Swedish
Citizen Oussama Kassir
Found Guilty of Providing Material Support to al Qaeda
May 12, 2009
US Department of Justice
This is the First arrest, prosecution and
shutting down of a Muslim Terrorist Base inside the borders of the U.S. We have posted two articles detailing terrorist
training camps and their locations in the U.S.
LEV L. DASSIN, the Acting United
States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, announced that OUSSAMA
ABDULLAH KASSIR, a/k/a "Abu Abdullah," a/k/a "Abu Khadija," was found guilty today of charges relating
to his participation in an effort to establish a jihad training camp in Bly, Oregon,
and his operation of several terrorist websites. KASSIR was found guilty of all eleven
counts against him—including, conspiracy to provide material support to
terrorists; providing material support to terrorists; conspiracy to provide
material support to al Qaeda; providing material support to al Qaeda;
conspiracy to kill or maim persons overseas; and distributing information
relating to explosives, destructive devices, and weapons of mass
destruction—following a four-week jury trial before United States District
Judge JOHN F. KEENAN in Manhattan federal court.
According to the superseding
Indictment and the evidence presented at trial:
KASSIR conspired with MUSTAFA KAMEL MUSTAFA, a/k/a "Abu Hamza" (hereafter "ABU HAMZA"), HAROON
RASHID ASWAT, and others, to establish a jihad training camp on a parcel of
property located in Bly, Oregon. As used by the conspirators in this
case, the term "jihad" meant defending Islam against its enemies
through violence and armed aggression, including, if necessary, through murder
to expel non-believers from Muslim holy lands.
The Bly jihad training camp was established as a site where Muslims
could receive various types of training, including military-style jihad
training, in preparation to fight jihad in Afghanistan
or to continue with additional jihad training in Afghanistan. In a letter faxed from
one of the co-conspirators to ABU HAMZA, the property in Bly was described as
located in a "pro-militia and fire-arms state" that "looks just
like Afghanistan,"
and the author stated that the group was "stock-piling weapons and
ammunition."
In late 1999, after transmission of this faxed letter, ABU HAMZA sent KASSIR
and ASWAT from London, England, to Bly to assist in
establishing the jihad training camp. On November 26, 1999, KASSIR and ASWAT
arrived in New York
and then traveled to Bly.
In Bly, KASSIR told witnesses that he supported USAMA BIN LADEN and
al Qaeda, and that he had previously undertaken jihad training in Pakistan. A
witness also saw KASSIR in possession of a compact disc that contained
instructions on how to make bombs and poisons. After leaving Bly, KASSIR and
ASWAT traveled back to Seattle, Washington, and resided in the Dar Us Salaam Mosque in Seattle for approximately
two months. At the Mosque, KASSIR provided the men at the Mosque with jihad
training lessons, including lessons on how to assemble and disassemble AK- 47's
and how to alter an AK-47 to launch a grenade.
KASSIR also established at least six different terrorist websites,
which he operated from approximately December 2001 until the time of his
arrest. The websites contained instructions about how to make bombs and poisons
and featured such materials as "The Mujahideen
Explosives Handbook" and "The Mujahideen
Poisons Handbook."
The superseding Indictment also
charges ABU HAMZA and HAROON RASHID ASWAT, both of whom are presently detained
in England awaiting
extradition to the United
States. All three men were charged together
in four counts with offenses relating to their efforts to establish the jihad
training camp in Bly, Oregon. In addition, seven counts in the
superseding Indictment charge ABU HAMZA with conspiracy and substantive
offenses relating to a hostage-taking in Yemen,
in 1998, and facilitating violent jihad in Afghanistan and supplying goods and
services to the Taliban in 2000 and 2001.
ABU HAMZA was arrested in May 2004
by the Metropolitan Police at New Scotland Yard in London, England,
on a warrant relating to these charges. Thereafter, ABU HAMZA was charged with
terrorism offenses by the U.K.
authorities, which resulted in a conviction in the U.K. on February 7, 2006. The
extradition proceedings against ABU HAMZA were stayed pending completion of the
U.K.
criminal proceedings. After ABU HAMZA’s U.K. conviction was affirmed on appeal, the United States renewed its efforts to extradite
ABU HAMZA to the United
States. The extradition proceedings against
ABU HAMZA are currently pending in the European Court of Human Rights.
ASWAT was arrested in Zambia in July 2005, and then deported to England, where
he was arrested on the extradition request related to this case. The
extradition proceedings against ASWAT are also currently pending in the
European Court of Human Rights.
As to ABU HAMZA and ASWAT, the
charges and allegations contained in the superseding Indictment are merely
accusations and they are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.
The attached chart identifies the
counts in the superseding Indictment of which KASSIR was found guilty and
provides the corresponding statutory maximum terms of imprisonment.
KASSIR, 43, is a Lebanese
national, and also a citizen of Sweden.
His last known residence was in Stockholm.
KASSIR’s sentencing was set by Judge KEENAN for
September 2, 2009 at 10:00 a.m.
Mr. DASSIN praised the New York
Joint Terrorist Task Force, which includes agents from the FBI and detectives
from the New York City Police Department. He also expressed appreciation to the
U.S. Embassy in Prague and the FBI's Legal Attache Offices in Prague; Copenhagen; and London,
for their assistance in the investigation. Mr. DASSIN further expressed his
appreciation to FBI Headquarters and the FBI field offices in Seattle,
Salt Lake City, Utah,
and San Francisco, California, as well as the United States
Attorney's Office in Seattle and the Counterterrorism Section at the Department
of Justice, for their assistance in the investigation of KASSIR. Finally, Mr.
DASSIN also thanked the Office of International Affairs of the Criminal
Division of the Department of Justice, Interpol, the Department of Homeland
Security, the Czech Ministry of Justice, the Police of the Czech Republic, and the Prison Service of the Czech Republic
for their assistance during the arrest and extradition proceedings involving
KASSIR.
Assistant United States Attorneys
ERIC B. BRUCE and MICHAEL FARBIARZ are in charge of the prosecution.
I. The Bly, Oregon
Jihad Training Camp
Counts