Another story on Kifah Wael Jayyousi, from CNN, with thanks to the Constantinopolitan Irredentist:
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- A former top official for the District of Columbia's public schools is being held on charges of conspiring to raise money and recruit fighters for Muslim extremists.Kifah Wael Jayyousi, arrested Sunday at an airport in Detroit, Michigan, was chief facilities director for public schools in Washington from 1999 to 2001. But in the years running up to that high-profile position, he supported "violent jihad" in Bosnia, Kosovo, Chechnya and Somalia, according to a criminal complaint unsealed Monday.
Jayyousi's arrest is connected to the investigation of The Global Relief Foundation and what federal authorities allege was a network providing material support to terrorists, mostly through supposed charities.
Jayyousi, a U.S. citizen originally from Jordan, is accused of conspiring with Adham Amin Hassoun, who has been in U.S. custody since 2002. Also charged in the criminal complaint is Kassem Daher, described in an FBI affidavit as living in Lebanon....
The criminal complaint against Jayyousi, 43, was filed in Miami, Florida, in December, and cites an investigation that began in 1993. It alleges that Jayyousi and his two co-conspirators set up nonprofit charities through which they raised money and recruited fighters for jihadi groups affiliated with al Qaeda.
The charities include American Islamic Group and American Worldwide Relief. In one instance, Jayyousi is described as having recruited a person to provide satellite phones to Chechen mujahedeen commanders.
It was in 1993 that the Omar Abdel Rahman was arrested and charged with plotting to blow up several New York landmarks. Abdel Rahman, now serving a life sentence, was a spiritual leader of Egypt's largest Islamic militant group, al-Gama'a al-Islamiya.
An FBI agent's affidavit describes Jayyousi as a "supporter and follower" of Abdel Rahman and says that in 1994 and 1995, investigators intercepted phone conversations between the two men.
"Jayyousi would update [Abdel Rahman] with jihad news, many times reading accounts and statements issued directly by terrorist organizations," the affidavit says.
And why aren't there background checks for school recruitment? O yes, afraid of discrmination screaming lawsuits, I'm sure. Not to mention teacher's unions whjo'll black every effort to protect schools and their own kind from jihadi scum like these getting access to schools.
A Mccarthyism may arise - people publicly swearing they've no sympathy for terror (esp of the jihadi variety) before theycan occupy imp positions. That may go too far though. I'd rather schools take on this kinda background assessment themselves.
Why there should be background checks for school recruitment?
Freed terror group leader turns against comrades -- but no apology for victims
A former leader of the terrorist group responsible for the Bali bombing said that he is now prepared to help crush the organisation but refused to offer an apology to families of the victims.
Malaysian Wan Min Wan Mat, 45, who spoke to AFP in an interview, was released Monday after being held in detention since September 2002, shortly before the October 12 attack on Bali nightspots which killed 202 people, mostly western tourists.
Named by Indonesian police as a mastermind of the bombing, he testified in a written statement read out by prosecutors at the trial of one of the bombing suspects in 2003 that he had sent cash to the group accused of the blast.
Wan Min said in his statement that he had sent 30,500 dollars in three instalments to a senior member of the Jemaah Islamiyah (JI) extremist group to finance "operations in Indonesia as previously planned".
Asked at his home in a village near this northern Kelantan state capital whether he knew the money he sent would be used for the Bali bombing or any other attack, he replied: "No, I didn't know."
Asked whether he had a message for the families of the victims, who included 88 Australians, he replied: "I'm sorry I can't answer that question."
Appearing calm and laughing throughout the interview, the bespectacled former university lecturer admitted having been a JI leader and said he now feared for his life as he was seen as a turncoat.
"I know one thing, we were mesmerised by the JI leadership and its struggle. When you come into a group, you cannot think rationally. We were confident our struggle was correct. But that is in the past and I want to forget about it."
Terrorism experts say JI is the Southeast Asian wing of Osama Bin Laden's Al Qaeda group. Apart from the Bali attack it has been blamed for a series of bombings in pursuit of its aim of establishing an Islamic state in the region.
"I was the JI leader in Johor (a southern Malaysian state) in 2001," Wan Min said, adding that he was now prepared to cooperate with the authorities to help end JI operations as he had seen the error of his ways while in detention.
Asked whether Indonesian Muslim cleric Abu Bakar Bashir is spiritual leader of JI, as alleged by the United States and Australia, he laughed and said: "Please. If I say yes, there will be a lot of questions. If I say no, there will be a lot of questions. It is better for me to keep quiet."
Bashir is serving a 30-month sentence for involvement in an alleged conspiracy that led to the Bali attack.
Wan Min had a message for two other Malaysians, Noordin Mohammad Top and Azahari Husin, who are accused of leading roles in the Bali bombings and other attacks in Indonesia.
"Stop the attacks. It is a useless struggle. This has nothing to do with religion. It is not a religious struggle."
But, he added, "if you ask them to renounce (violence), they will not because they are willing to die."
Like Wan Min, Azahari is a former lecturer at Universiti Teknologi Malaysia UTM), while Noordin is an ex-student from the same university.
Wan Min said he hoped to return to his teaching job, "but i feel ashamed to go back to UTM, I feel very guilty."
Wan Min, who was held under the Internal Security Act which allows for indefinite detention without trial, will be restricted to the Kota Baru area until October 2006, he said.
There has been no official explanation of why he was released. A government source told AFP: "There is evidence that he is no longer a threat to national security but police are monitoring his movements."
Terrorism expert Rohan Gunaratna of Singapore's Institute of Defence and Strategic Studies told AFP, however, that Wan Min was "well established as an important member and a leader of JI and it's very important that he be prosecuted for his activities".
At his typical Malay wood and concrete house, surrounded by coconut trees in the village of Salor near Kota Baru, Wan Min says he has been welcomed home by his wife and six children between the ages of six and 17.
"I am changed, I renounce violence, I want to make a new life," he said.
Hmmm. According to Schwartz, Islam in Bosnia is nothing but flowers and puppy dogs. That article can't be correct.