YEMENI CITIZENS CHARGED WITH MATERIAL SUPPORT TO AL QAEDA EXTRADITED TO THE UNITED STATES

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Attorney General John Ashcroft, Assistant Attorney General Christopher A. Wray 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 Mohammed Al Hasan Al-Moayad and Mohammed Mohsen Yahya Zayed have been extradited from Germany to the United States to face charges of conspiring to provide material support to the al Qaeda and Hamas terrorist groups.

Al-Moayad and Zayed, both Yemeni citizens, arrived at John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York on Sunday. Arraignment of both defendants is expected at U.S. District Court in Brooklyn, New York, this afternoon.

The German government last week approved the extradition of Al-Moayad and Zayed to the United States. The defendants had been arrested by Germany’s Bundeskriminalamt (BKA) on Jan. 10, 2003, in Frankfurt, Germany, at the request of the Department of Justice and the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

Al-Moayad and Zayed were charged by criminal complaints in the Eastern District of New York with violating 18 USC Section 2339B, which prohibits anyone from knowingly providing or conspiring to provide material support to a foreign terrorist organization (FTO) designated by the State Department. The Al-Moayad complaint alleges that he provided material support to al Qaeda, which was first designated as an FTO in October 1999, and Hamas, which was designated as an FTO in October 1997. A separate complaint alleges that Zayed conspired with Al-Moayad.

Attorney General John Ashcroft thanked the German government for its assistance in the extradition of Al-Moayad and Zayed.

“As this case demonstrates, our terrorist enemies are wrong if they believe they can hide from justice behind international borders,” Ashcroft said. “The valuable assistance of Germany in this matter demonstrates that the war on terrorism is global, and together we will work with our allies to ensure that terrorist acts are prevented and that justice is done.”

“Our success in bringing these defendants to the United States for trial is the result of the excellent cooperation between and the valuable contributions of local, federal and German authorities,” added Assistant Attorney General Christopher A. Wray. “This coordinated effort, aided by the use of intelligence and law enforcement information, has reeled in, yet again, individuals accused of providing material support to terrorists.”

“This case targets the lifeline of the al Qaeda and Hamas terrorist organizations,” stated United States Attorney Roslynn R. Mauskopf of the Eastern District of New York. “By stemming the flow of money, weapons, recruits and other material support to terrorist organizations, we hope to prevent future attacks against innocent civilians.”

The FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Force conducted a year-long investigation and undercover operation that focused on Al-Moayad’s alleged supply of money, recruits, weapons and communications 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 charges filed against Al-Moayad and Zayed, a confidential informant 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 allegedly stated during this and other conversations with the informant that he had supplied al Qaeda with arms and communications 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 allegedly said he had received money for jihad that was collected at the Al Farouq mosque in Brooklyn.

The Al-Moayad complaint also outlines a series of financial transactions by associates of Al-Moayad that appear to be designed to evade federally mandated reporting requirements - a tactic frequently used by those engaging in the funding of overseas terrorist organizations and entities.

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.

The charges against Al-Moayad and Zayed were the result 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 FBI were all actively involved in bringing the charges, along with detectives from the New York City Police Department.

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