Yassin Aref, an Iraqi refugee, was imam of the mosque and the main target of the sting that began in 2003. Hussain went by the name "Malik" when he owned a home in Loudonville and was used by the FBI in Albany to infiltrate a Central Avenue mosque. The people he entrapped were either extremely naive or stupid." I said, 'May Allah give peace to those people.' He just continued to want to try to take the conversation in that direction. "He said to me: 'My people are involved in the jihad, I lived on the border of Afghanistan,' trying basically to entice me. "He was very aggressive with wishing to meet me, wanting to sit down," Al-Akili said. He said they later turned up at his residence and Hussain brought a get-well card for his mother. On one occasion he told them his mother was ill as an excuse to get away. The other man, "Shareef," vacated his apartment and vanished within a day, Al-Akili said.Īl-Akili also said he made it "obvious" that he was trying to avoid their interest in speaking with him. I've never, ever said that I would do anything against America nor do I hold these beliefs."Īl-Akili said the last time he spoke to Hussain was a week ago when Al-Akili said he called Hussain's cell phone and asked him if he was an FBI informant. "I stand out here in Pittsburgh because I do follow a more traditional role of Islam," Al-Akili said. Hussain and the other man, who drove a car with South Carolina plates, showed up unannounced at Al-Akili's residence with no explanation of how they knew where he lived. Al-Akili said Hussain said he was an importer with a business in Florida and ties to terrorist groups.Īl-Akili said he rebuffed the attempts to draw him in. He said Hussain and the other man appeared in his neighborhood two months ago and went to extraordinary steps to engage him in conversation. In 2005, he said, the FBI used another informant in an attempt to explore his beliefs. He wears traditional Muslim clothing and has been approached repeatedly by the FBI during the past 10 years, he said. He told the Times Union he had no criminal record and converted to Islam about 20 years ago as a teenager. Al-Akili's attorney declined to comment.Īl-Akili used to be known as James Marvin Thomas, Jr., a federal complaint said. Attorney's office in Pittsburgh declined comment on the case. The newspaper also reported Bieshelt testified at the hearing that Al-Akili told an informant he had plans to go to Pakistan to join the Taliban, and that Al-Akili was recorded in December saying "that he was developing somebody to possibly strap a bomb on himself."Ī federal magistrate judge ordered Al-Akili held without bail pending trial. military tactics," the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette said. Bieshelt, testified the search of Al-Akili's home uncovered "jihadist literature and books on U.S. But at a detention hearing Friday, an FBI agent, Joseph M. No terrorism-related charges were filed against him. Federal agents said Al-Akili was prohibited from possessing a gun because of a 2001 drug conviction. 22-caliber rifle at a shooting range in 2010. District Court said federal agents obtained an email with a 7-second video showing Al-Akili firing a. He was charged in a federal complaint with being a convicted felon in possession of a firearm. I praise God for this that every time they do send someone I'm able to detect it almost immediately."Īl-Akili was arrested during an FBI raid of his home in Wilkinsburg, a Pittsburgh borough. "In 2005, they sent another informant that was very clear to me. "This is not the first situation that I've had involving the FBI attempting to entrap me," Al-Akili said in a telephone interview four days before his Thursday arrest by the FBI. Al-Akili said he found the number and its connection to that case through a simple Internet search using Google. In addition, he said, a cell phone number Hussain had given him was the same number used by Hussain during a 2009 counterterrorism investigation against four Newburgh men in the small Orange County city. Al-Akili said he told the man he could not help him.Īl-Akili said his suspicions the men were informants were confirmed when he saw a photograph of Hussain on the Internet. He said the men were "too obvious" and requested receipts even for small items they purchased like coffee and donuts.Īl-Akili said Shareef also asked Al-Akili repeatedly if he could help him purchase a gun. But Al-Akili said he quickly figured out Hussain's identity as an FBI informant. Al-Akili said he was approached by Hussain, who went by the name "Mohammed," and another man, who used the name "Shareef," in January when they turned up in his neighborhood and repeatedly made attempts to get close to Al-Akili.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |