Turkish Imam Criticizes Flotilla, Bashes Israel

The flotilla that attempted to violate Israel's blockade of Hamas-ruled Gaza last week has received criticism from a surprising source: Imam Fethullah Gulen, a controversial Turkish Islamist who has ties to John Esposito, an apologist for radical Islamists including the Council on American-Islamic Relations.

Gulen, interviewed by the Wall Street Journal at his estate in the Pocono, said that organizers' failure to seek agreement with Israel before attempting to deliver aid "is a sign of defying authority, and will not lead to fruitful matters."

Gulen said he had only recently learned of IHH, the radical organization that played a lead role in organizing the flotilla. "It is not easy to say if they are politicized or not," Gulen told the Journal. He added that when a charity linked with his own movement wanted to help Gazans, he insisted that they get Israel's permission. Gulen said assigning blame in the case is best left to the United Nations.

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Two Arrested for Alleged Plot to Join Al-Shabaab

Demonstrating law enforcement's focus on U.S.-recruiting for Somalia's Al-Shabaab terrorist group, two New Jersey men were arrested late Saturday on charges they conspired to commit acts of international terrorism tied to the group.

Mohamed Alessa and Carlos Almonte, both American citizens, were taking separate flights to Egypt when FBI agents arrested them at John F. Kennedy International Airport. From Egypt, prosecutors say, they planned to travel to Somalia in hopes of joining Al-Shabaab, a terrorist group affiliated with Al Qaida.

The investigation began in 2006 with a tip from an acquaintance he told authorities the men often viewed jihadist videos and said Americans and other non-Muslims "are their enemies ... and they all must be killed."

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Ohio Couple Charged in Hizballah Conspiracy

Federal agents arrested an Ohio couple Thursday on charges they conspired to provide material support to Hizballah.

Hor and Amera Akl, both 37, are dual American and Lebanese citizens living in Toledo. According to an Department of Justice statement, the couple told a confidential informant they were eager to support the terrorist group and came up with 10 different ways to do so.

One involved stashing $500,000 cash in a car they would ship to Lebanon. Hor Akl claims to have met with Hizballah officials during a trip to Lebanon in March "to make arrangements for the delivery of the funds to Hizballah," the statement said.

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IHH Terrorist Ties Confirmed

The U.S. government has verified that IHH, the Turkish-based organization that launched the Mavi Marmara ship raided by Israel on Monday, has ties to Hamas.

Assistant Secretary of State P.J. Crowley told reporters Wednesday: "'We know that IHH representatives have met with senior Hamas officials in Turkey, Syria and Gaza over the past three years,'" and "'That is obviously of great concern to us.'"

In addition, French intelligence expert Jean Louis-Bruguiere stated in an interview with the Associated Press that IHH leaders "were basically helping al-Qaida when (Osama) bin Laden started to want to target U.S. soil."

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CAIR: Pathologist Concludes Imam was Attacked by FBI Dog

A pathologist hired by the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) concluded that Detroit Imam Luqman Abdullah suffered numerous bites on his face and upper body from an FBI canine before agents shot and killed Abdullah last October.

He also suffered a broken jaw, CAIR's Michigan chapter announced Wednesday.

Abdullah fired his gun as agents moved in to arrest him on conspiracy and weapons charges. Arresting agents returned fire, hitting him 20 times in the torso and legs. Since then, CAIR has waged a campaign to cast the shooting as excessive or otherwise flawed.

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Drone Takes out Al Qaida Leader

U.S. drones apparently have carried out a successful strike against Al-Qaida's number three and a co-founder of the international terror group, Mustafa Abu Al-Yazid (aka Sheikh Sa'id Al-Masri). Al-Yazid was the director of Al-Qaida's financial operations in Afghanistan, a member of its governing shura council, and "a key to Al-Qaida's command and control."

The assault, which took place in Pakistan's border region with Afghanistan, was confirmed by al-Qaida sources on a variety of jihadist websites, following last month's assertion by U.S. forces. According to MSNBC:

"U.S. officials hailed the news of Al-Yazid's demise, saying it was 'a big victory' in terms of counterterrorism, describing him as 'the group's chief operating officer, with a hand in everything from finances to operational planning. He was also the organization's prime conduit to Osama bin Laden and Ayman al-Zawahiri.'"

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Is Al-Shabaab Trying to Smuggle Jihadists Into U.S?

U.S. counterterrorism officials say a man removed Sunday from an Aeromexico flight in Montreal was the subject of a warning last week that Al-Shabaab terrorists might attempt to cross from Mexico into the United States.

Department of Homeland Security officials had requested that law enforcement in Houston be on the lookout for a suspected member of the Somali jihadist group. On Sunday, the flight from Paris to Mexico City was diverted to Montreal. Canadian authorities detained the man, identified as Abdirahman Ali Gaall.

U.S. counterterrorism officials told NBC News that Gaall is a Somali national with U.S. resident status. His wife is an American citizen. The Canada Border Services Agency confirmed that Gaall was on a U.S. no-fly list. More details on the case are expected to be made public at Gaall's deportation hearing scheduled for Wednesday.

FoxNews.com reported last week that the subject of the DHS warning was a Somali man named Mohamed Ali, who officials believe has ties to Al-Shabaab. Ali was thought to be in Mexico and preparing to illegally cross the border into Texas.

Another development that bears watching is the federal prosecution of Anthony Joseph Tracy, a Virginia man facing federal prosecution over his alleged role in a ring that illegally smuggled more than 260 Somalis into the United States. In an affidavit filed in U.S. District Court, Immigration and Customs Enforcement Special Agent Thomas K. Eyre wrote that Tracy admitted he was approached by al-Shabaab in Kenya but claimed that he refused to assist the group.

Tracy "said he helped 272 Somalis obtain fraudulent visas in Kenya between May 2009 and December 2009, at a rate of approximately five to ten Somalis a week," Eyre added.

Tracy "converted to Islam while in a U.S. prison in the 1990s and goes by the names Yusuf Tracy and Yusuf Noor." He admitted that working through the Cuban Embassy in Kenya, "he would help the aliens by providing and manufacturing fake documents that are required to obtain Cuban visas," Eyre wrote.

The Somalis allegedly smuggled into the United States by Tracy are reported to have scattered across the country and remain at large.

Hearing Delayed for Fort Hood Shooter

The Fort Hood shooter, Major Nidal Hasan, appeared today in a military courtroom for the first time since he carried out the deadly rampage on November 5 last year.

Hasan was set to face an Article 32 hearing under the Uniform Code of Military Justice, a proceeding that would entitle him to a "thorough and impartial investigation of the charges against him." In addition to determining what charges would be sought against Hasan, the parties were expected to discuss the psychiatric examination of Hasan, whether or not he will face the death penalty, and ongoing conflicts over access to evidence.

Instead, the hearing was pushed off for four-months at the request of Hasan's defense counsel, Ret. Col. John Galligan.

Col. Galligan had sought to delay the hearing and the entirety of the proceedings because he has been denied documents. Among those items which Galligan has requested are Hasan's military records, FBI files on Hasan's contacts with al Qaida cleric Anwar al-Awlaki, and government reviews of the shooting rampage.

In ruling on the defense motion, Col. James Pohl ruled that the defense must be given access to additional documents—an order that has now been complied with.

Today's hearing was only the first in what will likely be lengthy legal proceedings to bring Nidal Hasan to justice. The process will reconvene on October 1 at which time a military officer will evaluate and make recommendations on the preliminary charges—13 counts of premeditated murder and 32 counts of attempted murder.

Somali Muslims Turn Their Guns On Al-Shabaab

The terror group al-Shabaab, which has linked with with Al Qaeda, faces a significant new challenge in its campaign to take over Somalia. The organization's brutal efforts to enforce Sharia law have engendered a backlash from Somali Sufis - adherents of a moderate form of Islam that emphasizes spiritual growth, moral education and tolerance.

In the past week, mainstream media stories like this and this have highlighted the rise of Ahlu Sunnah Wal Jama, a Sufi group. The organization has taken up arms against al-Shabaab and defeated it in a number of recent battles.

Until last fall, Somali Sufis managed to stay out of their country's civil war. But that changed after al-Shabaab branded them heretics and started killing their imams and religious students. The group burned down Sufi shrines and opened Sufi graves and removed the bodies.

"In this world, they kill you. And when you die, you still cannot escape," a Sufi commander told the Washington Post.

"We had never told the Shabab how to worship," said Siyad Mohammed Ali, who was studying Islamic philosophy at a Sufi school. "But now we were under attack."

So, moderate Sufis (a group known for practicing nonviolence) grabbed guns and went to war to defend themselves against al-Shabaab. They have entered Mogadishu, the Somali capital, and formed a loose alliance with the country's Transitional Federal Government.

"It is an Islamist versus Islamist war, and the Sufi scholars are part of a broader Islamist movement that Western nations are counting on to repel Somalia's increasingly powerful extremists," Jeffrey Gettleman of the New York Times reported Sunday from Somalia. "Whether Somalia becomes a terrorist incubator and a genuine regional threat – which is already beginning to happen, with hundreds of heavily armed foreign jihadists flocking here to fight for the Shabaab –or whether this country finally steadies itself and ends the years of hunger, misery and bloodshed may hinge on who wins these battles in the next few months."

Read more about al-Shabaab's efforts to recruit Somalis in the United States here and here.

Smadi Pleads Guilty To Dallas Skyscraper Bomb Plot

Hosam Smadi, a Jordanian national, pled guilty Wednesday to attempting to blow up Fountain Place, a 60-story skyscraper in downtown Dallas, in September. Appearing before U.S. District Judge Barbara Lynn in Dallas, he entered a guilty plea to one count of attempting to use a weapon of mass destruction.

If Judge Lynn approves the terms of the plea bargain, Smadi (who could have received a life sentence) faces up to 30 years in prison when he is sentenced, probably in September. Authorities have said that Smadi, an illegal alien, will be deported after his release.

In an affidavit filed after his September 24, 2009 arrest, FBI Special Agent Thomas Petrowski described how Smadi progressed from jihadist screeds on the Internet to terrorist action.

An FBI undercover employee discovered Smadi while monitoring an online group of extremists who advocated violence. Among this group, he stood out "based on his vehement intention to actually conduct terror attacks in the United States," Petrowski wrote.

During 10 communications over a two-month period with that FBI employee, "Smadi made clear his intention to serve as a soldier for Usama Bin Laden and al-Qa'ida, and to conduct violent Jihad (acts of terrorism in the name of Islam.)"

That FBI employee introduced Smadi to a second FBI undercover employee "who was acting in the undercover role of a senior member of an al-Qa'ida 'sleeper' cell," according to Petrowski. Between early March and September, the second FBI employee communicated with Smadi more than 40 times. In those communications, Smadi continued to indicate "his intention to commit an act of terrorism in the United States."

Smadi was also introduced to a third FBI undercover employee who pretended to be a lower-level soldier in the "sleeper" cell.

During conversations with the three FBI employees, Smadi emphasized his commitment to violence. For example, in a March 29, 2009 message, Smadi said "Victory is coming, is coming to defeat the Romans [Christians] and for the destruction of the Jews. God is Most Great. We shall attack them in their very own homes."

In an April 7 communication, Smadi vowed "to expel Jews from the land of holy Jerusalem" and declared his support for the late Iraqi terrorist leader Abu Musab Zarqawi. In subsequent communications, Smadi declared his support for Hamas, Osama bin Laden and the Taliban and said he wanted to "destroy…everything that helps America in its war on Arabs."

Over the next five months, Smadi discussed attacking a wide array of targets including a Dallas airport, military recruitment centers, buildings owned by American Express or Visa, and a Wells Fargo bank branch.

Eventually he chose to bomb Fountain Place because it housed government offices and banks, and was one of the most prominent buildings on the Dallas skyline.

On September 24, 2009, he drove to the target carrying what he believed to be a bomb (in reality it was a fake provided him by law enforcement) and entered the building's parking garage. Smadi placed the device there and drove several blocks away to detonate it using a cell phone. He then dialed the phone, expecting that this would set off the "bomb." But on the other end of the receiver was a law enforcement agent, and Smadi was swiftly arrested by members of the Joint Terrorism Task Force (JTTF).

Wednesday's guilty plea, according to Attorney General for National Security David Kris,

"underscores the continuing threat we face from lone actors, who, although not members of any international terrorist organization, are willing to carry out acts of violence in this country to further the terrorist cause."

See the Dallas Morning News' coverage for more.

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