Former U.S. sailor who leaked secrets about U.S....

Former U.S. sailor who leaked secrets about U.S., Canadian navy ships indicted

http://www.topix.net/content/cp/2427108409347829295801573090043078871167

(CP) - A former U.S. navy sailor arrested two weeks ago was indicted Wednesday on charges of supporting terrorism by giving a suspected terrorism financier secret information about the location of U.S., Canadian navy ships and the best ways to attack them.

Hassan Abujihaad was charged with one count of providing material support to terrorists with intent to kill U.S. citizens and one count of disclosing classified information relating to the national defence.

Abujihaad, 31, was arrested March 7 in Phoenix, where he was apparently working as a delivery man, and is expected to appear in court Friday. Messages seeking comment were left Wednesday with his lawyers.

The classified information involved a navy battle group scheduled to move from California to the Middle East in the spring of 2001 to engage in missions against al-Qaida and the Taliban, according to the indictment.

The battle group included HMCS Winnipeg, a multi-role patrol frigate.

The material included a drawing of the group's formation when it was to pass through the Straits of Hormuz, which links the Persian Gulf with the Gulf of Oman, at night under a communications blackout, the indictment states.

"The information set forth in the battle group document, including advance knowledge of the location and movements, missions, personnel and capabilities of the ships, has significant implications for force protection and would be very useful to terrorists attempting to plan an attack," the indictment states.

The investigation began at an Internet service provider in Connecticut and followed a suspected terrorist network across the country and into Europe and the Middle East.

Abujihaad, also known as Paul Hall, is charged in the same case as Babar Ahmad, a British computer specialist arrested in 2004 and accused of running websites to raise money for terrorism. Ahmad is to be extradited to the U.S.

During a search of Ahmad's computers, investigators discovered files containing classified information about the positions of U.S. navy ships and discussing their susceptibility to attack.

Abujihaad, a former enlisted man, exchanged e-mails with Ahmad while on active duty on the USS Benfold, a guided-missile destroyer, in 2000 and 2001, according to an FBI affidavit. In those e-mails, Abujihaad discussed naval briefings and praised Osama bin Laden and those who attacked the USS Cole in 2000, according to the affidavit.

One of the memos noted the Winnipeg carried 150 personnel and specialized in anti-air warfare.

It added the Canadian sailors were armed with MP5 submachine-guns and 9 mm pistols.

Abujihaad received an honourable discharge from the navy in 2002, according to the affidavit.

If convicted, he faces up to 25 years in prison.


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"The conversion of the entire population to Islam and the extinction of every form of dissent is the ideal of the Muslim State - This is Islamic Peace"

A moderate Moslem is one who sends others blow themselves up.

Muslim in US Navy discussed sniper attacks on military

Muslim in US Navy discussed sniper attacks on military personnel

http://www.jihadwatch.org/archives/017506.php

Why was this man in the Navy in the first place? Did anyone ever think to investigate what kind of views this "Father of Jihad" (that is what his surname means) had about...jihad? Or if he had any connections to jihad groups?

"New Haven: New Claims Against Terror Suspect," from AP (thanks to Seymour Paine):

A former Navy sailor charged with supporting terrorism by disclosing secret information about the location of Navy ships and the best ways to attack them also discussed attacking military personnel and recruiting stations, federal prosecutors said yesterday. The sailor, Hassan Abujihaad, discussed sniper attacks on military personnel and attacks on recruitment sites, prosecutors said in Federal District Court, although they said it was unclear if he would face additional charges....

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"The conversion of the entire population to Islam and the extinction of every form of dissent is the ideal of the Muslim State - This is Islamic Peace"

A moderate Moslem is one who sends others blow themselves up.

Hearing for former U.S. sailor accused of leaking...

Hearing for former U.S. sailor accused of leaking classified information shows contacts with jihadists, pro-jihad websites

http://www.jihadwatch.org/archives/018987.php

Hassan Abu-Jihaad Update. "Federal Informer Testifies Against Sailor Accused of Aiding Terrorism," by Alison Leigh Cowan for the New York Times:
NEW HAVEN, Nov. 28 — A former American sailor accused of helping support terrorism by leaking classified information about the whereabouts of Navy vessels in early 2001 told jihadist supporters that if they were not going to do anything with his information to “just destroy it,” a government witness told a federal judge here on Wednesday.
The comment made by the witness, William Crisman, was one of several revelations in the government’s case against Hassan Abu-Jihaad, 31, the defendant. Known as Paul R. Hall before his conversion to Islam, he has been in federal custody since his arrest in March in Phoenix, where he lived. Wednesday’s evidentiary hearing before Judge Mark R. Kravitz, expected to last the rest of the week, was convened to decide what information can be admitted at his trial next year.
Crisman is not a sterling character himself -- among other things, a practicing polygamist, as revealed later in this article. Fortunately, Abu-Jihaad left a wider trail of evidence than his interaction with Crisman:
Investigators began looking into his activities after British authorities raided the home of Babar Ahmad, a British citizen, in London in December 2003 and found password-protected information on a computer about a group of battleships that were scheduled to pass through the Strait of Hormuz on or around April 29, 2001.
Connecticut has been seeking to extradite Mr. Ahmad for prosecution since 2004 on charges that he provided material support to terrorist organizations and causes.
The authorities say that the information about the Navy’s movements, and its vulnerability to attack, ultimately came from Mr. Abu-Jihaad while he was stationed on the guided missile destroyer Benfold and serving primarily as its signal man. The document containing the information about troop movements ends with the caveat “please destroy message.”
E-mail messages between Mr. Abu-Jihaad and a group of pro-jihadi Web sites run by Mr. Ahmad show that the sailor bought jihadi videos from the organization and shared with Mr. Ahmad’s group details of a briefing that he had received on board the Benfold after the bombing of the Cole, another Navy vessel, six months earlier. In one message, Mr. Abu-Jihaad refers to that bombing as a “martyrdom operation.”
Read it all.
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"The conversion of the entire population to Islam and the extinction of every form of dissent is the ideal of the Muslim State - This is Islamic Peace"

A moderate Moslem is one who sends others blow themselves up.