Judge Rejects Terror-Finance Suspects' First Amendment Defense

A federal judge Tuesday refused to dismiss an indictment against two Rochester, Minn. women charged with raising money for al-Shabaab in Somalia. Judge Michael J. Davis, chief judge for the U.S. District Court of Minnesota, rejected arguments by Amina Farah Ali, 34, and Hawo Mohamed Hassan, 64, that their alleged conduct is protected by the First Amendment, and that the prosecution violated their rights to freedom of religious expression, freedom of association, and due process.

Ali and Hassan claim they were collecting clothes and raising money for refugees in Somalia. But Judge Davis's ruling and the indictment that was unsealed when the pair was arrested last August paint a very different picture.

According to the indictment, Ali communicated with individuals in Somalia who sought financial help for al-Shabaab. It alleges that Hassan, Ali, and others went door- to- door in Somali communities in Rochester, Minneapolis and other locations in the United States and Canada to raise money. The government says Ali hosted several teleconferences to aid in the conspiracy, including one where she told listeners to "forget about the other charities" and focus on "the jihad."

In rejecting efforts to dismiss the indictment, Judge Davis pointed to evidence that law enforcement had "learned of Ali's involvement in a conspiracy to provide material support to al-Shabaab and other individuals or groups associated with acts of terrorism and violence by providing funds to various parties in Somalia through the hawala system."

During the investigation, the FBI learned that Ali was in contact with an individual "who had been installed as the al-Shabaab governor" of two Somali regions "and had announced the killing of members of parliament," Judge Davis wrote.

He rejected the defense claim that authorities lacked probable cause to obtain a search warrant during the investigation, noting that a government affidavit "describes several instances of Ali's involvement in numerous telephone calls and teleconferences in which Ali and others were overheard discussing the need to raise funds for the mujahidin, the 'youth' or al-Shabaab, and the jihad." Moreover, "the affidavit includes information of Ali's direct knowledge of persons directly involved in al-Shabaab."

Man Charged with Murdering USAF Personnel in Germany

An Albanian man was indicted Tuesday by a New York court for attacking and killing U.S. Air Force (USAF) personnel boarding a U.S. military bus in Frankfurt, Germany last March.

A criminal complaint charges 21-year-old Arid Uka with murdering and attempting to murder officers of the U.S. Government, using a firearm during a crime of violence resulting in death and committing a violent act at an international civil airport resulting in the death of others.

Prosecutors allege that Uka approached the bus parked at Frankfurt International Airport on March 2^nd, shooting and killing USAF member Nicholas Aden as he tried to board. Uka then boarded the bus, shooting and killing the driver, USAF member Zachary Cuddeback.

After killing Cuddeback, Uka shouted "Allahu Akbar," which means "God is great" in Arabic, and opened fire, shooting and injuring two other USAF members aboard. Uka continued shooting until he ran out of ammunition, and then fled from the bus. Shortly afterwards, German authorities arrested him in the airport terminal.

German investigators claim that Uka carried out the attack to avenge U.S. military action in Afghanistan. Uka is currently in custody in Germany, where he faces charges for murder.

The U.S. hopes to have him extradited to face the charges.

Assad Talks Reform While Death Toll Mounts

One day after President Bashar al-Assad delivered a speech touting the need for a national "dialogue," his security forces killed seven anti-government demonstrators (one of them a 13-year-old boy) in three Syrian cities Tuesday. The killings in Homs, Hama and Deir el-Zour occurred when pro- and anti-Assad demonstrators clashed in the streets and government forces opened fire on regime opponents.

More than 1,400 people have been killed and an estimated 10,000 detained since late March, when Syrians began peacefully demonstrating in favor of reform in the country, which has been ruled by the Ba'ath Party and the Assad family since 1970.

In Monday's address, Assad promised to begin a national dialogue and to form a committee to study constitutional amendments, including one that would end the Ba'ath Party's political monopoly in Syria. He indicated a willingness to implement some kind of amnesty for crimes committed prior to Monday, but offered no details. Much of the speech consisted of railing against ill-defined "conspiracies" and "vandals" who were said to be plotting against Syria.

"Assad hung his problems on foreign conspiracy theories and he accused the Syrian people of being vandalizers, armed gangs, and lawless criminals rather than respond to their legitimate demands," said Ammar Qurabi, chairman of the National Organization for Human Rights in Syria.

Syrian opposition groups said that on Tuesday, thousands of people were forced by the government to participate in pro-Assad demonstrations. The opposition claims authorities bused supporters in to Syrian towns where the dictatorship is unpopular.

In Homs, a witness said the security forces stepped on wounded people lying on the ground and arrested them. In Hama, they opened fire on anti-government demonstrators, killing the 13-year-old boy.

U.N. officials said that more than 10,000 people are being sheltered by Turkish authorities in refugee camps near the Syrian border.

Read more about the Assad regime's brutal repression against its own people here .

Treasury Targets Iran's National Shipping Line

The U.S. Treasury Department designated 10 companies and three individuals associated with Iran's national shipping line.

It's the latest in a series of American actions aimed at freezing Iranian assets and curtailing the country's economic reach in response to its relentless pursuit of a nuclear weapons program.

The Islamic Republic of Iran Shipping Lines (IRISL) has operations in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Singapore, China, and the United Kingdom (UK). IRISL continues to establish front companies, subsidiaries, and affiliates in these countries to evade sanctions and maintain its international proliferation activities.

"As the private sector around the world increasingly turns its back on Iran's national shipping line, IRISL's efforts to evade international sanctions and increased scrutiny have grown more and more desperate," said Adam Szubin, director of Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC). "The persistent attempts by IRISL to deceive the world, including through the front companies identified today, attest to the weakness of IRISL as it tries to maintain a semblance of legitimacy while supporting Iran's proliferation activities."

Complementing the action is a 317-count indictment issued by Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus R. Vance Jr. naming 11 corporations and five people for allegedly conspiring with IRISL and its affiliates to bypass sanctions on Iran. The defendants are accused of repeatedly falsifying records of banks in New York County to gain illegal access to the U.S. financial system.

"Today our office is shining a spotlight on the fraudulent activities of IRISL, which has been sanctioned by the United States, the European Union, and the United Nations for its role in the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction," Vance said. "IRISL and its sanctioned affiliates used a web of aliases or corporate alter egos across the globe to exploit the services of financial institutions located in Manhattan. New York remains the number one target of terrorist organizations around the world, and today's joint action will make it more difficult for Iran, a state sponsor of terrorism."

Treasury first designated IRISL in September 2008 for providing logistical services to Iran's Ministry of Defense and Armed Forces Logistics, which is responsible for Iran's ballistic missile program. Subsequent designations, totaling 121 companies and individuals, are for assisting Iran in its efforts to elude sanctions and international scrutiny.

For full list of companies and individuals designated Monday, click here.

Levey: FATF Plays Key Role in Combating Terror Finance

Stuart Levey, who served as undersecretary of the Treasury for terrorism and financial integrity in the George W. Bush and Obama administrations, has highlighted a little-known but critical tool for combating terrorism and money laundering: the international Financial Action Task Force (FATF).

The FATF had just 16 members when formed by the G-7 nations in 1989; today, more than 180 countries have their practices in combating illicit finance evaluated by the task force.

"Financial institutions around the globe pay close attention to FATF's assessments and use them to decide whether or how to operate in specific countries," writes Levey, a senior fellow with the Council on Foreign Relations. "Countries' fears of landing on one of FATF's warning lists, and their intense desire to remove themselves from those lists once named, are powerful tools for self-improvement."

The U.S. FATF delegation includes members of Congress, financial regulators and representatives of the National Security Council and the State and Justice Departments. The FATF's mission includes monitoring individual countries' cooperation with international sanctions against al-Qaida and creating multinational regimes to dismantle terror networks.

The FATF has helped focus international scrutiny on the refusal of Iran to cooperate in preventing illicit financial activity. Last year it criticized Iran's "failure to meaningfully address the ongoing and substantial deficiencies" in its efforts against money laundering and terror financing. The task force urged financial institutions to subject their business dealings with Iran to additional scrutiny and called on all jurisdictions to take action "to protect their financial sectors from money laundering and financing of terrorism risks emanating from Iran."

The FATF warned other jurisdictions to take into account Tehran's pattern of non-cooperation "when considering requests by Iranian financial institutions to open branches and subsidiaries in their jurisdiction."

Writing in Foreign Policy magazine, Levey suggests that the FATF also has an important role to play in helping to recover money stolen by ousted Arab dictators. By working in conjunction with the United Nations and Switzerland (a country which last year passed what Levey describes as "arguably the world's toughest law for repatriating the ill-gotten gains of corrupt politicians to the people of those countries"), FATF could create a powerful new motivator for fighting corruption.

Read the full article here.

IHH, Mavi Marmara Ship Pull Out of Flotilla

The Hamas-tied Turkish group behind last year's deadly flotilla confrontation with Israeli commandos in the Mediterranean Sea announced Friday that it will not participate in an upcoming flotilla sailing to Gaza at the end of this month.

IHH's decision not to include the Mavi Marmara ship is based on "technical problems … It has nothing to do with the government or state," IHH head Bulent Yildirim said Friday at a press conference in Istanbul. When the ship is repaired, IHH will try to sail it to Gaza then, he said.

Other sources say pressure from the Turkish government led to IHH's decision to cancel its plans. "The Turkish government has been discouraging the IHH through indirect channels from sailing to Gaza." Turkey's Hurriyet Daily News reported Thursday. The Turkish government cited the Syrian refugee issue as a reason for the group not to sail, "although the United States' pressure on Turkey to stop the flotilla is another important factor," the Daily News wrote.

On Tuesday, an IHH official said growing instability in Syria caused the group to reconsider its plans.

The Daily News reported Wednesday a split was created within IHH, with some members of the nationalist wing insisting on sending the Mavi Marmara, while others closer to government officials reluctant to do so given Ankara's request earlier this month that the organization reconsider its plans to avoid a repetition of last year's conflict.

Last year's flotilla ended violently when passengers on the Mavi Marmara attacked Israeli commandos with knives, clubs and other weapons. Nine activists were killed in the ensuing confrontation. Yildirim prepared activists in advance to attack Israeli soldiers.

Israel imposed an embargo on Gaza after Hamas seized power there and began firing rockets at Israeli communities. The intent was to stem the flow of weapons to Gaza.

Flotilla backers want that embargo broken. Former Hamas leader Mohammed Sawalha, who heads one of the main groups organizing the flotilla, said "Our fight will continue until the embargo has ended."

Turkish and IHH representatives would be joining Freedom Flotilla II on other ships, Yildirim said, but he personally would not sail without the Mavi Marmara. Flotilla organizers from countries including the United States, the UK, Sweden and Greece also attended Friday's press conference.

Somali Suspect Talked Jihad, Cried at Terrorist's Death

A Somali man charged with making false statements to federal authorities spoke about jihad with undercover sources at a Texas immigration detention center, an FBI agent testified Thursday during a bail hearing in San Antonio.

Abdullah Fidse said that he had been a cook for Osama bin Laden and was "in tears" after a 2008 U.S. airstrike killed a leader of the U.S. designated Somali terrorist group al-Shabaab, Special Agent Mark Wagoner told a magistrate judge.

Wagoner also said that Fidse would talk about violent jihad and cite verses from the Quran such as "Gather your horses and weapons and terrorize the infidels."

A federal indictment filed in May charged Fidse and his wife Deka Sheikh with conspiring to provide false information which would obstruct the asylum and removal proceeding of Fidse and conspiring to lie about Fidse's ties to terrorism.

Though neither defendant faces terrorism charges, the indictment states that Fidse lied when he told FBI officials investigating his ties to terrorism that he had never made a statement in support of Osama bin Laden.

The indictment also alleges that an undercover source taped Fidse in 2009 claiming that he bought a $100,000 armed battle vehicle which was later destroyed during fighting.

At first, Fidse claimed that the voice in the recording was manipulated by the FBI to sound like his own. Fidse later admitted the voice was indeed him, adding, "I like to embellish things," Wagoner told the court.

Fidse and his wife, Deka, were denied bail. Each faces up to 13 years in prison if convicted on both counts.

Al-Qaida Training Reaches Nigerian Islamists

Nigerian Islamist fighters have returned from training in Somalia with the militant organization al-Shabaab - a group which has received al-Qaida training.

"We want to make it known that our jihadists have arrived in Nigeria from Somalia where they received real training on warfare from our brethren who made that country ungovernable," the Nigerian Islamist sect Boko Haram said in a written statement.

Boko Haram vowed to wage jihad soon, specifically in northern Nigeria and in the capital of Abuja. "This time round, our attacks will be fiercer and wider than they have been," the statement said.

Boko Haram militants have already used their new training to follow through on such threats. A suicide bomber drove an explosive-laden car through a police station in Abuja Thursday, killing himself and a traffic warden.

A high ranking al-Shabaab leader revealed in May that al-Qaida helped train his group's fighters to overthrow the Somali government. Sheikh Mukhtar Rabow, a.k.a. Abu Mansur, said that Osama bin Laden sent fighters to Somalia in the 1990s in order to train the Somali guerrillas.

The Somali government collapsed in 1991. Al-Shabaab, which emerged out of several pre-existing Islamist groups, has been battling the Somali Transitional Federal Government (TFG) for control of the country since 2004. Mansur added that al-Shabaab has continually relied on al-Qaida for military and financial support.

Al-Shabaab has openly expressed its support for al-Qaida. The group has pledged allegiance to Osama bin Laden and vowed to avenge his death after U.S. Navy SEALs shot and killed him in his Abbottabad compound.

Illinois Senator Wants Flotilla Catalyst Designated

The United States should designate the Turkish group IHH as a terrorist organization and should support Israel in stopping an upcoming flotilla planning to sail to the Gaza Strip at the end of the month, a report authored by a U.S. senator recommends.

Sen. Mark Kirk, R-Ill., met with Israeli, Palestinian and Jordanian leaders this month in a fact-finding mission to the region. His report, "The Future of Israel's Security and the U.S.-Israel Relationship," offers policy recommendations based on his meetings and site visits.

The first flotilla ended with the death of nine people on a ship in the Mediterranean Sea after IHH prepared activists to stage a violent confrontation with Israeli commandos. Israel imposed an embargo on Gaza in an attempt to stem the flow of weapons to the Hamas government there.

To prevent violence in the upcoming flotilla, Kirk recommends that the United States "immediately designate the IHH as a terrorist entity." IHH is a member of the Union of the Good, a Saudi-based umbrella organization designated by the Treasury Department in 2008 for its support to Hamas, Kirk's report notes.

The U.S. government confirmed IHH's ties to Hamas last year and an official acknowledged the State Department is considering designating the group.

Kirk also calls on the United States to "support the Israeli Navy to effectively disable flotilla vessels before they can pose a threat to Israeli coastal security or put Israeli lives at risk" and "make it clear to Turkish Prime Minister Erdogan that Turkey will be held accountable for any actions that support or enable the IHH to launch its flotilla."

Kirk's report follows a letter written to Erdogan last month by a bipartisan group of 36 members of the House of Representatives requesting that the Prime Minister help "discourage" efforts by flotilla organizers to prevent a repeat of violence.

On Tuesday, an IHH spokesperson said the group is reconsidering its plans to join the upcoming flotilla and will make a decision by the end of the week. According to an article published Thursday in Israel's Haaretz newspaper, "political pressure makes it unlikely that IHH will participate."

The change in IHH's position is a result of pressure from the U.S. government, an Israeli Foreign Ministry official said. President Barack Obama is scheduled to speak with Erdogan and congratulate him on his recent electoral victory. Israeli officials were told that the president will ask Erdogan to stop the flotilla, Haaretz reported.

Muslim Law Student: No Need for CAIR

The media and the Muslim community should pay less attention to the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), a Muslim American student at Columbia Law School argues.

"Believe it or not, there are many of us American Muslims who do not think that the answer to fixing our image problem is to constantly issue press releases and file law suits," writes Khurram Dara in an Examiner opinion piece.

Dara acknowledged the problem with Islam's sullied image in America, but proposed a much simpler solution: "We stop relying on groups like CAIR, and just live our lives."

"It's time for Muslims, and the media for that matter, to care less about CAIR."

News releases and other tactics employed by the national advocacy group don't resonate with the public and seem to make little difference. Muslim activists should be more aggressive in denouncing terrorism and calling out Muslim organizations that fail to do the same.

CAIR's record shows a consistent refusal to condemn Hizballah and Hamas

"You see," Dara writes, "the key for American Muslims is for us to show, not just tell, our fellow Americans that we are just like them." He recommends that Muslims have a 4^th of July barbeque, join the fantasy football league at the office or volunteer with their children's schools.

"I know we make up a small portion of the population in America, but that is precisely the reason we cannot afford to self-segregate and hide behind useless advocacy groups."

Dara makes his point without delving into CAIR's blemished record. It was named an unindicted co-conspirator in a terror-financing trial which found a Muslim charity and five of its executives guilty of funneling millions of dollars to Hamas. Rather than acknowledging its own founding members' ties to a U.S. Hamas support network, which landed it on the conspirator list, CAIR blasted the government's move as "McCarthyistic."

A circuit judge later rejected CAIR's petition to be removed from the co-conspirator list, ruling that there was "ample evidence to establish the associations of CAIR," with Hamas.

Despite this, CAIR still offers itself as the voice for the American-Muslim community. It's a mantle Dara believes no one organization can claim. "The truth is," he writes, "saying CAIR represents the views of American Muslims is like saying the ACLU represents the views of all Constitutional lawyers. The two are related, but hardly representative."

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