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| Sunday, 14 July 2002 |
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Seattle Muslims probed for al Qaeda ties - report SEATTLE, July 12 (Reuters) - The FBI is investigating a group of Seattle-area Muslim militants that may have supported Osama bin Laden's al Qaeda network and tried to set up a terrorist training camp in Oregon, the Seattle Times reported on Friday. More than 100 people with ties to a now-defunct Seattle mosque are under investigation and federal agents believe several are core members of a purported terrorist cell, the paper reported without identifying sources. FBI officials in Oregon declined to comment on the probe, which reportedly stretches back at least three years. Officials at the Seattle FBI office, which recently called Seattle an easy mark for terrorists and other criminals, did not immediately return a phone call seeking comment. The paper said members of the group are allegedly linked to Sheik Abu Hamza al-Masri of London, a radical Muslim cleric suspected by Washington of having ties to bin Laden or al Qaeda. A British man who once preached at the Seattle mosque, Semi Osman, is the only person in custody in connection with the investigation, the Times said. He has been indicted by a grand jury on charges he fraudulently applied for U.S. citizenship and had a handgun with its serial number scratched off, the paper reported. According to the newspaper, Osman's attorney, Robert Leen, said his client was innocent, but was being pressured by the FBI to finger terrorists. Leen did not immediately return a phone call seeking comment. About 15 members of the group, mostly U.S. citizens, traveled to a Bly, Oregon, ranch to practice shooting three years ago and two men from Abu Hamza's mosque later returned to the ranch. "We have no reason to believe they are there any longer," said Tim Evinger, sheriff in Oregon's Klamath County. The investigation underscores the ongoing threat of attacks in the United States, Evinger said by telephone. "Terrorism can strike anywhere in America, even in a rural area, and it has never been more important for us to be vigilant," Evinger said. |
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