YEMENI CITIZENS ARRESTED FOR CONSPIRING TO PROVIDE
SUPPORT TO AL QAEDA, HAMAS, AND OTHER TERRORIST GROUPS

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Attorney General John Ashcroft, Assistant Attorney General Michael Chertoff of the Criminal Division, U.S. Attorney Roslynn R. Mauskopf of the Eastern District of New York, and FBI Director Robert Mueller announced today that two Yemeni citizens have been charged with conspiring to provide material support to the Al Qaeda and Hamas terrorist groups.

The defendants, Mohammed Al Hasan Al-Moayad, 54, of Sanaa, Yemen, and Mohammed Mohsen Yahya Zayed, 29, also of Yemen, were arrested on Jan. 10, 2003 in Frankfurt, Germany, based on complaints issued in Brooklyn, New York. Those complaints were unsealed today, and the U.S. government has requested the extradition of the defendants from Germany to the United States as soon as possible.

"These arrests could not have taken place without the substantial assistance of our friends in German law enforcement. The breadth of talent of the team fielded in this case literally spanned the globe - from the FBI agents in New York City to prosecutors in Frankfurt, Germany," said Attorney General Ashcroft. "This is the new FBI - focused on preventing terrorism, integrating intelligence and law enforcement, and delivering results. These results make Americans safer and bring justice to the full network of terror."

Al-Moayad and Zayed were arrested by Germany's Bundeskriminalamt (BKA) at the request of the Department of Justice and the Federal Bureau of Investigation after a year-long investigation and undercover operation by the FBI's Joint Terrorism Task Force. The investigation focused on Al-Moayad's supply of money, recruits, weapons and communication equipment to Al Qaeda, Hamas and other Islamic extremist groups. The investigation revealed that Al-Moayad, an official in the Islah political party in Yemen and the Imam - or spiritual leader - of the al-Ihsan Mosque in Sanaa, has substantial and direct ties to Usama bin Laden and Al Qaeda.

According to the complaint, a confidential informant (CI) working with the FBI met with Al-Moayad in January 2002, and was told by Al-Moayad in subsequent conversations that he regularly provides money to support mujahideen fighters in Afghanistan, Chechnya and Kashmir. Al-Moayad also stated during this and other conversations with the CI that he had supplied Al Qaeda with arms and communication equipment in the past, delivering more than $20 million to Al Qaeda prior to Sept. 11, 2001. Al-Moayad even boasted of several meetings with Usama bin Laden, and said he personally delivered the $20 million to bin Laden, with much of this money coming from contributors in the United States, including Brooklyn. In one meeting with the informant, Al-Moayad said he had received money for the jihad that was collected at the Al Farouq mosque in Brooklyn.

According to the complaint, the FBI's confidential informant attended a mass wedding in Yemen on Sept. 19, 2002, hosted by Al-Moayad. At the mass wedding - which are sometimes thrown as celebratory farewells for men who are preparing to embark on jihad assignments - a speech was given by Mohammed Siam, one of the founders of Hamas. After thanking Al-Moayad, Siam praised a "Hamas operation" that had just occurred in Tel Aviv, Israel, and suggested that the organizers of the wedding must have known of the Hamas mission. That same day, a suicide bomber detonated a bomb on a bus in Tel Aviv, Israel, killing five people and injuring more than 50 others. Hamas and another militant Islamic group claimed responsibility for the bombing.

The complaint also states that American investigators have obtained "Mujahideen Identification Forms," found in Afghanistan, which contain background information on individuals entering a "training camp." One such form indicated that a "Sheikh Mohammed Almoayad" had referred a Yemeni man to the camp for training.

The complaint also outlines a series of financial transactions by associates of Al-Moayad in the United States that appear to be designed to evade federally mandated financial reporting requirements - a tactic frequently used by those engaging in the funding of overseas terrorist organizations and entities. According to the complaint, bank records for one of Al-Moayad's associates show deposits totaling $109,000 in 25 separate transactions in March 1997, and deposits totaling $176,000 in 27 separate transactions from June to September, 2001. Bank records from a former Brooklyn, NY business of an Al-Moayad associate show, among other things, the deposit from April to June, 2001, of more than $300,000 in cash to different bank branches, all under the reporting requirement limits.

The Zayed complaint alleges that he joined Al-Moayad at meetings with confidential informants in Frankfurt, Germany, in January 2003, and "swore to Allah" that a financial contribution to Al-Moayad would be used for its intended purposes - to support the mujahideen fighters of Al Qaeda and Hamas.

Al-Moayad and Zayed are charged with violating Section 2339B of Title 18 of the United States Code, which prohibits anyone from knowingly providing or conspiring to provide material support to a foreign terrorist organization (FTO), as designated by the State Department. Al Qaeda was first designated an FTO in October 1999; that two-year designation was renewed in October 2001. Hamas was first designated an FTO in October 1997; that designation has been renewed twice.

For the conduct presently alleged against them, Al-Moayad and Zayed are facing possible prison sentences of up to 60 and 30 years, respective. If their actions are ultimately connected to terrorist acts resulting in death, however, the material support statute provides that they can be imprisoned for life.

"Prosecutions like this target the very lifeline of the terrorist organization," stated U.S. Attorney Roslynn R. Mauskopf of the Eastern District of New York. "By cutting off the flow of money, weapons and other tangible support, we can cripple these organizations and prevent them from carrying out future attacks against innocent civilians."

This arrest was part of a joint, cooperative effort by U.S. and German law enforcement, on both the local and federal levels. The U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of New York, the Criminal Division of the Justice Department, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation were all actively involved in bringing the charges, along with detectives from the New York City Police Department.

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