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Al Qaeda Supporter and Organizer of Jihad Training Camp
in Oregon Sentenced in Manhattan Federal Court
to Life in Prison
PREET BHARARA, the 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 sentenced
today to life in prison for, among other things, providing
material support to al Qaeda. The sentence was imposed by United
States District Judge JOHN F. KEENAN in Manhattan federal court.
On May 12, 2009, following a four-week jury trial before Judge
KEENAN, KASSIR was found guilty 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.
According to the superseding Indictment filed in this
case, the evidence presented at trial, and filings in the
European Court of Human Rights:
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, 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. 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, by using murder to expel non-believers
from Muslim holy lands.
In a letter faxed from one of the co-conspirators to
ABU HAMZA, the property in Bly is described as a place 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 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, where
KASSIR provided men with jihad training lessons -- including how
to assemble and disassemble AK-47s 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 in December 2005. 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."
KASSIR's co-defendants ABU HAMZA and ASWAT are
presently detained in England awaiting extradition to the United
States. In addition to the charges against all three men, the
Indictment charges ABU HAMZA with conspiracy and substantive
offenses relating to a hostage-taking in Yemen in 1998,
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.
KASSIR, 43, is a Lebanese national, and also a citizen
of Sweden. His last known residence was in Stockholm.
In sentencing KASSIR to life, Judge KEENAN stated that
"the defendant is a clear threat to public safety."
United States Attorney BHARARA stated: "Oussama Kassir
trained men to become terrorists on American soil. Today's life
sentence underscores our unwavering commitment to prosecute to
the fullest extent of the law anyone who supports al Qaeda's
mission of violence and hate."
Mr. BHARARA praised the New York Joint Terrorist Task
Force, which includes agents from the Federal Bureau of
Investigation ("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. BHARARA 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. BHARARA 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. The case is
being prosecuted by the Office's Terrorism and National Security
Unit.
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.
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