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'Jihad network' suspects plead not guilty
From Terry Frieden
ALEXANDRIA, Virginia (CNN) -- Eight terrorism suspects prosecutors say were part of a "Virginia jihad network" pleaded not guilty Thursday in a crowded federal courtroom in Alexandria. Attorneys for the men stood and in unison entered not guilty pleas on behalf of their clients. The suspects, wearing prison jumpsuits, remained seated and did not speak during the brief appearance before U.S. District Judge Leonie Brinkema. The suspects are Randall (Ismail) Royer, Ibrahim Ahmed Al Hamdi, Masoud Ahmad Khan, Yong Ki Kwon, Mohammed Aatique, Hammad Abdur-Raheem, Donald Surratt and Caliph Basha Abdur-Raheem. Three others charged in the suspected jihad network are not in U.S. custody and are believed to be living in Saudi Arabia, U.S. officials said. The U.S. government last week handed down a 41-count indictment against all 11 suspects that charged them with a conspiracy to wage violent jihad overseas. The government says the men are associated with Lashkar-e-Taiba, also known as LET. Lashkar-e-Taiba is a Kashmiri separatist group that the U.S. State Department designated as a terrorist organization in 2001. It is blamed for violence against India in that nation's military standoff with Pakistan over the disputed Kashmir region. The indictment charged the men with waging war against a friendly nation, a reference to India. At Thursday's hearing, Stanley Cohen, an attorney for Royer, contested the accusation that the defendants violated the Neutrality Act. Cohen argued the United States has been actively siding with Pakistan and its intelligence agency, the ISA, for more than 15 years, so "the Neutrality Act goes out the window and raises the specter of selective prosecution." Brinkema did not respond directly to Cohen's comments, saying only that "we're not going to get into a political discussion at this point." The judge set a November 17 trial date for the eight men. Four have been ordered released pending trial, but the government is contesting the order for one of them. On Thursday, U.S. Magistrate Theresa Buchanan ordered Aatique held in jail until trial. "I believe the risk is too great. I believe he is a danger to the community and a flight risk," she said. In a detention hearing, prosecutors and defense attorneys agreed Aatique had traveled to a Lashkar-e-Taiba camp in Pakistan. Alan Dexter Bowman, an attorney for Aatique, argued he posed no risk to the United States. "He has nothing but love, affection and attachment to the United States," Bowman said. "He will not pose a threat to the community because he never has posed a threat." Bowman appealed the detention order, but Brinkema Thursday afternoon declined to change her mind. "Unlike the other cases before me, this man is not a U.S. citizen and that inherently creates a flight risk," she said. "He did in fact travel to the [LET] camps. He fired anti-aircraft weapons. This is not Boy Scout activity. This is not paintball." One of Aatique's lawyers argued his client stayed at the LET camp only a few days and had been good citizen since his return to the United States. Earlier Thursday the judge ordered the release of Hammad Abdur-Raheem. In the first instance in this case involving bail, Brinkema ordered the defendant's father to post $25,000 in bond. Abdur-Raheem will have to wear an electronic monitoring device and will be allowed to leave his home for only three reasons: to go to court, to meet with counsel or to meet with pre-trial services. He will not be allowed to go to work at his job with Verizon. The American born Abdur-Raheem, a Muslim convert, will be the custody of his father, King Lyon. "I have every confidence in my son," Lyon told the court. "My wife and I are willing to put up everything." He said that until the trial is over he will live in his son's two-bedroom apartment in Falls Church, Virginia, with Abdur-Raheem's Moroccan born wife and two small children. Abdur-Raheem also is forbidden to communicate with his alleged co-conspirators. Brinkema warned him if he attempted to communicate even via e-mail or telephone, "your father would lose $25,000 and it would put you back in custody." On Wednesday, another magistrate ordered the release of four other suspects: Caliph Basha Abdur-Raheem, Royer, Hammad Abdur-Raheem and Surratt. Prosecutors are appealing only in the case of Royer. Caliph Basha Abdur-Raheem and Surratt are expected to be released next week and will be under restrictions similar to those placed on Hammad Abdur-Raheem. Also on Wednesday, Brinkema ruled out any pretrial release for Khan. Al-Hamdi and Kwon remain in custody. They had been detained earlier on other charges.
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