Odd Airline Incident Called "Dry Run" for Attack

*Update: ABC News now reports that "concerns about a possible terror 'dry run' involving the two eased" and that they were released from custody without being charged.

The arrest of two Yemeni men Sunday night after they flew from Chicago to Amsterdam broke up what "was almost certainly a dry run, a test," a senior law enforcement official told ABC News.

Ahmed Mohamed Nasser al-Soofi and Hezam al-Murisi have not been charged with any crime, but are being held by Dutch authorities on suspicion they conspired to commit a terrorist act. Security screeners found cellphones taped to watches and to a bottle of Pepto-Bismal inside Soofi's luggage.

That bag went to Dulles Airport outside Washington, where Soofi originally was supposed to fly. But he changed itineraries and flew from Chicago to Amsterdam. Officials say the bag had been determined to be harmless and no passengers were endangered.

Soofi and Murisi's ultimate destination was said to be the Yemeni capital Sanaa. Soofi was questioned by airport security officers in Alabama.

Air marshals kept an eye on the men during the flight, ABC reported. The network cited an unnamed senior U.S. official saying the number of marshals in the sky has been increased recently due to a heightened state concern over possible airline hijackings.

An Associated Press report casts doubt on the ABC report, saying the men are unlikely to be charged after the FBI's initial investigation minimized the likelihood it was a test run.

A "dry run" to test security procedures is not something new, however. The 9/11 hijackers were seen in Logan airport and on at least one previous flight of one of the planes they ultimately commandeered. And the 9/11 Commission report detailed a 1999 incident in which two men were detained on an America West flight after trying to enter the cockpit. They claimed they mistook the door for the lavatory entrance.

Day One in United States v. Seda

EUGENE, Ore. -- Pete Seda, the co-founder of the al Haramain Islamic Foundation (AHF) has a "dark side," prosecutors say. One that was "insistent on helping the cause of the mujahideen covertly, secretly, and without leaving a paper trail."

Seda, also known as Pirouz Sedaghaty, went on trial here Monday, accused of helping funnel hundreds of thousands of dollars to Islamic terrorists in Chechnya.

Seda is charged with conspiring to move $150,000 out of the United States without declaring it as required, and with filing false tax returns to hide the fact that the money ever existed. The case, which began over a decade ago, has already seen the dismissal of the organization on a technicality, and the continuing failure of the government of Saudi Arabia to extradite Seda's co-conspirator, Soliman al-Buthe.

AHF, headquartered in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, has operated in more than 50 countries with the stated purpose of distributing Islamic aid and educational material. In 1997, Seda and Soliman al-Buthe founded a U.S. branch in Ashland, Oregon. According to its corporate records:

"al Haramain Islamic Foundation, Inc. stands against terrorism, injustice, or subversive activities in any form and shall not support any statement or acts of terrorism. Al Haramain Islamic Foundation, Inc. believes such conduct is contrary to Islamic principles."

Multiple investigations by the United States government revealed a much more sinister organization passing itself off as a charitable foundation.

According to the 9/11 Commission Report, al Haramain "exists to promote Wahhabi Islam by funding religious education, mosques, and humanitarian projects around the world."

The United States Department of the Treasury designated the U.S. branch on September 9, 2004 for its role in funding terrorist organizations. In explaining the move, Stuart Levey, Treasury's Under Secretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence explained:

"we continue to use all relevant powers of the U.S. government to pursue and identify the channels of terrorist financing, such as corrupted charities, at home and abroad. Al Haramain has been used around the world to underwrite terror, therefore we have taken this action to excommunicate these two branches and Suliman al-Buthe from the worldwide financial community."

The U.S. government later took the further step of designating the entire organization and all of its chapters on June 19, 2008.

After years of investigations, al Haramain and two of its directors, Seda and al-Buthe, were charged in 2005 with conspiracy, tax fraud, and failing to report on taking at least $150,000 out of the country. While al-Buthe remains on the lam in Saudi Arabia, Seda returned to the U.S. to face the charges.

The indictment alleges that in February 2000, Mahmouda el-Fiki donated $150,000 to al Haramain, "as Zakat (charity) in order to participate in your noble support of our Muslim brothers in Chychnia." Once the money had been deposited into an account in Ashland, Oregon, Seda and al-Buthi reportedly converted it to travelers checks and a cashiers check and then removed it from the United States. As a detailed report from the IRS later showed, those funds were deposited into al-Rajhi Bank in Saudi Arabia.

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Fight Over Co-Conspirator List Continues

One of the unindicted co-conspirators in the successful Hamas-support prosecution of a Texas charity has a closed hearing with an appellate court Monday, reports Politico's Josh Gerstein.

The North American Islamic Trust (NAIT) is listed with its affiliate, the Islamic Society of North America (ISNA), as co-conspirators who "are and/or were members of the US Muslim Brotherhood."

Evidence in the case against the Holy Land Foundation for Relief and Development showed that the Brotherhood, an Egyptian-movement that seeks to spread Islamic law globally, created an American committee to support Hamas politically and financially. NAIT accounts were used to handle money for HLF, the fundraising arm of the Brotherhood's "Palestine Committee."

In a brief, prosecutors said the evidence showed:

"From that ISNA/NAIT account, the HLF sent hundreds of thousands of dollars to HAM AS leader Mousa Abu Marzook; Nadia Elashi (defendant Ghassan Elashi's cousin and Marzook's wife), Sheikh Ahmed Yassin's Islamic Center of Gaza, the Islamic University, and a number of other individuals associated with HAMAS."

The original 2007 prosecution ended in a mistrial when jurors deadlocked on most counts. A 2008 retrial resulted in convictions on all remaining counts.

The hearing before the 5^th Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans, and all the briefs surrounding it, have been sealed from public view, Gerstein reports, even though it appears neither NAIT nor the government requested that. Unindicted co-conspirator lists rarely are filed openly and, though the presiding Texas judge refused to strike ISNA and others from the list, it is believed the court was unhappy with the public disclosure.

AQAP Poses Growing Threat To U.S. Security

CIA analysts now regard al Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) as a more urgent threat to U.S. security than the core al Qaida group in Pakistan, according to a report in the Washington Post. Administration officials said the changes result in large part from Predator strikes that have decimated al Qaida operations in Pakistan.

AQAP is also regarded as more agile and aggressive, evidenced by the organization's success in getting alleged suicide bomber Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab onboard a Detroit-bound flight on Christmas Day. Anwar al-Awlaki, the American-born jihadist imam, has played a major role in turning the group into a transnational terrorist threat. U.S. officials say there are recent indications that AQAP has shared its chemical bomb-making technology with other radical groups including al-Shabaab.

The Post story quotes Philip Mudd, formerly a senior CIA and FBI official, as stating that "sheer numbers" suggest "that one of the plots in the United States will succeed."

U.S. efforts against AQAP have been hampered by the failure to use armed drones to target Yemen-based terrorists. Officials said the drones have not been used there because they were more urgently needed in Afghanistan and Iraq. As a result, strikes with less accurate weapons like cruise missiles have been used to target AQAP militants in Yemen, raising the likelihood of hitting non-combatants there.

Officials said that since an air strike narrowly missed Awlaki in December, they have had few clues about his location. In addition to the attempted bombing on Christmas, the jihadist cleric has been linked with numerous attacks and terrorist plots against the United States, including the Fort Hood massacre and attempted Times Square bombing.

"The other leaders of AQAP are predominantly Yemenis and Saudis, and their worldview and focus is on the [Arabian] peninsula," a senior counterterrorism official said. Awlaki "brings a worldview and focus that brings it back here to the U.S. homeland."

Administration Debates Prosecution of USS Cole Bomber

The Obama administration has put a hold a military commission that was set to prosecute the alleged mastermind behind the 2000 bombing of the USS Cole. The move is the latest in the ongoing saga over whether or not Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri will be held accountable for his role in the attack that killed 17 American sailors.

A motion filed by the Justice Department appears to have sparked a debate within the administration over the fate of a military commission to prosecute Nashiri. The Washington Post reports that:

"in a filing this week in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Colombia, the Justice Department said that 'no charges are either pending or contemplated with respect to al-Nashiri in the near future.'"

But, as the Post points out, the Defense Department later issued a statement saying "prosecutors in the Office of Military Commissions are actively investigating the case against Mr. al-Nashiri and are developing charges against him."

Nashiri has been held at Guantanamo Bay since his arrest in September of 2006 in connection with the plot. Two men appearing to be civilians piloted a small skiff toward the Cole in the Port of Aden, and detonated explosives hidden inside their vessel. During questioning by a panel of investigators at Guantanamo Bay, Nashiri denied being a close associate of Osama bin Laden and senior al Qaida leadership.

Board Member: So, you took money from Osama bin Laden in order to get married? To get married and because he was being generous to you?

Nashiri: Yes. I took a lot of money from him.

Board Member: And, you gave explosives to friends but that was to dig wells?

Nashiri: Yes. But during the investigation I told them those things were used to bomb, to bomb the Cole.

Board Member: And, [your] involvement with the people, who did bomb the Cole or involved in the Limburg, was because of your fishing business and not because of the bombing?

Nashiri: Yes. It was business relationship, like fishing projects.

Despite these denials, in 2008 al-Nashiri, a Saudi national, was formally charged with planning and participating in the attack.

The Defense Department continued preparations for the military commission until February 2009, when President Obama was forced to withdraw charges following a military judge's denial of the president's request for a 120 day delay in Nashiri's case.

Since then, however, the government has appeared prepared to revive the case, with Attorney General Holder announcing last year that:

"with regard to the Cole bombing, that was an attack on a United States warship, and that, I think, is appropriately placed into the military commission setting."

Trial Begins In Alleged Plot Targeting National Guard, Synagogues

Four men went on trial in Manhattan this week, accused of plotting to bomb synagogues and shoot down military planes. The four—James Cromitie, Onta Williams, David Williams IV, and Laguerre Payen—were arrested in May 2009 and charged with conspiracy  to use weapons of mass destruction and attempting to use missiles to kill U.S. officers and employees.

The government alleges that in June 2008, Cromitie told an informant working with the FBI of his anger that Muslims in Afghanistan and Pakistan were being killed by the U.S. military. Cromitie expressed interest in dying a martyr and in doing "something to America." Beginning in October 2008, Cromitie and the informant began meeting at a house in Newburgh, New York that was under FBI surveillance.

The four allegedly discussed their desire to attack a variety of targets in New York, including planes at an Air National Guard base and a Bronx synagogue. Cromitie asked the informant to provide explosives and surface-to-air missiles. In April 2009, Cromitie, Payen and the Williamses selected a synagogue and Jewish community center they planned to target.

Prosecutors said the FBI provided the men with a Stinger surface-to-air missile that was incapable of being fired, along with three improvised explosive devices (IEDs) containing inert plastic explosives. The defendants were told the weapons had been supplied by Jaish-e-Mohammed, a designated Foreign Terrorist organization based in Pakistan.  Cromitie allegedly expressed interest in joining the group in order to carry out jihad.

The four "jumped at the opportunity without hesitation" to attack military planes and synagogues, Assistant U.S.   Attorney Adam Hickey said in opening arguments. Hickey told jurors they would watch a video of the defendants praying for success before they drove to the Riverdale section of the Bronx to carry out their plan in May 2009.

Hickey stated that on one tape, Cromitie could be heard telling Shahed Hussain, the informant, that the "best target in new York had already been hit" – an apparent reference to the World Trade Center. Cromitie also said he wanted to hit another target like a military transport plane or the George Washington Bridge.

"Above all, Cromitie said he wanted to hit a synagogue," Hickey said.

Read more about the case here, here and here.

Operation Samosa: Canadian Terror Suspects Were Building IEDs for Attacks

Three Canadians were charged with terrorism offences following a yearlong multi-force investigation codenamed Operation Samosa. Ottawa terror suspects Havi Mohammad Alizadeh and Misbahuddin Ahmed and a third man Khurram Syed Sher were accused of conspiring with others in Canada and elsewhere, including in Iran, Afghanistan, Dubai and Pakistan to "knowingly facilitate terrorist activity." The men were raising money to fund IED attacks in Canada as well as to finance similar strikes on Canadian troops in Afghanistan. The other three people identified in court documents as being involved in the conspiracy—James Lara, Rizgar Alizadeh and Zakaria Mamosta—have not been formally charged.

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Judea Pearl Opposes Ground Zero Mosque

Imam Feisal Rauf's Jewish defenders have cited his moving speech at a 2003 memorial service for journalist Daniel Pearl . "If to be a Jew means to say with all one's heart, mind and soul, 'Sh'ma Yisrael Adonai Elohenu Adonai Ehad - hear O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is One, not only today I am a Jew, I have always been one," Rauf said at the service, held in a Manhattan synagogue.

On his Atlantic.com blog, Jeffrey Goldberg called Rauf "a moderate, forward-leaning Muslim" and said his words showed courage because "any Muslim imam who stands before a Jewish congregation and says 'I am a Jew' is placing his life in danger." Frank Rich of the New York Times cited the speech in a   column attacking Rauf's critics.

But these arguments have not persuaded Judea Pearl, Daniel's father and a computer science professor at UCLA, that building the mosque two blocks from Ground Zero is a good idea.

Pearl told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency (JTA) that although he was "touched" by Rauf's appearance and speech at Daniel's memorial service, he is discouraged by the failure of Muslim leadership to follow through on helping to change the civilized world's reaction to terrorism.

Pearl—who engages in public conversations with American University Professor Akbar Ahmed on behalf of the Daniel Pearl Dialogue for Muslim-Jewish Understanding—said Muslim leadership in the United States "has had nine years to build up trust by proactively resisting anti-American ideologies of victimhood, anger and entitlement. Reactions to the mosque project indicate that they were not too successful in this endeavor."

Pearl regards the current debate as a vote of no confidence in the organized Muslim leadership, rather than Rauf specifically.

"If I were [New York City] Mayor Bloomberg, I would reassert their right to build the mosque, but I would expend the same energy trying to convince them to put it somewhere else," Pearl said. "Public reaction tells us that it is not the right time, and that it will create further animosity and division in this country."

Gaza's Number One Export: Jihad

Gaza has become a regional exporter of terrorism under Hamas rule. Israel's Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center reports that in June, Moroccan security forces captured an 11-man jihadist squad that was planning carry out attacks against army and tourist targets throughout Morocco. The terrorists, who included Moroccans and Palestinians, sought to assassinate prominent Moroccan officials, including members of the nation's Jewish community.

The alleged leader of the network was Yahya al-Hindi, a Gazan who formerly was a member of Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ). In 2006, he established an organization calling itself "The Unity of Allah and Jihad in the land of Ribat," which planned attacks against Israel and claimed credit for rocket strikes targeting the Jewish State.

Trained in utilizing and manufacturing explosives, al-Hindi has reportedly visited Afghanistan and undergone training in Taliban camps. While in Afghanistan, he is reported to have met with al Qaida operatives, including some from Morocco, remaining in contact with them for several years after returning to Gaza.

After four unsuccessful efforts to enter the country, al-Hindi was able to get in by falsely claiming he was engaged to marry a Moroccan girl. Once inside Morocco, al-Hindi and his associates searched for locations to train. In June, Moroccan security forces uncovered the group and arrested its members.

The Morocco arrests serve to highlight one way in which Gaza exports terror. Earlier this month, terrorists operating from the Sinai Peninsula fired a volley of Katyusha rockets into southern Israel and Jordan, killing a Jordanian cab driver near an Aqaba hotel.

Israel is concerned that Hamas and other terrorist organizations might seek to utilize Gaza to smuggle arms and carry out future attacks. Gaza Bedouin are suspected of having helped Hamas and global jihadist groups linked with al Qaida to smuggle weapons into the Sinai. In April, Egypt convicted and sentenced 26 members of a Hizballah cell on charges that included smuggling weapons to Hamas in Gaza.

But with Egyptian strongman Hosni Mubarak in failing health, Israeli officials are uncertain that Cairo is prepared to exert sufficient control over the Bedouin.

"The farther from Cairo, the weaker the central authority is. They are having great difficulties with the Bedouin," said Ronen Bergman, a security commentator for Yediot Ahronot. "If Hamas is able to deepen its cooperation with the Bedouin, and create bases in Sinai for recruitment, we're talking about a new ballgame."

Homegrown Terrorism Resurfaces in Canada

The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) arrested two unnamed Ottawa residents on Wednesday with suspected links to al-Qaida. The men are suspected of plotting a terrorist attack against Canadian targets.

A public safety spokesman said on Wednesday that "the government of Canada recognizes that violent extremism and radicalization pose a serious threat to Canada's national security." The homegrown-terror related arrests follows the 2006 plot of the "Toronto 18"– a cell in which al-Qaida inspired terrorists plotted to bomb targets including a military base, the Canadian Stock Exchange and the Toronto offices of Canada's spy agency. The National Post reported on Wednesday that the suspects "appear to have similar backgrounds" to the members of the "Toronto 18" cell.

Senior intelligence and law enforcement officials say that "homegrown Islamist extremism" is the top terrorist threat facing Canada today.

"Right now we're seeing a trend around what you would call the homegrown type of terrorism," RCMP Assistant Commissioner Gilles Michaud recently stated.

Salam Siddiqui, vice president of the Muslim Canadian Congress (MCC) commended the RCMP, "but we hope that the accused will be tried with due process, the presumption of innocence, and with full guarantees that their constitutional rights will be protected," she added.

Last month, Canadian Security Intelligence Service director Dick Fadden told the Commons public safety committee:

"We have had very clear evidence in this country that there have been terrorists seeking to do harm. The Toronto 18 are a clear example. We're monitoring a number of other cases in which we think there may be similar circumstances."

RCMP said in a news release on Wednesday afternoon that more arrests are anticipated.

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