Gama'a. Hicks explained that it is important to draw a
distinction between the "al-Gama'a al-Islamiyya and the "al-Gama'at al-
Islamiyya. The first is a specific organization and its name may be
translated as the Islamic Group. The second is a collection of hundreds of
groups that are known loosely as "the Islamic Groups." The Islamic
Groups are not linked by any formal structure. Rather, a common outlook
links them. Some of the constituent groups within the al-Gama'at include
groups engaged in political opposition to the existing regime, which they
oppose as being insufficiently Islamic. Other parts of the al-Gama'at are
social welfare, health and community organizations. Most of the
organizations which form the Islamic Groups are nonviolent. Millions of
people may consider themselves affiliated with the al-Gama'at. However,
some organizations within the Islamic groups are indeed violent, i.e.
terrorists. This distinction between the "al-Gama'a" and the "al-Gama'at" is
also reflected in the material provided by the INS. (Exhibit R-5-8, page 46,
footnote one). The Court finds the distinction between al-Gama'a and al-
Gama'at to be an important concept in this case. According to the
testimony of Hicks, confusion of these two types of organizations is
common. Hicks pointed out that the Egyptian government does not
distinguish between the violent and nonviolent supporters of al-Gama'at.
Indeed, it would appear that even the US State Department has blurred
the distinction in its designation of terrorist organizations. (see Exhibit R 5-
9 "Gama'a al-Islamiyya, also known as Egyptian al-Gama'at Al-
Islamiyya.") Another vivid example of the possibilities of confusion
occurred at the remanded hearing when a contract interpreter was
disqualified after admitting that she had failed to properly distinguish
between al-Gama'a and al-Gama'at. Accordingly, Nasser Ahmed’s
evidence was successful in exposing the potential for confusion regarding
respondent's affiliations. A person who admits that he associates himself
with the Egyptian Islamic Groups does not necessarily admit an
association with the violent organization called the Islamic Group.
Moreover, it is questionable that association with al-Gama'a is sufficient to
trigger the disqualification provisions in the Act. In a similar context the
Board of Immigration Appeals has held that "mere membership in an
organization, even one which engages in persecution, is not sufficient to
bar one from relief but only if one's actions or inaction furthers that
 persecution in some way. It is the objective effect of an alien's actions
which is controlled.

Hicks was an employee of the Human Rights First organization, which had ties to
many influential law firms respected by the judge that had connections to the
Democratic Party.81

THE CONNECTION BETWEEN THE SHEIKH’S CALL FOR REVENGE AND THE
GREEK TOURIST MASSACRE

The declassified material provided to the Nasser Ahmed shows that INS
had presented evidence in camera implying that the respondent carried a
message from Sheikh Omar Rahman which was published in the
international press on April 15, 1996. The material shows that three days
after the publication of that letter, 18 tourists were killed and 17 were
wounded in Cairo. (Exhibit 2-1, page three). The central importance of
these events can been understood when it is observed that the
respondent's bail was revoked by the INS and respondent was taken into
custody on April 23, 1996. This chronology strongly suggests that concern
over the respondent's ability to convey messages from Sheikh Rahman
was the primary motivating factor in deciding to revoke the respondent's
bail. Although concerns about the letter from Sheikh Rahman were
disclosed to Nasser Ahmed during the 1997 hearing, he did not
convincingly rebut those concerns until the remanded hearing. At the
remanded hearing, the respondent provided prison records to show that
other people had contact with Sheikh Rahman in the days and weeks
preceding the publication of the Sheikh's letter. Therefore, it is clear that
many people had the opportunity to convey Sheikh Rahman's letter. Even
more importantly, the respondent showed that the letter of Sheikh
Rahman was not related to the killing and wounding of the tourists in
Cairo. Nasser Ahmed introduced a document from the perpetrators of that
incident (Exhibit 19). That document clearly states that the purpose of the
"operation" was to avenge Israeli actions in Lebanon. The authenticity of
the document was confirmed in an affidavit from Mohammed Yousry
(Exhibit 13) who obtained the document from the executive director of the
Egyptian Organization for Human Rights 82, Hisham Mubarak (Exhibit R-
13). Mr. Mubarak is the author of an INS exhibit (Exhibit R-5-8) and would
appear to be a reliable source of information concerning specific acts of
terrorism in Egypt. The conclusion that Sheikh Rahman's letter had no
connection with the attack on the tourists in Egypt is underscored by the
affidavit of Christopher W.S. Ross,83 coordinator for counterterrorism in the
81
. http://www.humanrightsfirst.org/about_us/staff/board.htm
82
. http://www.eohr.org/
83
. Coordinator for Counterterrorism
Name: Christopher W.S. Ross
State of Residency: California
Foreign Service officer
Appointment: [Mar 30, 1998]
Entry on Duty: Mar 24, 1995
 US Department of State, who appears to accept the authenticity of Exhibit
19. "The (al-Gama'a) claimed responsibility for the attack in a fax dated
April 19, 1996 explaining that it thought the Greeks were Israeli tourists.
The attack was in retaliation for fighting occurring in southern Lebanon at
the time." (Exhibit R-5-5, paragraph 23). The implication that respondent's
actions were connected to the attack on Greek tourists in Cairo on April
18, 1996, appears to have provided the motivation for respondent's
detention without bail by the INS. The respondent thoroughly discredited
the disconnection through evidence presented during the remanded
proceedings. This aspect of the case alone would justify reconsideration of
the Court's prior finding that respondent was a threat to national security."

The fact that Lynne Stewart had represented another Gama’a member was
brought up in USA v Sattar, where Lynne appeared as a defendant for having helped
Sheik Rahman get his words to the outside:

Q. Ms. Stewart, did you have anything to do with disseminating this

statement [that was alleged to have triggered the death of the Greek
tourists]?

A. No, nothing whatsoever.

Q. And when the government presented evidence in the immigration case

about it, was all of that evidence declassified, or was some of it classified?

A. I believe it was classified until we came back for what is called in the
decision the remanded hearing when there was more declassified. I
believe it was not until the second hearing that that particular item was
declassified.

Q. At that second hearing were you furnished with the name of the
government witness who was relating this event?

A. No, I don't think we ever learned that. I'm not positive of that, but I don't
think we ever learned who that was.

Q. With respect to the classification, declassification, did the lawyers

representing the government in that proceeding have the full text of
whatever statements have been obtained?

A. I believe they did.

Q. Did any agent of the United States Government ever contact you in the
1996 period and ask you to question your client about this message?

Termination of Appointment: Dec 13, 1998

Note: Served as Acting Director.
 A. No, no one ever contacted me.

Q. Now, did there come a time later, after the 1996 period, when your
client did issue a statement concerning his views on violence?

A. Yes…It was in 1997. It was in the fall, the late fall of 1997, after the
Luxor massacre and after the Gama'a, the group, had issued a statement
calling for a peace initiative. It was after that that the Sheikh, through
Ramsey Clark, made a press release in which he stated that he backed
the peace initiative. It was a rather strong statement, as I remember,
saying that the time had come for peace and peace was what the group
should be looking for.

Q. Now, looking back, again, at this statement -- May I exhibit 2638 again,
your Honor?

THE COURT: Yes.

Q. Could Sheikh Rahman have typed that?

A. No.

Q. Why not?

A. He had no typewriter. He didn't speak English. He was not in a position

to be typing anything as he was blind.

Q. To put matters in the time frame, the Sheikh was sentenced in January
1996?

A. That's correct…

Ramsey Clark had created and disseminated this document and the American
Government had no objection to it since it called for peace.

THE BOMB MAKING MANUAL

Judge Livingstone continued making excuses for this jihadi,

The INS disclosed that the classified information includes evidence that
the respondent "made efforts to obtain a bomb-making manual to send
overseas. At the remanded hearing respondent acknowledged that he did,
indeed, obtain a bomb-making manual. He described the document as
appearing to be professionally printed and to be a type of CIA document in
the Arabic language. He described the document as being more of a
guerilla warfare manual than a simple bomb-making manual. The
 respondent explained that an attorney, Clover Barrett needed the
document translated in connection with the trial of an accused terrorist and
had given him the document. Ms. Barrett corroborated this story in her
testimony at the remanded hearings. The respondent also testified that he
had access to bomb-making manuals when he worked as a paralegal and
translator for Sheikh Rahman during his federal trial for seditious
conspiracy. It would appear that the respondent had access to these
manuals properly in the course of his work for the federal courts. There is
no public evidence that the respondent made any attempt to copy or to
send any of these manuals overseas. As discussed in the classified
attachment, the classified evidence is not sufficient to warrant a finding
that the respondent attempted to send the manual overseas. Accordingly,
I find that this aspect of the INS case does not support a finding that the
respondent is a threat to national security.

Clover Barrett had represented Abdul Hakim Murad. Gregory Scarpa stated that,
according to Yousef, Murad told Barrett that she will be ‘hurt.’

THE POLITICS OF THE ABU BAKR MOSQUE

Judge Donn Livingstone ventured into territory he was totally unfamiliar with.

On remand, much of the Court's time and energy was taken in

consideration of the politics of the Abu Bakr Mosque in Brooklyn, New
York. This is not altogether inappropriate since it appears that the highly
contentious atmosphere at the mosque serves as a backdrop and a
reference point for this case. The basic outline of the doctrinal struggles at
the mosque were set out in the Court's 1997 decision. At the remanded
hearing, the respondent elaborated on the mosque's history and his part in
it. He called two influential mosque members as witnesses. Additionally,
both sides expressed a desire to call the present Imam of the mosque,
Sheikh Al-Sharif, as a witness. By agreement of the parties, Sheikh Al-
Sharif was considered an INS witness and he testified at length, subject,
of course, to cross-examination by Nasser Ahmed. The recent history of
the mosque which emerges from the testimony and the legal documents is
extremely contentious. According to the respondent's witnesses the
mosque was founded in early 1970s. By the late 1980s, when the
respondent joined, the mosque had become somewhat moribund. The
respondent became very active in the mosque's affairs and is credited with
helping revive the mosque. In the early 1990s the mosque became
affiliated with Sheikh Omar Rahman. [As for Rahman] He was a member
of the (al-Gama'a) in 1980-1986. However, in 1989 he left the group and in
the same year he left Egypt. While he is sometimes referred to as the
group's spiritual leader, the best evidence is that he is not the group's
leader and, in fact, has no role in the group's activities (Exhibit R-7-2
paragraph 4). Nasser Ahmed has acknowledged unequivocally that he is a
supporter of Sheikh Rahman and respects him as a true Islamic scholar.
Despite Sheikh Rahman's conviction in the United States, the respondent
continues to believe in the Sheikh. The respondent testified that he has
never heard Sheikh Rahman make any statements supporting retaliation
gets the United States. In 1995 Sheikh Al-Sharif was invited to come to
Brooklyn from Egypt to be the Imam at the Abu Bakr Mosque. Initially
Sheikh Al-Sharif was hired for a period of three months. Soon, he and
Nasser Ahmed fell into conflict. Nasser Ahmed objected to Sheikh Al-
Sharif visiting the Egyptian consul in New York. According to the
respondent's witness, Mohammed El-Zogby, Sheikh Al-Sharif met with an
Egyptian security officer at the consulate. Also, the witness claimed that
the Sheikh sent a congratulatory cable to Hosni Mubarak and signed the
witness' name. Sheikh Al-Sharif acknowledged that he does indeed visit
the Egyptian consulate. He stated that he goes with members of the
congregation for business and marital matters. At one point the board of
directors of the mosque of which the respondent was the secretary
decided to terminate Sheikh Al-Sharif's employment. The Nasser Ahmed
was the officer who delivered the termination notice to the Sheikh.
However, Sheikh Al-Sharif refused to be terminated. In June 1998 a
successor board (not including Nasser Ahmed, who is unable to serve
because of his detention) also tried to terminate Sheikh Al-Sharif's
employment. Nevertheless, he remains the Imam at the Abu Bakr
Mosque. Multiple court proceedings have addressed the continuing
internecine struggle for control of the mosque, which appears to continue
unabated and undiminished at the present time. Sheikh Al-Sharif has
alleged that the respondent admitted that he was a member of al-Gama'a
and that respondent passed out literature favoring al-Gama'a. Copies of
the literature were not offered as evidence. Further, Sheikh Al-Sharif
claimed that the respondent threatened him and his family back in Egypt.
It is obvious that there is a bitter and implacable conflict between the
respondent, who supports the chief religious opponent of the present
Egyptian government, and Sheikh Al-Sharif, who appears to have regular
contact with the Egyptian government representatives in New York.
Sheikh Al-Sharif testified that his immigration status in the United States is
dependent on the approval of an employment-based petition which is
pending before the INS. If he is not employed by the mosque, the petition
will be deemed withdrawn and, it seems, he will have no way to remain
legally in this country. Sheikh Al-Sharif's interest in employment by the
mosque and his interest remaining in the United States would be
threatened by Nasser Ahmed's release from INS custody. Sheikh Al-Sharif
has a substantial interest in seeing that the respondent remains in INS
custody and that he is deported from the United States. Accordingly,
Sheikh Al-Sharif is considered by this Court to be seriously prejudiced
against the respondent, highly interested in the outcome of this case. He
appears to be under the control of the INS, which holds his future
immigration status in its hands. Under these circumstances, I cannot give
 substantial weight to testimony of Sheikh Al-Sharif regarding the actions of
the respondent. Additionally, I find that the internal affairs of the mosque
do not implicate any legitimate national security concerns of the United
States. If indeed the parties in the mosque's struggles hurl insults and
threats at each other, it would seem that the criminal or civil court system
in Brooklyn, New York could adequately handle the matter.

ABDO RAHMAN HAGGAG’S TESTIMONY

After hearing the testimony in this case, the parties were permitted to
submit additional argument and to make further offer of proof. The INS
submitted an affidavit from New York City Police Department Detective
Thomas F. Corrigan. Attached to Detective Corrigan's affidavit is a five-
page summary of an interview with Abdo Rahman Haggag. The affidavit
has been heavily redacted to preserve the privacy of persons other than
the respondent. Detective Corrigan offers no opinion on the credibility of
Mr. Haggag. Detective Corrigan explained that Mr. Haggag is a former
confidant of Sheikh Rahman and previously testified in the federal
prosecution against Sheikh Rahman and others. Haggag's interview
discloses that an unnamed person had argued with the respondent over
respondent's management of the Abu Bakr mosque. Further, the interview
included a description of a meeting at Sheikh Rahman's apartment
involving seven people, including Haggag and Nasser Ahmed. At that
meeting hijacking an airplane was discussed. However, talk of hijacking
was terminated "as hijackings for the most part are unsuccessful." Finally,
Haggag indicated that he was unaware of any of al-Gama'a's contacts at
"the airport." The offered evidence is too ambiguous and too irrelevant to
have much importance in these proceedings. The fact that Mr. Haggag is
aware of an argument between the respondent and another person is
simply insignificant. Even more insignificant is the statement that Mr.
Haggag is unaware of al-Gama'a's contacts at the airport. The portion of
the interview describing a meeting at Sheikh Rahman's apartment is
curious. Although it contains an ominous reference to airplane hijacking, it
seems that the idea was completely rejected by those assembled.
Although the INS apparently offers the document to support its claim that
Nasser Ahmed is a danger to the security of the US, the document
appears to be mildly contradictory to that claim. According to the offered
document, the respondent was present when the use of violence was
thoroughly rejected. Although the document states that the reason for
rejecting the hijacking idea was its unfeasibility, no alternative operations
were proposed. The most that could be made from this document is that
some irresponsible comments about airplane hijacking were made and the
idea was rejected. There certainly were no objective steps taken in
furtherance of any plan to hijack an airplane. This incident cannot be seen
as any form of direct or indirect threat to the security of this country.
Nasser Ahmed has countered the government's offer of proof with portions
 of a transcript of Mr. Haggag's testimony at Sheikh Rahman's trial. The
transcript shows clearly that Mr. Haggag agreed to burn down a restaurant
for $3,000. He actually set fire to the restaurant which did in fact burn
down. The respondent's application for withholding of deportation to Egypt
is granted, and it is further ordered that the respondent's application for
asylum in the United States is granted.84

Ahmed Sattar had organized “The Committee for Justice for Nasser Ahmed.”
Nasser Ahmed was released in December 1999. Attorney General Janet Reno, who
was scheduled to rule on Ahmed’s fate, declined to block his release, in order to garner
votes for Al Gore from the Muslim community. We understood from Mr. Ahmed, after he
had been released on bail, that FBI agents had approached him, who asked him if he
would like to co-operate with them. And these were the case agents on the Rahman
Show trial. He appropriately answered them by saying, how can I co-operate? I'm a
paralegal, everything I know is privileged.

On May 5, 1997, a statement issued in the name of the Islamic Group

threatened, “If any harm comes to the [S]heikh … al-Gama’a al-Islamiyya will target …
all of those Americans who participated in subjecting his life to danger.” The statement
also said that “Al-Gama’a al-Islamiyya considers every American official, starting with
the American president to the despicable jailer … partners endangering the Sheikh’s
life,” and that the Al-Gama’a al-Islamiyya would do “everything in its power” to free
Abdel Rahman. This statement by the Islamic Group followed a statement released to
the media on May 2, 1997, by one of Abdel Rahman’s attorneys that “[i]t sounds like the
Sheikh’s condition is deteriorating and obviously could be life-threatening.”

THE JULY 1997 CEASEFIRE

In July 1997 the Egyptian Islamic Jihad issued a unilateral cease-fire in militant
activities against tourists and Egyptian authorities. Montassar Zayyat, a lawyer who is
close to the group's leadership and functions as its spokesman in Cairo, said in an
interview that the Al-Gama’a al-Islamiyya leaders also decided to call for a truce after
concluding that they could no longer achieve their goal of creating an Islamic state
through violence. He said the declaration also reflected the group's desire to present a
unified front with the government in confronting Israel, its new respect for Mubarak's
"nationalism" and a commitment to pursuing political ends by peaceful means. "We're
not working with the government, we're not apologizing to the government, but you
could say, it's a truce," Zayyat said. "It's impossible to face Israel when our own side is
divided." The unilateral ceasefire was proclaimed by a defendant in the trial of 97 men
and women charged in a series of terrorist incidents, including the 1994 killing of a
police general and the placing of bombs outside Cairo banks and tourist offices. During
a break in the trial at a military courtroom near Cairo, the defendant, Mohammed Amin
Abdelalim, read the statement on behalf of the six jailed leaders, Karam Zohdi, Nageh

84
. USA v Sattar MR. Dember: Al-Gama'a al-Islamiyya (Al-Gama'a). Nasser Ahmed post hearing brief. Attachment D, transcript
pages 9871-9873
Ibrahim85 [Ahmed Ibrahim al-Naggar], Aboud Zomr, Hamdi Abdel Rahman, Fu'ad
Dawalabi and Ali Sherif.

"The unilateral truce is in the interest of Islam and Muslims," Mr. Abdelalim said.
"I am sure the leaders will fulfill it. A few days later in the same courtroom, Mr.
Abdelalim announced that two leaders of the Islamic Jihad, the other main militant
group that has been fighting the government, had also endorsed the ceasefire call.
Egypt's largest Islamic opposition group, the outlawed Muslim Brotherhood, contends
that it has never supported violence. The declaration appears to have generated
confusion within the organization itself. Exiled militant spokesmen in Europe have told
Arabic language newspapers that operations will continue in spite of the jailed leaders'
plea. On July 22, 1997 for example, six policemen were killed when Islamic militants
near Minya in the upper Nile Valley fired on their vehicle. "My impression is there is no
clear view and that suggests there isn't a very cohesive leadership," a western diplomat
said. "In terms of their overall activities, there doesn't seem to be any overarching
strategy and no clear sense of what they are trying to achieve other than shooting a few
policemen in Minya now and then."

Mr. Zayyat acknowledged that he and his associates were "still trying to convince
our leaders abroad" to back the truce. He also said that Sheikh Abdel Rahman had
been made aware of the debate over the truce. "He is studying the issue," Mr. Zayyat
said of the Sheikh's response to the proposal. Mr. Zayyat said the "most important"
factor in the founders' decision was their recognition that "the government has managed
to beat them militarily." He said the truce represented an attempt to "save the rest of the
leadership" and to secure the release of 35,000 imprisoned militants and their
supporters. But he also said that some members of the group had been impressed by
Mr. Mubarak's tough negotiating stand towards Israel. "We now have an understanding
of his nationalism. He is very different from Sadat, who threw him self in with
foreigners.”

THE GERMAN TOURIST BUS EVENT SEPTEMBER 1997

We have had, and still have, many sleeper agents in Egypt. Saber Farahat Abu
al-Ulla, and Mahmouod Mohammed Farahat who had no apparent connection to us,
killed nine German tourists in Cairo when they targeted a tourist bus on September 18,
1997. Witnesses said at least three gunmen opened fire and tossed what appeared to
be Molotov cocktails at buses parked outside the Egyptian Museum in Tahrir Square.
Farahat had killed a Jewish businessman, and wounded several others in Cairo in 1993,
but was found to be insane and never put on trial. Saber Farahat carried out the
September 1997 action three days after he was released from a mental hospital where
he had been placed after the 1993 attack. 86 The authorities in Egypt concluded that the
85
. Released from prison by Mubarak in April 2006
86
. Dr. Neseem Abdel Malek was arrested in connection with the Egyptian Museum massacre. On November 13, 1997, he was
sentenced to 25 years in prison by a military court. The court found him guilty of having taken bribes from Saber Abu Ulla, and of
having illegally released Saber Abu Ulla from the mental hospital on September 15, 1997 (although he was absent from hospital
from 15 to 17 September 1997). According to the source, the sole evidence against Dr. Neseem Abdel Malek came from the
convicted Jihadist himself, who had first implicated another doctor who had signed his certificate of insanity in 1993, and then
retracted that testimony to accuse Dr. Neseem Abdel Malek, a Copt. Thus, the doctor who had signed the certificate was duly
Brother, who was executed by hanging, was a madman, a failed entertainer, and had no
connection to us87 despite the fact that six “arms traders” were arrested as accomplices.
The attack was motivated by the decision of a military court to sentence four Islamic
militants to death and 68 others to long prison terms for bomb attacks on banks. 88
Mahmouod said they staged the attack to avenge Islam after a Jewish woman posted
pictures depicting the Prophet Mohammed [PBUH] as a pig shortly before he was
hanged.

In September 1997, September 11 th Shaheed Mohammed Atta spent some time

in Egypt. His stay coincided with the September 18, 1997 attack. Atta believed in a
conspiracy of Christians against the Muslims and Islam. He was a deeply religious man.
In his will he wrote: “This is what I want to happen after my death, I am Mohamed the
son of Mohamed Elamir Awad Elsayed: I don’t want a pregnant woman or a person who
is not clean to come and say good bye to me because I don’t approve it. I don’t want
women to come to my house to apologize for my death. The people who will clean my
body should be good Muslims and I do not want a lot of people to wash my body unless
it is necessary. The person who will wash my body near my genitals must wear gloves
on his hands so he won’t touch my genitals.” The Egyptian secret service had a tap on
Atta’s father’s telephone, who shared his son’s strong anti-Western views. 89 Atta also
traveled to Istanbul and Mecca.

LUXOR NOVEMBER 1997

“I don't believe in wanton massacres, such as Luxor…” – Lynne Stewart

The cease-fire was theoretically in effect, however, it did not deter the shooting
and stabbing of fifty-eight tourists and four Egyptians visiting an archeological site in
Luxor, Egypt on November 17, 1997 – an attack for which the Islamic Jihad Group and
Gama’a first claimed credit: “The Gama’a al-Islamiyya will resume its military actions as
long as the regime does not respond to our demands the most important of which is the
application of God’s laws, severing relations with the Zionist entity, non-compliance with
the American will, returning our emir to Cairo.” 90 On December 7, 1997 Gama’a al-
Islamiyya disavowed the action, “The movements new and young recruits were not
entitled to carry out an operation of this sort and did it entirely on their own.” 91 Luxor was
the bloodiest attack since the Gama’a and Islamic Jihad groups took up arms in 1992 to

acquitted, and Dr. Neseem Abdel Malek found guilty in his place.
87
. Benjamin Weiser “Hotel on Trial Over an Attack That Killed Two Businessmen” New York Times April 29, 2002 Section B, Page
7, Column 5.
88
. http://www.washington-report.org/backissues/1297/9712055.html; Patterns of Global Terrorism 1997, p. 25-6
(Washington: US Department of State, April 1998)
89
. ARD Television (Hamburg) November 23, 2001. Thomas Berndt, and others, “Das Leben der Terrorpiloten.”
90
. "A Statement for the People," issued by Gama'a al-Islamiyya, November 18, 1997 translated by Rania al-Razzaz cited by Mark
Huband in Warriors of the Prophet, Westview Press October 1999.
91
. Statement issued by Gama'a al-Islamiyya, November 7, 1997 translated by Rania al-Razzaz cited by Mark Huband in Warriors
of the Prophet, Westview Press October 1999.
overthrow President Hosni Mubarak’s government. 92 A German tourist, Hassels-Weiler,
provided this description:

At first I could hear numerous gunshots, partially from automatic weapons

and partially from single gun shots. In addition, I had the impression that
the gunshots were approaching our direction in an almost a systematic
way. While I observed that, I also heard many of the victims screaming
and wailing when they were shot and after they were shot, sometimes for
several minutes until they died. I also heard other victims pleading for their
lives and saying things to each other trying to protect each other and
saying what you would count as last words before their death. It was
approximately 40 minutes until the screaming and wailing stopped. 93

A top secret January 5, 1998 CIA article about Islamic terrorists in Egypt entitled
Terrorists Divided but Still Dangerous indicated that bin Laden and Iran were co-
financiers of Luxor:

More than a month after the attack in Luxor, the Egyptian al-Gama'at al-
Islamiyya is beset by growing divisiveness over its killing of 60 foreign
tourists. The attack sparked public criticism by some of its leaders living
abroad and leaders jailed in Egypt about the group's strategy and targets.
-- The group appears to have begun recruiting outside its traditional target
population -- three of the Luxor terrorists were advanced university
students with no police record. -- The attackers may have been trained in
Egypt rather than abroad. Role of Foreign Supporters: (Deleted) say that
foreign support has become increasingly important to al-Gama'at,
however, and the group may have carried out the attack to impress them.
(Deleted) operational leader Hamza resides in Afghanistan, possibly with
bin Ladin, and (Deleted) indicates other Egyptian extremists are moving
there. Iran is providing Egyptian extremist groups with training, logistic,
and financial support…Threats of More Attacks: Hard-line al-Gama'at
elements are threatening more attacks if Cairo continues to crack down on
them…Al-Gama'at's renewed willingness to challenge the Egyptian
Government, its closer ties to ardent anti-US supporters, and its
determination to appear strong in the midst of serious internal wrangling
could lead it to conduct more spectacular attacks, including against a US
target. The group still has skilled operatives in Egypt and abroad who are
capable of such an operation.94

The soldiers of Islam left behind leaflets calling for the release of Sheik Rahman
(one flyer was stuffed inside the body of a kafir whose torso was slit). After Luxor, the
cease-fire took affect and there were no further attacks on tourists and Egyptian

92
. Ironically, it was our September 11th 2001 Operation that hurt tourism the most: In 2000, 5.4 million people visited Egypt and
accounted for $4.3 billion in revenues. A year later, jarred by the attacks in the United States and the war in Afghanistan, visitors fell
to 4.7 million and revenues to $3.8 billion.
93
. http://cryptome.org/usa-v-ssy-14.htm
94
. http://cryptome.sabotage.org/trace-gertz.htm
authorities in Egypt. The 1997 attack at Luxor had been carried out not only to free
Sheik Rahman but as a gesture of respect for Mustafa Hamza, who had been exiled
from Egypt and was believed to be in Pakistan. Mustafa Hamza had organized the June
25, 1995 assassination attempt against Mubarak in Addis Ababa. 95

THE MODERATE WING OF GAMA’A APPLAUDES THE CEASEFIRE

The Mufti who most appreciated the ceasefire was Sheikh Muhammad Mustafa
al-Muqri', the most prominent leader of Gama’a al-Islamiyya who is nominated to
succeed Omar Abdel Rahman. And in spite of his [al-Muqri's] presence in Britain for five
years and his request for political asylum there, he is not like the rest of the
fundamentalists as he is very moderate. He deliberately avoids the media and the
spotlight by all means and often speaks through his attorney, Montassar al-Zayyat. Al
Muqri' has a monthly meeting and several lectures a week given in the name of The
Muslim League for Followers of the Book and the Sunna in Britain, which he heads; in
addition to the mosque in the Cliborn (PH) area, west of London, in which he gives the
Friday sermon often quoting from his book, "Rules for the Killing of Civilians in Islamic
law," in which he contradicts the opinion of fundamentalist leaders from Gama’a al-
Islamiyya and "The Armed Jihad," led by Ayman al-Zawahiri. Sheikh Mustafa al-Muqri'
chooses his expression carefully when he says "we dream of carrying Islam to power,"
and that the stopping of violence initiative on last March 24, 1997 is an announced truce
to halt operations. At the same time, he insists "that Islamists are in a period where they
are deemed weak as a result of circumstances that were imposed on them" as a result
of the security-related blows they were dealt, this is a new policy adopted by the
"consultative body fo the group," inside and abroad, for the overall good and social
peace. However, they will not abandon "Jihad," "because it is an essential requirement
of the Islamic faith. This is how he answered the Learned Elders of Islam’s questions:

Q. What will be the fate of the Al-Gama’a al-Islamiyya after having

launched its initiative to halt the violence that was agreed to by its
"consultative council abroad" on the March 24, 1997?

A. I was one of those who helped create stability during the period of
operations inside Egyptian society in order to maintain stability and social
peace in return for the government ending its police practices. I did so
after leaving prison in Al-Minya governorate during 1990, in the period of
violence between Muslims and Copts, which became known as the
immoral networks for recruiting Muslim women. This case is well known in
the prosecutor's and police files. I was in detention when these incidents
occurred. The state's security officials in Al-Minya held several meetings
with me in an attempt to calm the situation. Freedom to propagate The
Call, the lifting of the siege imposed on some mosques, and the release of
the detainees were my primary conditions. Some of these demands were
met. Stability prevailed in Al-Minya from that time until the government
started again. It began by pursuing me, personally, because of a Friday

95
. John Lancaster “Nile Temple Slaughter Spurs Terrorist Offer” Washington Post November 21, 1997 Page A.43
sermon I delivered at al-Tawhid (PH) mosque in Al-Minya governorate. It
even pursued me on the basis of the 1992 law on combating terrorism. I
was one of those who called for the implementation of the initiative to "halt
operations." I started to talk about giving "The Islamic Group" the freedom
to propagate The Call as one of the citizens' rights. We wanted freedom
for Egypt and its people through what we believe to be the truth. How can
the truth be up held when the Islamic Groups are forced to obey the
religion of secularism? All we are demanding today is they are given the
right to think and express their views and freedom to propagate The Call.
Then, there will be no need for the (sword) or arms, and I still have the
opportunity to convey my message to the people. Al-Gama’a al-Islamiyya
does not want the dishonest and the hypocrites to believe in it, but wants
the people as a whole to follow the truth voluntarily and for the nation to be
on the path to implement God's law out of its free will. Halting operations is
not some kind of truce. A legal truce is an agreement between Muslims
and others not to fight. What we have now is not a truce, but a stand and
an initiative taken by the Al-Gama’a al-Islamiyya for internal reasons. It is
not dependent on whether the government is in agreement with it or not.
Al-Gama’a al-Islamiyya chose to stop the operations, regardless of
whether or not the security agencies were in agreement, because that was
in the interest of religion, the nation, and the group, which wants to apply
God's law. Despite its initiative to halt operations, Al-Gama’a al-Islamiyya
did not abandon Jihad, because it is a binding duty on every Muslim. But
there are rules to this duty. Every ruling in God's law is governed by
whether or not its benefits outweigh its evils. It is not right to have a Jihad
when its evil outweighs its benefit.

Q. What is the plan that The Islamic League for Followers of the Book and
the Sunna, which you lead, intends to present?

A. The Islamic League for Followers of the Book and the Sunna was
established in the west in 1994. Like the Prophet's companions, who went
to Abyssinia, I did not leave Egypt voluntarily, but was forced to leave the
dearest country to my heart because of the security pursuits that I was
subjected to before fleeing Egypt. These reached the extent of arresting
anyone who helped me or lent me a hand, even to drive me to the mosque
to perform my duties. It was for this reason that I decided to leave Egypt,
because I could not carry out my duties. My case, in this way, is similar to
that of Ja'far Bin-Abi-Talib, who sought safety by migrating to Abyssinia.
We are propagating the Islamic call within the confines of British law by
setting an example. We hope to eliminate the ethnic differences among
the Islamic communities in Britain and at the same time we hope that
people in Egypt will attain their right to propagate the Islamic Call freely.

Q. How is Gama’a al-Islamiyya exercising its propagating or political

activity under the current circumstances?
A. The Al-Gama’a al-Islamiyya has practically only the international
forums. In other words, it no longer has positions inside Egypt to carry out
its propagating activity. The group's members' propagating activity is
almost restricted to the pen and the Islamic cassette or through forums on
the Internet that express the group's views on God's religion and
compliance with his orders and prescriptions. The real arena for spreading
the philosophy of Al-Gama’a al-Islamiyya will always remain inside Egypt.
Any action that is severed from its domestic roots will remain valueless.
We hope that the group will have an influential role in society in the future,
one that aims to achieve our aspirations for what is beneficiary for this
world and the hereafter. The establishment of Islamic parties that express
Muslims' views is completely ruled out. It will be like the owner of horses
who keeps them in a confined track, except for one which he allowed to
roam freely in an open one and then sets up a race between them. Is it not
absurd to call for establishing Islamic parties when the stronger party that
is in control does not believe in alternating authority in the first place? That
was proven by the practical experiences of countries that went through the
so-called democratic experiment. This does not, however, mean that we
approve of the legitimacy of parliamentary action. Al-Gama’a al-Islamiyya
rejects the democratic experience. We reject the parliamentary experience
from the legal angle, as well as from the practical one. As I have already
explained, it is futile. For example, how can a communist party be allowed
to express its view when it is against the people's creed and the whole
nation's religion? These groups that are present in the political arena must
believe in the nation's creed. They can then differ over issues that are
debatable. There is no objection to allowing them compete, not over
authority, but over the presentation of the ideal programs that are of
benefit to the nation. A man who competes in order to control the nation's
fate and people's interest cannot be trusted.

Q. Will we ever come to power one day?

A. We dream of bringing Islam to power, even if we are ruled by an iron

hand, as long as the ruler complies with God's law. Had power been our
dream, then the shortest route would have been for us to rise in the ranks
of the party monopolizing power, that is, leave the banner of Islam and join
the banner of Horus [Pharaonic sky god].

Q. What will be the fate of the literature and the research done by Gama’a
al-Islamiyya’s leaders that urged fighting?

Q. I answer your question with a question. What would be the fate of the
so-called peace initiative if Israel launched war on our government,
reoccupied Sinai, Jordan, or any part of the Arab world? Let us see what
happens and then comment. We should not muddle the existing call to
halt operations. It is not right to talk about what will happen tomorrow as
long as the intentions are sincere and the policy adopted inside Egypt is
one of propagating God's religion. The fact is that there is a measure of
response after Habib al-Adli took over as Egypt's Interior Minister. But this
is not what is required. It is stability that we are currently seeking. We are
now deemed weak, and these are not demands we require of the regime.
It is to its [the regime's] advantage to agree with the initiative and to return
the sons of the nation to support the domestic front against the secular
attack of the new world order. And it is to its advantage for Al-Gama’a al-
Islamiyya to practice its calling and its program amidst the Egyptian
people. For our people did not stand up to the Zionists except through
their creed, their monotheistic witness, and their shouts of "God is great,"
and this is what history has proven over time. What we are demanding
today is our legitimate right. We are demanding freedom to propagate The
Call, the release of the detainees, the group's right to be allowed to carry
out its propagation from its pulpits, and to leave the Islamist leaders inside
and outside the country, alone without being hounded by the security
agencies. That means that they should be given the opportunity to think
and make decisions under normal conditions and without any mental or
psychological pressures.

Q. What are the mechanisms used by Gama’a al-Islamiyya to release its

Sheikh?

A. Our hope is in God almighty, for us, God sufficeth, and he is the best
disposer of affairs. It is no secret that such matters have become difficult.
There are means for bringing about the release of Sheikh Omar Abdel
Rahman, such as urging Islamic and human right organizations to pursue
legitimate moves. Also, issuing statements and holding conferences like
the one we held in 1997 in support of Sheikh Omar Abdel Rahman. A
number of Islamic leaders from all over the Arab and Islamic world,
Europe, and the United States took part in that conference. We called for
Sheikh Omar's release. It is now reported that the U.S. Government is
seriously thinking of releasing the Sheikh of Al-Gama’a al-Islamiyya.

Q. Which third country do you recommend to host Abed Rahman if the

Egyptian government refuses to accept him after his release?

A. I recommend a European country where the Sheikh can feel safe. I am

not naming it at present, but it will be a safe country where Sheikh Omar
can spend the rest of his days.

Q. Can Islamic law be subjected to interpretations, so that some groups

sanction the killing of civilians, policemen, and Christians and after some
time, the same group would go on to disallow such killings?
 A. Jurisprudence defines a civilian as one who is not prepared to fight. I
listed the ten types in my book with the rules on killing civilians. The third
chapter states that the following have legal immunity against being killed,
even if in a state of war: "Women, children, the elderly, helpless labors,
monks living in cells and monasteries, farmers preoccupied with their
farming, workers not involved in acts of killing, slaves, servants and
attendants, and those are in way of domestics and entourages and those
suffering from chronic illnesses." I relied in my research for these ten types
on Islamic scholars' writing. These people have immunity. But to include
civilians who are not from these types would be too much for people to
stand, as if being attacked by a thief and defending yourself, or if a
policeman attacks you with the intention of killing you or violating your
honor, you must defend yourself, even by fleeing. We have to differentiate
between the civilian who does not participate in the fights and the fighting
military man and, likewise, the one who carries out acts of war even if he
does not carry a weapon. But generally speaking, legal matters are not
open to interpretations. These issues are agreed upon based on Islamic
constants. All Islamic law scholars agree from the legal point of view on
the ban on killing civilian women and children. But if something, whether
mildly or drastically, different from that was issued by some Islamic
Groups, then they must apologize and refrain from doing wrong, as this is
better than persisting with it. Returning to the truth is a virtue.

Al-Muqri rejected the democratic experience and would not forsake Jihad – he
just advocated a more selective version.

THE MILITARY WING OPPOSES THE CEASEFIRE

Rifa'i Taha was the Elder of Islam who was most opposed the cease fire and on
October 26, 1998 he assured the newspaper Al-Hayat that the “offer to stop violence is
being under study” in an article entitled “Rifa'i Taha to Al-Hayat, No Change in Al-
Gama’a al-Islamiyya Strategies” Cairo, by Mohammed Salah:

Rifa'i Taha (Abu Yasir) a member of Al-Gama’a al-

Islamiyya Shura Counsel, has put an end to the
reactions caused by the Al-Gama’a al-Islamiyya
leaders’ Dr. Omar Abdel Rahman's declaration from
his prison in the United States that was explained as
"change" that prohibited in organization strategies.
Yesterday over the phone Taha announced that the
Al-Gama’a al-Islamiyya Shura Counsel is still studying initiating the "offer"
to stop violence that was announced by the historical leaders of the
organization in July of last year. He added, "It is still under study by the Al-
Gama’a al-Islamiyya's Shura Counsel. And he said "We are still studying
the offer. And the more there is a freedom on the ground, than it will find a
reception by us. Originally, we want to call for Allah. If that achieved by
 any means, we welcome it." But he added "if we are prevented from our
Call what we will do except to defend ourselves. And what we want is to
open is the field of Da’wa (Call to Allah) in front of us.” Taha, who was
sentenced to death in absentia in 1998 from a military court in a case
known as the Afghan returnees, has discussed the conflict around Abdel
Rahman's declaration and what was said about his call to unite all the
Muslim groups and factions to "form a peaceful international Islamic
coalition." He clarified that the declaration did reflect that point, "but that
came in a message directed to the lawyer when Montassar al-Zayyat
attached it to the declaration." He added "I have followed up on the
message and the declaration and it was clear that the Sheikh has
declared in the message his acceptance to Montassar al-Zayyat, an
invitation to form a coalition. And the Sheikh was not the one who started
to call for that. In the same message he also called to form an
international Islamic court to look into the differences between the Islamic
countries. I believe that the Sheikh actually wanted to sponsor that
subject, not mentioning that has been led to meanings that he did not
intend or meant. Excuse me.

Rifa'i Taha, who left Egypt in 1988, mentioned that the message and the
declaration meant to "assure an Islamic meaning, to call for Allah, enjoy
the good and forbid the evil." He also mentioned the Sheikh’s opinion
regarding the Islamic coalition subject, which was initiated by al-Zayyat to
face the dangers against Islam. And he assured to Al-Hayat that the
Gama’at "did not change its strategies or its "Call" following the "self
enjoining of the good and forbidding the evil and Jihad. 96

In another interview Rifa’i Taha’s statement about Sheik Rahman seemed to

indicate he was planning something,

The Gama’a al-Islamiyya continued with this policy until the United States
arrested Shaykh Rahman and brought him before an unfair court that
unfairly and falsely sentenced him to life in prison. Here the Gama’a al-
Islamiyya opted to wait for some time against this injustice until it decides
what to do, as it had done with the Egyptian regime before. But when the
policy of silence failed and did not lead to the release of the Shaykh, the
Gama’a al-Islamiyya decided that it had to defend itself and its Prince and
seek his release through all means, particularly as Sheik Omar Rahman
was imprisoned unfairly and unjustly in an infidel country. Since that made
it the Muslims' duty to seek his release in his capacity as a Muslim
scholar, all the more reason it became for his group and community to do
so because he was its prince. I believe that the Gama’a al-Islamiyya,
having been barred from establishing an Islamic regime in Egypt, will
continue to urge Muslims to establish this regime and incite the nation to
confront the Americans and repel them from their land. But in Shaykh

96
. USA v Sattar, Stewart, Yousry Government Exhibit 2406-1
 Umar's case, it will continue to use all possible and available means to
bring about his release and get him out proud and honored. In its
statement of last March, the Gama’a al-Islamiyya agreed to stop
operations but excluded Shaykh 'Umar's issue. It will be better for us, and
the United States if the Iatter closes its case and releases him
immediately. It knows that he is innocent. I stress again that we will not
abandon the Shaykh. May God help us no matter how hard our
circumstances become.

EGYPTIAN ISLAMIC JIHAD OPPOSES THE CEASE FIRE

In Knights Under the Prophet’s Banner Dr. al-Zawahiri wrote,

The beginnings of the no-violence initiative, or the halting of operations,

began with an appeal made by Khalid Ibrahim, leader of the Gama’a al-
Islamiyya's Aswan branch, who was a defendant in the Gama’a al-
Islamiyya case in Aswan in April 1996. He notes that the Gama’a al-
Islamiyya made another appeal in July 1997 in the name of the Gama’a al-
Islamiyya's leaders who are still serving jail terms at the Turrah and al-
Aqrab prisons. It called on the Gama’a al-Islamiyya's members inside
Egypt and abroad to halt military operations and to stop issuing
statements inciting such operations. Sayyid Qutb, the most prominent
theoretician of the Islamist movements, said: “Brother, push ahead, for
your path is soaked in blood. Do not turn your head right or left but look
only up to heaven." The objective has been somewhat shaken by the fact
that the Gama’a al-Islamiyya was dragged into a stance where it halted
armed jihadi action under the name of (the initiative to halt military
operations). This initiative has had serious repercussions. Because all
persons, those who are and those who are not connected with the issue,
have begun debating the initiative, I have decided to discuss it with some
frankness and in some detail. I apologize to my brothers in the Gama’a al-
Islamiyya - whom I respect and love - for disagreeing with their view and
criticizing their opinions. However, in my efforts to properly interpret
Shari'ah, I find that doing what is right is dearer to me than these brothers'
love. In June 2000 Dr. Omar Abdel Rahman issued a statement from his
jail that was relayed by his lawyer Lynn Stewart in which she said that
Shaykh Omar was withdrawing his support for the no-violence initiative
because it had not brought any positive results for the Islamists. Dr. Omar
Abdel Rahman's clear assessment of the situation is an eloquent reply to
the third statement issued by the brother leaders in the Turrah jail in which
they said that they "cling to their position on halting armed operations and
any announcements that incite armed operations inside Egypt and
abroad." They noted that this "announcement is not the product of
negotiation with the security services or other government departments
but is in line with Islamic Shari’ah and serves the interests of the Muslims.
But God willing, the principal core of Al-Gama’a al-Islamiyya headed by
 the honorable sheikh Omar Abdel Rahman & Sheikh Refai Taha may God
release them from their captivity…

DR. AL-ZAWARHIRI ATTACKS BROTHER ZAYYET FOR SUPPORTING THE

CEASE FIRE

Al-Zawahiri was very unhappy about the cease fire:

Sayyid Qutb, the most prominent theoretician of the fundamentalist

movements, said: "Brother, push ahead, for your path is soaked in blood.
Do not turn your head right or left but look only up to heaven." The
objective has been somewhat shaken by the fact that the Islamic Group
was dragged into a stance where it halted armed jihadist action under the
name of (the initiative to halt military operations). This initiative has had
serious repercussions. Because all persons, those who are and those who
are not connected with the issue, have begun debating the initiative, I
have decided to discuss it with some frankness and in some detail. I
apologize to my brothers in the Islamic Group-whom I respect and love-for
disagreeing with their view and criticizing their opinions. However, in my
efforts to properly interpret Shari'ah, I find that doing what is right is dearer
to me than these brothers' love. The beginnings of the no-violence
initiative, or the halting of operations, began with an appeal made by
Khalid Ibrahim, leader of the Islamic Group's Aswan branch, who was a
defendant in the Islamic Group case in Aswan in April 1996. (In April 1996,
three members of al-Gamaa al-Islamiya were sentenced to death by the
(Emergency) Supreme State Security Court in Cairo, after having been
charged with murdering three policemen and injuring others in Aswan in
1993.) He notes that the Islamic Group made another appeal in July 1997
in the name of the Islamic Group's leaders who are still serving jail terms
at the Turrah and al-Aqrab prisons. It called on the Islamic Group's
members inside Egypt and abroad to halt military operations and to stop
issuing statements inciting such operations. The Islamic Group asked the
government to respond to its initiative. In the words of then Interior
Minister Hasan al-Alfi, the government said that it does not pay attention
to such initiatives that merely seek to reduce the jail terms of the group's
members and, additionally, the government does not deal with outlaws. Al-
Alfi's successor Habib al-Adli announced that the government does not
negotiate with anyone but can release anyone who repents and
undertakes to abandon violence and terrorism.

As you can see Al-Zawahiri's book Knights Under the Banner of the Prophet
included considerable criticism of the ceasefire initiative; however he did not make any
references to the members of his group who supported it. Instead his criticism was
directed towards Montassar Zayyat, and centered on two points: 1. He wrote that
Zayyat has been trying to promote the idea of undermining Jihad against the
government and its American and Jewish allies inside and outside Egypt. He added that
Zayyat has been making contacts about this issue since Abdel Haleem Mussa, the
former minister of the interior, was in office. 2. He criticized what he saw as privileges
accruing to Zayyat, that he said many ministers in Egypt do not enjoy. He pointed out
that Zayyat could secure a visit to any prison in Egypt on the same day that Zayyat
requested it, and that Zayyat has been known to hold meetings with the most important
leaders that oppose the government. He went on to say that Zayyat has succeeded in
passing messages from outside Egypt to these leaders and in passing their statements
to the press. He declared that the historic leaders delegated Zayyat and that Zayyat has
become their mouthpiece. He added that Zayyat has satellite and radio interviews as
their delegate because Zayyat is the only connection between them in their prisons and
the outside world, and that any messages that they send out come through him. Al-
Zawahiri implied that Zayyat was motivated by reasons other than a genuine belief in
the peaceful approach by pointing out threats leveled at him from the authorities. He
wrote: A new dimension to the initiative becomes clear when you add to this the fact
that State Security officers had told Zayyet, before releasing him after the Bar
Association sit-in in 1994, that if he crossed the red line, he would only cost them a few
piasters, the price of a bullet. Zayyet's efforts enjoy the support of the imprisoned
leaders of the Gamm'a al-lslamiyya, who have delegated him and repeated their support
for him on several occasions." Al-Zawahiri tried to drive a wedge between the leaders of
the Gama'a and Zayyet. He described the initiative as having been "forced on them,"
and implied that Zayyat had also been forced into his stance, however the leaders are
not easily coerced into anything that is against their beliefs. They have always had great
courage in expressing their opinions and bearing the consequences both in times of war
and in times of peace. These leaders clearly expressed their anti-government beliefs
before the State Security Court. They even submitted their religious research and
beliefs to the court. Their provocation of the hangman reached its highest when they
arrived in red uniforms to the session when the verdict was scheduled to be
pronounced. This was meant as a sign that they were eager to die. They have never
bowed for a promise or a gift and they have learnt from the experiences of their
predecessors that such promises are never kept. They did not propose their ceasefire
initiative until they had already spent 17 years in prison, meaning that the period they
had already served was much more than the period that they might avoid by
compromising their principles.97

JANUARY 1999

On January 26, 1999 CC-1

A co-conspirator not named as a defendant in the USA v Sattar” trial,

Mustafa Hamza spoke with Ahmed Abdel Sattar and asked him for his
assistance in expanding the Al-Gama’a al-Islamiyya’s presence in the
United States. He also stated, “The question of kidnapping Americans as
a ransom for [Sheik Rahman] is in the cards, not ruled out, and under
consideration.” They also discussed getting messages to Abdel Rahman
in prison. Sattar stated that they had to be careful in passing messages to

97
. Al-Zayyat The Road to Al-Qaeda 79-80
 Abdel Rahman because the Government could stop even his attorney
visits and calls if "the attorney said that [Abdel Rahman] said so and so."
Sattar stated that there was a very small window that was opened to
Abdel Rahman and that he did not want to close it, because "it would take
years to reopen."

In February 1999 Ramsey Clark visited Sheikh Abdel Rahman's family in

Fayyum and met members of the Egyptian Organization for Human Rights (EOHR) to
outline the legal aspects of the case. Clark held a news conference at the office of
lawyer Montassar Al-Zayyat, the de facto spokesman for the Gama'a. Abdel-Halim
Mandour was also present. Al-Zayyat told reporters that he met Clark last year and
agreed to help launch a media campaign to draw attention to the Sheikh's plight. But
Clark insisted that his latest visit was aimed as helping the Abdel Rahman's family. At
the news conference, Abdel Rahman's eldest son, Abdullah Rahman read out a
statement praising his father. "He never preached violence or destruction, rather, he
worked for justice. He fears no one but God. This is why governments have rejected
him. My father is being subjected to the worst type of psychological torture. For more
than two years he has been held in solitary confinement. He cannot pray because the
floor of his cell is always covered with water. Moreover, he is given food and medicine
that he does not want." Abdullah urged reporters to "investigate the charges [against the
Sheikh] before labeling him a terrorist." Montassar Al-Zayyat took a harder line, “We
warn, warn and warn again that the United States will only harvest a bitter crop from the
continuation of the inhumane treatment of Dr. Omar.” Zayyat said the cleric was, “a
symbol of the Islamic movement. He enjoys respect in the Islamic movement
worldwide…the continuation of maltreatment of Sheikh Omar may lead to an outburst of
violence against US interests by his many followers.” He specifically referred to the
bombing of two US embassies in Africa in 1998.

Clark stressed the damaging effects of solitary confinement on the Sheikh's

health. "The effect of this protracted imprisonment on the Sheikh's health has been
extremely harmful. We have to recognize the total isolation that he's in," he said. "He's
the first person sentenced under the anti-terrorism act of 1996 to be placed in total
isolation, sees no other prisoners, has no communication with anyone. Because he's
blind, he's doubly in prison. He's got nothing to read. He can't hear the Arabic language,
so it's a silent, isolated world. I think we need to remember all those things to report
accurately on what this case is all about."

MOHAMMED YOUSRY

In March 1999 Sheik Rahman enlisted Lynne Stewart and Sattar

along with “translator” Mohammed Yousry for an important mission: To get
the word to the Brothers that they should begin killing tourists once again
despite the fact that the Shura Council of the Gama’a al-Islamiyya issued a
historic decision in that month to end all armed operations inside and
outside Egypt.98 Mohammed Yousry had more academic experience than

98
. Al-Zayyat Road To Al-Qaeda p74
jihadi but he was definitely up for the good fight. Yousry was a Brother from a privileged
upbringing in Egypt where his father, a supporter of President Gamal Abdel Nasser,

Was a general in the Egyptian Army and also a physician, a doctor. My

mom was, you know, a schoolteacher but she stayed home later on. I
spent three years in military training and in the military education. I
graduated with a degree in military science and a minor in history. Upon
graduating I was placed in the infantry as a second lieutenant. I was the
youngest person at -- I believe I was 20 years old, 19 or 20. That would be
1974, I believe. I was in the Egyptian army for five years. Upon discharge
from the Egyptian army I had attained the rank of Captain.” Yousry, who
had been a defense witness at the trial of Ahmad Suleiman, had
graduated from Cairo University with a degree in history. While at Cairo
University he became a member of our equivalent of a college fraternity –
Alpha Gamma Iota – Al-Gama’a al-Islamiyya. He came to the U.S. to
attend Hunter College in Manhattan and make contact with other Islamists
some of whom worked at a translation service. Yousry’s cover story was
that it was just by chance that he became a translator for Sheik Rahman –
“He liked to torture me about drinking and not praying and all that good
stuff."

In 1998 after the Rahman Show Trial, Mohammed Yousry enrolled in a

PhD. program in Islamic Studies at New York University. Although he never
earned his PhD. he became adjunct professor at New York University, and a
teacher and trainer at the City University of New York, as well as a translator for
many news organizations, including by his account Fox News.

Brother Yousry went to all lengths to blend into American society and he and his
wife Sarah married in a church. Their daughter graduated from a Baptist college. Any
Muslim who believes that churches are houses of God and that God is worshiped
therein is an infidel. But he did this while practicing Jihad, so it will not interfere with the
blessing of eternal life that will be bestowed upon him. 99 For this man is great and walks
in the path of the Prophet for it is told

He helped the Sheikh in the sense of hearing if he had a medical difficulty

of some kind. I don't mean in the sense of being like a doctor. But I mean
one of the important things was that the Sheikh should be wearing white
socks. Diabetics have trouble with their feet. Because he was blind he
couldn't always be aware that the socks had problems. By problems, there
was some excretion that was on the socks or something. But Yousry did
that kind of thing, too. He reminded him to take care of himself and he
reminded him and helped him take care of himself.

Mohammed Yousry was cleared by the intelligence community to meet

with the Sheik since Sister Lynne took this oath: “Two, I also understand that
99
. Legal Experts Question Translator's Conviction Trial Transcripts Show Lack of Evidence By Michael Powell and Michelle Garcia
Washington Post Staff Writers Monday, January 16, 2006; A01
during any visits to inmate Abdel Rahman at any prison facilities, I shall again
employ only cleared translators / interpreters and shall not leave such translator /
interpreter alone with inmate Abdel Rahman. Moreover, I shall only be
accompanied by translators for the purpose of communicating with inmate Abdel
Rahman concerning legal matters.”