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Cali Al-Qaida Terror Cell Busted!?
June 9, 2005
Ties to Terror Camps Probed
An investigation of Pakistani Americans' alleged links to foreign training centers expands beyond Lodi. A fifth person is detained.
By Rone Tempest, Greg Krikorian and Lee Romney, Times Staff Writers
LODI, Calif. — Immigration officials in Sacramento detained a fifth person Wednesday as part of what authorities described as a widening investigation of a group of Pakistani Americans and recent immigrants, some of whom allegedly attended terrorist training camps.
The initial arrests of a Northern California father and son with alleged terrorist connections were the result of a several-year investigation focused on the Muslim community of this Central Valley agricultural center, an FBI official said Wednesday.
"We believe from our investigation that various individuals connected to Al Qaeda have been operating in the Lodi area in various capacities, including individuals who have received terrorist training abroad," said Sacramento FBI chief Keith Slotter.
Umer Hayat, a 47-year-old ice-cream truck driver, and his 22-year-old son Hamid Hayat, a worker at a fruit packing plant, were charged with making false statements to federal investigators after being arrested Sunday. Three others were detained on immigration violations.
Defense attorney Johnny L. Griffin III, a former federal prosecutor representing the father, said the relatively minor nature of the charges does not justify the amount of attention the government is giving the case.
Umer Hayat "is being portrayed as a terrorist when all he has been charged with is making false statements to federal officials," Griffin said. "This is painting a picture with a broad brush."
At an arraignment Tuesday, a U.S. magistrate ordered Umer Hayat held without bail. Hamid Hayat is to be arraigned Friday.
The government's record on terrorism arrests is not unblemished. After the Madrid train bombings in March 2004, for example, FBI fingerprint experts erroneously identified a Portland, Ore., attorney as a suspect. Spanish police had questioned the accuracy of the fingerprint match. A federal judge in Portland later dismissed the case, and agents apologized to the attorney, Brandon Mayfield, a Muslim convert.
In a Detroit case, federal officials announced charges against three North African men with great fanfare in 2001. After the government initially won convictions, the cases fell apart and were eventually dismissed.
At a news conference in Sacramento, Slotter said the bureau in the latest case had no details about specific plans for terrorist acts.
"We do not possess information concerning exact plans or timing of specific targets of opportunity," Slotter said. "It has been reported that certain institutions such as hospitals and food stores were targeted. We do not have information that these or any other sectors in the United States have been primarily targeted or are specifically vulnerable to attack."
Slotter disclosed that the younger Hayat, who was born in the United States but studied for years at his grandfather's religious school in Pakistan, has been "under investigation for an extended period of time."
An FBI official in Washington confirmed that the arrests were part of a broader investigation into suspected Islamic militants within the Pakistani community in the United States, including Lodi. He said he could not discuss details of the probe or its findings to date, given the sensitivity of U.S.-Pakistani counterterrorism efforts.
Details about the direction of the federal probe were contained in an affidavit released Tuesday in which the younger Hayat allegedly told federal agents that he attended a terrorist camp in Pakistan for six months in 2003-04 and was instructed on attacking targets in the United States.
Included in the training, Hamid Hayat reportedly told agents, was target practice using pictures of President Bush.
Umer Hayat allegedly told investigators that he also toured camps operated by Maulana Fazlur Rehman Khalil, a family friend who once headed an organization identified by U.S. officials as a terrorist group. Both men allegedly made the statements after first denying any terrorist links.
Despite the FBI affidavit, family members in Lodi contend that the terrorist allegations are false. Salma Hayat, the mother of Hamid Hayat, said she was with him in their ancestral village of Hazro in the northern part of Pakistan's Punjab province while he allegedly was at the training camp.
A cousin, Maher, said Hamid was too frail to participate in training. "He was with his mom the whole time," the cousin said Wednesday.
At the Sacramento news conference, U.S. Atty. McGregor Scott said two other Lodi men, Muslim clerics Mohamed Adil Khan and Shabir Ahmed, have been detained by the Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement on suspicion of immigration violations. On Tuesday, the FBI searched both men's homes and offices, as well as the Hayat home in Lodi, confiscating videotapes, photos and computer equipment.
The immigration and customs office confirmed late Wednesday that agents had also detained Mohammad Hassan Adil on suspicion of an immigration violation. Adil is the 19-year-old son of Mohammad Adil Khan.
Federal agents have been scrambling in recent days to assess the significance of every potential lead.
"When you have two guys taken in, they are not your problem anymore," said one counterterrorism official, referring to the Hayats. "Right now, we are trying to find their entire universe, and that takes time and effort, and it is critical that we do that immediately to see where, if anywhere, it leads."
Authorities were chasing down leads outside of Sacramento, officials said. In San Francisco, for example, an FBI spokeswoman said agents have been following up on information developed by their counterparts in Sacramento. And in Los Angeles, a local counterterrorism official said it was too early to rule out the possibility that one or more of the men arrested in Lodi might have links to individuals there.
"This investigation is going to lead to other people," the official said. "It will just take awhile to unravel."
In Washington, several U.S. counterterrorism officials said it was too early to say whether there was an Al Qaeda sleeper cell in Lodi but that the arrests and detentions underscored how the terrorist network was still trying to recruit Americans.
For years, a senior U.S. counterterrorism official said, law enforcement and intelligence officials have closely monitored men traveling to and from Pakistan from the United States and watched as many attended madrassas, or religious schools, that often espouse a virulent anti-American curriculum.
The U.S. official said the madrassas became particularly important training grounds for Al Qaeda after the U.S.-led war in Afghanistan and even more so in recent months, as the Islamabad government launched crackdowns of its own in the tribal areas.
"In terms of actual military-style camps, there are only so many places where they can be, [and] not in urban areas," said the U.S. official. "But in the madrassas, there is recruitment, indoctrination, selection. You can take a look at somebody in that setting and say, 'Hey, that person can be a candidate for something bigger.' "
The Hayat arrests have roiled this normally placid mid-sized city that describes itself in promotional brochures as "Loveable Liveable Lodi" and where many Pakistani Muslims have lived and worked for years.
"My concern is about the potential backlash," said Grace Presbyterian Church Pastor David Hill, who heads a local community relations organization. "I'm a little concerned that some people might see this as a green light to go out and do something."
George Gladius, bartender at Ollie's bar, said he was frustrated by some people who "don't understand democracy, and they want to infiltrate our country."
And Mike Lapenta, 75, a Lodi resident for 37 years, said, "If these two guys have done something, then let them have it.
"I don't think the majority of them are that way, but we wouldn't be thinking people if we didn't suspect there were a few more sympathizers" among the immigrant population.
Lodi, a major Zinfandel winemaking center and fruit-packing town between the larger cities of Sacramento and Stockton, had a population of 57,037 in 2000. When the city's mosque was attacked in 1995 by teenage white supremacists, who painted its walls with swastikas and threw flares through the windows, the community rose in support of the local Muslims, some of whom have lived in Lodi for decades.
One of the offshoots was the Breakthrough Project, the brainchild of former Police Chief Larry Hanson, who now serves on the City Council.
Like others in Lodi, Hanson is worried that the terror allegations against two of Lodi's citizens will disrupt the balance of a predominantly white city that has large Latino and Pakistani Muslim minorities.
"It bothers me that there might be an Al Qaeda cell in Lodi," Hanson said. "But we want to be careful that we don't lump the whole Muslim community into this."
Lodi Muslims, meanwhile, seem stunned by the developments, including the detentions of two religious leaders. Late Tuesday night, Lodi Muslim Mosque President Mohamed Shoaib huddled with other local elders after evening prayers.
"We've never had any problem in this town," said one of the men, who identified himself as the mosque treasurer but asked not to be named. "My uncles came here in the 1940s. The city of Lodi and the police have done everything they can to make us feel welcome."
Some people here were worried about the news scaring off potential visitors. Lodi has a developing wine tourism business.
Others, such as bartender Gladius, appeared to enjoy the attention.
"This puts Lodi in the news worldwide," Gladius said, "but I don't think it is a haven here for these guys. But it shows you they can pop anywhere."
LATimes staff writers Claudia Zequeira in Los Angeles, Josh Meyer in Washington and correspondent Mubashir Zaidi in Islamabad, Pakistan, contributed to this report.
Ties to Terror Camps Probed
An investigation of Pakistani Americans' alleged links to foreign training centers expands beyond Lodi. A fifth person is detained.
By Rone Tempest, Greg Krikorian and Lee Romney, Times Staff Writers
LODI, Calif. — Immigration officials in Sacramento detained a fifth person Wednesday as part of what authorities described as a widening investigation of a group of Pakistani Americans and recent immigrants, some of whom allegedly attended terrorist training camps.
The initial arrests of a Northern California father and son with alleged terrorist connections were the result of a several-year investigation focused on the Muslim community of this Central Valley agricultural center, an FBI official said Wednesday.
"We believe from our investigation that various individuals connected to Al Qaeda have been operating in the Lodi area in various capacities, including individuals who have received terrorist training abroad," said Sacramento FBI chief Keith Slotter.
Umer Hayat, a 47-year-old ice-cream truck driver, and his 22-year-old son Hamid Hayat, a worker at a fruit packing plant, were charged with making false statements to federal investigators after being arrested Sunday. Three others were detained on immigration violations.
Defense attorney Johnny L. Griffin III, a former federal prosecutor representing the father, said the relatively minor nature of the charges does not justify the amount of attention the government is giving the case.
Umer Hayat "is being portrayed as a terrorist when all he has been charged with is making false statements to federal officials," Griffin said. "This is painting a picture with a broad brush."
At an arraignment Tuesday, a U.S. magistrate ordered Umer Hayat held without bail. Hamid Hayat is to be arraigned Friday.
The government's record on terrorism arrests is not unblemished. After the Madrid train bombings in March 2004, for example, FBI fingerprint experts erroneously identified a Portland, Ore., attorney as a suspect. Spanish police had questioned the accuracy of the fingerprint match. A federal judge in Portland later dismissed the case, and agents apologized to the attorney, Brandon Mayfield, a Muslim convert.
In a Detroit case, federal officials announced charges against three North African men with great fanfare in 2001. After the government initially won convictions, the cases fell apart and were eventually dismissed.
At a news conference in Sacramento, Slotter said the bureau in the latest case had no details about specific plans for terrorist acts.
"We do not possess information concerning exact plans or timing of specific targets of opportunity," Slotter said. "It has been reported that certain institutions such as hospitals and food stores were targeted. We do not have information that these or any other sectors in the United States have been primarily targeted or are specifically vulnerable to attack."
Slotter disclosed that the younger Hayat, who was born in the United States but studied for years at his grandfather's religious school in Pakistan, has been "under investigation for an extended period of time."
An FBI official in Washington confirmed that the arrests were part of a broader investigation into suspected Islamic militants within the Pakistani community in the United States, including Lodi. He said he could not discuss details of the probe or its findings to date, given the sensitivity of U.S.-Pakistani counterterrorism efforts.
Details about the direction of the federal probe were contained in an affidavit released Tuesday in which the younger Hayat allegedly told federal agents that he attended a terrorist camp in Pakistan for six months in 2003-04 and was instructed on attacking targets in the United States.
Included in the training, Hamid Hayat reportedly told agents, was target practice using pictures of President Bush.
Umer Hayat allegedly told investigators that he also toured camps operated by Maulana Fazlur Rehman Khalil, a family friend who once headed an organization identified by U.S. officials as a terrorist group. Both men allegedly made the statements after first denying any terrorist links.
Despite the FBI affidavit, family members in Lodi contend that the terrorist allegations are false. Salma Hayat, the mother of Hamid Hayat, said she was with him in their ancestral village of Hazro in the northern part of Pakistan's Punjab province while he allegedly was at the training camp.
A cousin, Maher, said Hamid was too frail to participate in training. "He was with his mom the whole time," the cousin said Wednesday.
At the Sacramento news conference, U.S. Atty. McGregor Scott said two other Lodi men, Muslim clerics Mohamed Adil Khan and Shabir Ahmed, have been detained by the Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement on suspicion of immigration violations. On Tuesday, the FBI searched both men's homes and offices, as well as the Hayat home in Lodi, confiscating videotapes, photos and computer equipment.
The immigration and customs office confirmed late Wednesday that agents had also detained Mohammad Hassan Adil on suspicion of an immigration violation. Adil is the 19-year-old son of Mohammad Adil Khan.
Federal agents have been scrambling in recent days to assess the significance of every potential lead.
"When you have two guys taken in, they are not your problem anymore," said one counterterrorism official, referring to the Hayats. "Right now, we are trying to find their entire universe, and that takes time and effort, and it is critical that we do that immediately to see where, if anywhere, it leads."
Authorities were chasing down leads outside of Sacramento, officials said. In San Francisco, for example, an FBI spokeswoman said agents have been following up on information developed by their counterparts in Sacramento. And in Los Angeles, a local counterterrorism official said it was too early to rule out the possibility that one or more of the men arrested in Lodi might have links to individuals there.
"This investigation is going to lead to other people," the official said. "It will just take awhile to unravel."
In Washington, several U.S. counterterrorism officials said it was too early to say whether there was an Al Qaeda sleeper cell in Lodi but that the arrests and detentions underscored how the terrorist network was still trying to recruit Americans.
For years, a senior U.S. counterterrorism official said, law enforcement and intelligence officials have closely monitored men traveling to and from Pakistan from the United States and watched as many attended madrassas, or religious schools, that often espouse a virulent anti-American curriculum.
The U.S. official said the madrassas became particularly important training grounds for Al Qaeda after the U.S.-led war in Afghanistan and even more so in recent months, as the Islamabad government launched crackdowns of its own in the tribal areas.
"In terms of actual military-style camps, there are only so many places where they can be, [and] not in urban areas," said the U.S. official. "But in the madrassas, there is recruitment, indoctrination, selection. You can take a look at somebody in that setting and say, 'Hey, that person can be a candidate for something bigger.' "
The Hayat arrests have roiled this normally placid mid-sized city that describes itself in promotional brochures as "Loveable Liveable Lodi" and where many Pakistani Muslims have lived and worked for years.
"My concern is about the potential backlash," said Grace Presbyterian Church Pastor David Hill, who heads a local community relations organization. "I'm a little concerned that some people might see this as a green light to go out and do something."
George Gladius, bartender at Ollie's bar, said he was frustrated by some people who "don't understand democracy, and they want to infiltrate our country."
And Mike Lapenta, 75, a Lodi resident for 37 years, said, "If these two guys have done something, then let them have it.
"I don't think the majority of them are that way, but we wouldn't be thinking people if we didn't suspect there were a few more sympathizers" among the immigrant population.
Lodi, a major Zinfandel winemaking center and fruit-packing town between the larger cities of Sacramento and Stockton, had a population of 57,037 in 2000. When the city's mosque was attacked in 1995 by teenage white supremacists, who painted its walls with swastikas and threw flares through the windows, the community rose in support of the local Muslims, some of whom have lived in Lodi for decades.
One of the offshoots was the Breakthrough Project, the brainchild of former Police Chief Larry Hanson, who now serves on the City Council.
Like others in Lodi, Hanson is worried that the terror allegations against two of Lodi's citizens will disrupt the balance of a predominantly white city that has large Latino and Pakistani Muslim minorities.
"It bothers me that there might be an Al Qaeda cell in Lodi," Hanson said. "But we want to be careful that we don't lump the whole Muslim community into this."
Lodi Muslims, meanwhile, seem stunned by the developments, including the detentions of two religious leaders. Late Tuesday night, Lodi Muslim Mosque President Mohamed Shoaib huddled with other local elders after evening prayers.
"We've never had any problem in this town," said one of the men, who identified himself as the mosque treasurer but asked not to be named. "My uncles came here in the 1940s. The city of Lodi and the police have done everything they can to make us feel welcome."
Some people here were worried about the news scaring off potential visitors. Lodi has a developing wine tourism business.
Others, such as bartender Gladius, appeared to enjoy the attention.
"This puts Lodi in the news worldwide," Gladius said, "but I don't think it is a haven here for these guys. But it shows you they can pop anywhere."
LATimes staff writers Claudia Zequeira in Los Angeles, Josh Meyer in Washington and correspondent Mubashir Zaidi in Islamabad, Pakistan, contributed to this report.
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