A Terror Plot Grows In Albany

Last year we found out that a duo was arrested for terror related charges in my old stomping grounds of Albany, New York. They were caught as a part of an FBI sting.

Well, the duo is back in the news.

Federal authorities plan to file additional criminal charges against one of two Albany men arrested a year ago in an FBI counterterrorism sting, according to a law enforcement official involved in the case.

The new charges, which are the result of a federal grand jury indictment, may be unsealed Tuesday when Yassin M. Aref and Mohammed Mosharref Hossain are scheduled to appear in U.S. District Court for a status conference in their case.

The new indictment centers on charges against Aref, who is the spiritual leader of a Central Avenue mosque, the law enforcement official said, declining to elaborate.

Aref, 35, and Hossain, a 50-year-old pizza shop owner, have been free on bond since their arrests last August on charges they took part in a scheme to make money from the sale of grenade launchers to terrorists.

There was never any real terrorist plot. Rather, Aref and Hossain were drawn into a sting operation with the assistance of a Pakistani immigrant who has served as an FBI informant. The informant went to work for the government several years ago after being arrested on charges he was helping other immigrants illegally obtain driver's licenses, according to court records.

Over the last year, FBI agents have crisscrossed the globe interviewing former acquaintances of Aref and Hossain in an effort to explore the men's backgrounds. The FBI also has used aerial and satellite surveillance to keep tabs on members of Aref's family, according to information obtained by the Times Union.

Sources close to the case said one of the overseas interviews took place in Jordan, where FBI agents interviewed Ali Mounnes Yaghi, a former Albany resident who helped found the Central Avenue mosque where Aref and Hossain both pray. Yaghi, 37, was ensnared by the FBI after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, and later deported, although there was never any evidence presented connecting him to terrorist activities.

Yaghi was an openly anti-American Jordanian immigrant who operated pizza businesses in the city for about 15 years. He was jailed as a federal detainee for almost a year as the FBI investigated whether he or any of his acquaintances had connections to terrorist cells or the Sept. 11 attacks. In an interview in November 2001, Aref told the Times Union that FBI agents had questioned him about Yaghi. "What I know, I told them," Aref said at the time.

The new charges against Aref, which are expected to be part of a superseding indictment, might provide federal prosecutors an opportunity to reopen a bond hearing in the case.

Last August, a federal judge jailed Aref and Hossain without bond after federal prosecutors laid out their case, including information found in a notebook in Iraq which they claimed may tie Aref to terrorist activities.

But the U.S. attorney's office later acknowledged that Army intelligence experts had apparently misinterpreted a document that prosecutors cited as a link between Aref and terrorists in Iraq. The document referred to Aref as "brother," not "commander," prosecutors said.

The case is a difficult one, because of the confluence of classified materials involved, the need to translate materials (and the well documented problems with lack of translators continues to plague the federal prosecution of the war on terror in general).

The two are currently charged with money laundering, providing material support to a foreign terrorist organization, importing firearms without a license and conspiracy charges.

It will be interesting to see what the additional charges will be. Tune in Tuesday and find out.