New York's WCBS News 88 reports that last night federal agents raid mosque in Albany. The radio stations's broadcast stated the raid involved a sting operation concerning the purchase of shoulder fired missiles. The written reports don't mention that, but News 88 said their reporter had exclusive information.
According tio the Associated Press:
Federal agents and city police raided a Muslim mosque overnight Wednesday, with armed officers sealing off a block in downtown Albany for several hours.That press conference may be interesting.Authorities declined to immediately discuss the raid at Masjid As-Salam mosque. An FBI spokesman said a press conference was tentatively set Thursday afternoon in Washington.
Some mosque members held morning prayers Thursday on a nearby sidewalk. WTEN-TV reported two men were arrested and are suspected of providing material support for terrorism.
Calls to the U.S. attorney's office were not immediately returned.
UPDATE: CBS News reports:
UPDATE II: The Associated Press reports that the men who were arrested have ties to Ansar al-Islam.Two men were arrested in Albany, N.Y. early Thursday on suspicion of planning to buy shoulder-launched s, CBS News has learned.
[. . .]
The men, Yassim Muhhidin Aref, 34 yr, Imam of the Majid Al Salam mosque; and Mohammed Mosharref Hoosain, 49, founder of the mosque, are suspected of ties to the terrorist group Ansar al-Islam, CBS News National Security Correspondent David Martin reports.
The arrests were the result of a long-running FBI operation. The arrests may have been ordered because one of the men purchased a plane ticket. There was not report of any link to the current U.S. terror alert.
The men allegedly sought help from a confidential informant and were attempting to launder money to purchase shoulder-launching s.
The men have ties to a group called Ansar al-Islam, which has been linked to al-Qaida, according to two federal law enforcement authorities speaking on condition of anonymity. U.S. officials have said that Ansar's members are thought to be affiliated with Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the Jordanian militant whose network is blamed for attacks on U.S. forces and their allies in Iraq.
The arrests came as FBI, Immigration and Customs Enforcement and other agents executed search warrants at the Masjid As-Salam mosque and two Albany-area residences late Wednesday and early Thursday. The men were identified as Yassin Aref, 34, the imam of the mosque, and Mohammed Hossain, 49, one of the mosque's founders.
Ansar al-Islam is a radical extremist group of Iraqi Kurds and Arabs formed in September 2001. The group was active in northern Iraq, and has been declared a terrorist organization by the State Department. The group is thought to be linked to Abu Musab al-Zarqawi.
Although it is not clear from the reports, the may have been sought for use against an airliner. Last year, a British arms dealer, arrested in New Jersey, was charged with trying to sell a shoulder-fired to an undercover agent posing as a Muslim terrorist bent on shooting down a U.S. airliner. The government should move more quickly on equipping airliners with defenses against s. A successful "virtual" test of an airliner defense system was coducted last month. Last October it was reported that Israel had installed defenses on some of El Al's airliners.
The estimated cost of installing a defense, a million dollars per plane, is staggering, but it isn't as much as the cost to the airlines in lost traffic if an airliner is shot down by the evildoers.
UPDATE III: According to this Associated Press report the would be used to kill the Pakistani ambassador in New York.
Jeff Quinton at Backcountry Conservative is all over this story and has rounded up other blogs posting about it.
This story is not very surprising. They're still attempting to bring down commerical airliners though shoulder missiles because it's a tad harder for them to get on the plane with a bomb nowadays...
I checked out the Mosque's website...quite interesting.
Posted by: Terrorism Unveiled | Thursday, August 05, 2004 at 10:53 AM