Aref and Hossein update. Imagine: an imam and the co-founder of a mosque involved in terrorism! Why, how did they miss all the Qur’anic teachings of peace and tolerance?
Seriously, when will the denial about the roots of Islamic terror end? How many more imams will be arrested? How many imams will succeed in their plans without being arrested? From AP, :
ALBANY, New York – A judge refused Monday to dismiss charges against two Muslims accused of supporting terrorism, saying there was enough evidence to go forward despite defense arguments that the men were entrapped.
Yassin Aref, imam at the Masjid as-Salam mosque in Albany, and Mohammed Hossain, a co-founder of the mosque, were arrested in August 2004, accused of laundering money for an FBI informant posing as an arms dealer.
U.S. District Judge Thomas McAvoy said there was sufficient evidence for a trial. He also refused to grant separate trials for the men, who have pleaded not guilty.
Aref, 35, a native of northern Iraq’s Kurdish area, immigrated to the United States with his family in 1999. Hossain, 50, a native of Bangladesh who owns an Albany pizzeria, is a naturalized U.S. citizen.
Prosecutors maintained that they were willing participants in criminal activity, while the defense argued Monday that the men were entrapped.
The FBI informant allegedly told the men that some $50,000 they held for him was from the sale of a missile that would be used to kill a Pakistani diplomat in New York City. The men say they never believed the business deal was part of a terrorist plot.