US charges six men with support of al-Qaida network

WHEN federal agents raided a Detroit apartment shortly after September 11, they found three men living in a flop house, with no beds and garbage bags full of clothing.

A search of the apartment resulted in an alarming discovery: a cache of false documents, a day planner detailing planned attacks in Turkey and Jordan and a videotape that appeared to case US landmarks such as Disneyland in California and the MGM Grand Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas.

Karim Koubriti, Ahmed Hannan and Farouk Ali-Haimoud were taken into custody and charged with fraud and misuse of visas. At the time, officials said they were really looking for another man whose name appeared on the mailbox.

But on Wednesday, the three were among six men charged by federal grand juries with conspiring to support Osama bin Laden’s al-Qaida network.

US officials said they expected several more such indictments in coming months as other federal agencies attempt to block money and operational support from the US from reaching terror groups overseas.

Agents believe they have uncovered a broad effort by US residents, many of whom are citizens or legal residents, to use credit card thefts, illegal cigarette sales, diverted charitable funds and cash smuggled in airline luggage to enrich terror groups, the officials said.

The charges include five men listed in the Detroit indictment and one in Seattle. In the Seattle case, Muslim activist Earnest James Ujaama was accused in a two-count indictment of trying to set up a “jihad (holy war) training camp” on the West Coast and providing resources to al-Qaida.

The indictment accused Ujaama, an American citizen, of leading discussions about creating poison to use on the public and firebombing vehicles.

The arrested men were accused of acting with two others as “a covert underground support unit” for a radical Islamic movement allied with al-Qaida. They were charged with conspiracy to provide material support to terrorists.

The other men named in the Detroit indictment are Youssef Hmimssa and a man known only as Abdella.