Links to Terrorism Probed in Northwest

SEATTLE —  A regional terrorism task force is investigating a possible terrorist cell here composed of suspected Muslim radicals with links to an Al Qaeda recruiter in London as well as the former Taliban leadership in Afghanistan and a “jihad training camp” in rural Oregon, according to interviews and an investigative document obtained by The Times.

One in the suspected terrorist group is described as a U.S.-born Muslim convert who provided computers to the Taliban before Sept. 11. The American also helped recruit a British citizen, now in U.S. military custody, for an Al Qaeda terrorist training camp, the investigative report said.

The confidential document, widely distributed to federal investigative and intelligence agencies, apparently was intended to alert authorities that suspected cell members may be trying to “identify targets for a terrorist attack.”

Among items seized after a related arrest were “instructions on poisoning water sources,” the report disclosed.

In June, according to the document, U.S. authorities were alerted to suspicions that the American Muslim and his brother, also a Muslim convert, could be traveling together and seeking to “locate possible sites for a terrorist operation.” The current whereabouts of the brothers could not be determined, and investigators would not discuss whether they are under surveillance.

The investigative document also details a suspected terrorist training camp held nearly three years ago at an isolated ranch in Oregon.

“In November, 1999, local American Muslim converts with coordination of foreign radical Islamic extremists planned and conducted a jihad training camp in Bly, Oregon,” the federal alert said. “This camp was conducted in concert with Sheik Abu Hamza Al-Masri (of London).”

Abu Hamza, a Muslim radical who has publicly supported the suicide attacks on the U.S., is regarded as a leading Al Qaeda recruiter in Europe.

Word of the investigation became known as Atty. Gen. John Ashcroft told Congress this week that various Al Qaeda sleeper cells remain intact in the U.S., despite the extensive law enforcement sweeps since the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11.

Federal authorities had previously warned that the Pacific Northwest--with its broad open spaces, strategic ports and military bases, along with a growing Muslim population and a largely open border with Canada--could be an “easy target.”

In a statement last month, Seattle FBI chief Charles Mandigo said the region receives “a disproportionate high number of terrorism threats.”

Government prosecutors and FBI officials declined to comment on the terrorist cell inquiry, but a senior federal law enforcement official confirmed that a grand jury is investigating the matter.

The inquiry was first disclosed Friday by the Seattle Times. The paper reported that investigators had gathered information on more than 100 people associated with a now-defunct mosque in downtown Seattle that is central to the probe.

The investigation has led to only one arrest.

Semi Osman, 32, believed to be a Lebanese national, is a former imam, or prayer leader, at the mosque. He has been charged with immigration fraud and illegal possession of a semiautomatic 40-caliber handgun with its serial numbers removed. While no terrorism charges have been brought, he was arrested in May by the Puget Sound Joint Terrorist Task Force.

At that time, items seized from Osman’s residence included additional firearms, military field manuals, papers by Abu Hamza, instructions on poisoning water supplies, a visa application to Yemen and “various other items associated with Islamic radicalism,” the document said.

Osman is an active-duty reservist in the U.S. Navy and a former Army enlistee. Navy investigators are assisting in the investigation.

Osman’s attorney, Robert M. Leen, said his client has no links to terrorism and is, instead, a victim of discrimination. Leen acknowledged that the government has sought Osman’s cooperation in gathering information about mosques in the Seattle area.

FBI agents working on the case descended last month on secluded Bly, 30 miles north of the California border in south-central Oregon.

A ranch in Bly where Osman lived for a time is suspected of having been the site of the jihad training event in November 1999, documents show. It is unclear whether the training camp ever operated or whether the site was being scouted for a future camp.

The FBI team asked pointed questions about Osman and any suspicious activity observed on the ranch where he lived with a former wife, described by neighbors as a U.S.-born convert to Islam.

“The feds said he [Osman] was an imam, and he was involved in a radical group in Seattle,” said Steve Leonardo, who owns an antique shop on Bly’s main road and was interviewed by the officers.

Agents also canvassed the 160-acre property where Osman lived, photographing vehicles, trailer homes and other buildings, according to residents.

“They said they were investigating complaints about a lot of shooting that had been going on up there,” said Robert Tucker, an upholstery designer from the San Francisco Bay area who is building a house on an adjoining property and was quizzed by the FBI.

However, locals recalled nothing suspicious at the site.

“If there was anything unusual going on, if this was some kind of training camp or anything, everyone would have known it,” said Kelly Peterson, who works at a ranch. Residents said Osman, his wife and another Muslim woman living on the property during late 1999 kept to themselves and seemed content raising goats, long-haired sheep and other animals.

One source knowledgeable about the case said the Bly episode prompted suspicion in part because a top aide of Abu Hamza, the militant London cleric, is suspected of having met with Osman in Bly during the supposed training period.

Local police became aware of the identity of the man during a stop of Osman’s car in December 1999, the source said, but his presence seemed to take on a new importance in recent months.

Police officials said they were unaware of the details or declined comment. “It’s a national security matter,” said Lt. Rod Dailey of the Klamath County Sheriff’s Office, which polices the Bly area.

A key objective of the FBI investigation, documents state, is “identifying all individuals associated with the planning and conduct of the jihad training camp.”

Osman “helped coordinate” the camp, the document stated, and his arrest by anti-terrorism investigators May 17 has resulted in a “mild panic” among former participants.

Osman was applying for U.S. citizenship when he was arrested and had enrolled in November in an 18-month program at a DeVry University campus, studying electronics and computer technology.

“The government has expressed interest in several of the mosques that Mr. Osman attended in the Seattle area,” said Leen, who declined to comment further. He said he knew nothing of a grand jury inquiry and noted that his client has not been charged with terrorism.

Osman, described by former co-workers as an indifferent car mechanic who was more interested in praying than fixing cars, was a leader at a storefront mosque near downtown Seattle.

It could not be determined whether the American Muslim convert who provided computers to the Taliban was among the men affiliated with the now-defunct Seattle mosque where Osman was a prayer leader.

The document said he “has worked for and provided services to Abu Hamza ... to include taking computers to the Taliban prior to U.S. action in Afghanistan.” It noted he introduced a British citizen, Feroz Abbasi, to Al Qaeda officials to help him gain access to a Afghan terrorist training camp.

The man has since been arrested by the U.S. military in the Afghanistan war zone and transferred to the detention facility in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

Several Somali immigrants who occasionally worshiped at the mosque said they became disenchanted by the young worshipers’ somewhat aggressive style.

“Islam is about peace, about welcoming people,” said one of the Somali men.

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Times staff writer William C. Rempel in Los Angeles contributed to this report.