FBI REPORT...Ali Al-Marri Pleads Guilty to Provide Material Support to Al-Qaeda, Cyanide Gas Plot , Uses #10 Telephone Code and Secret Email Accounts In USA.
WASHINGTON—Ali Saleh Kahlah al-Marri, 43, a dual national of Saudi Arabia and Qatar, has pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to provide material support to al-Qaeda, Attorney General Eric Holder announced today.
Al-Marri entered his guilty plea at a hearing this afternoon before Judge Michael M. Mihm in U.S. District Court for the Central District of Illinois. In so doing, al-Marri admitted that he agreed with others to provide material support or resources to al-Qaeda in the form of personnel, including himself, to work under al-Qaeda’s direction and control with the intent to further the terrorist activity or terrorism objectives of al-Qaeda.
Judge Mihm scheduled sentencing for July 30, 2009. At sentencing, al-Marri faces up to 15 years imprisonment, a $250,000 fine, a life term of supervised release, and a $100 mandatory special assessment
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Ali al-Marri today admitted that he traveled to central Illinois as an al-Qaeda operative the day before the Sept.11, 2001, attacks to plan and prepare for future acts of terrorism within the United States,” said Jeffrey B. Lang, Acting U.S. Attorney for the Central District of Illinois.
These methods included prearranged codes and other techniques to protect communications, counter-surveillance techniques and the protection of information on computers.
Al-Marri was instructed by Khalid Sheikh Mohammed to enter the United States no later than Sept. 10, 2001, with an understanding that he was to remain in the United States for an undetermined length of time.
Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and al-Marri also set up a code through which they communicated. Al-Marri was instructed to conceal telephone numbers and other numbers to be used in e-mail addresses by using a numeric code (hereinafter, “10-code”). This code was used by al-Qaeda members, including al-Hawsawi and some of the Sept. 11th hijackers to conceal telephone numbers so as to avoid detection. Al-Marri was also provided contact information for several al-Qaeda associates which he stored in his personal PDA (Personal Digital Assistant) using the 10-code.
Through these emails, al-Marri was to keep Khalid Sheikh Mohammed apprised of his efforts to enter the United States, his contact information and his efforts to advance al Qaeda’s mission in the United States. Khalid Sheikh Mohammed was to use these emails to pass on instructions to al-Marri.
Details of the prearranged code were stored in an address book that was found in an al-Qaeda safe house in Pakistan. The book contained the email address to be used by al-Marri, which was listed as farwaa@yahoo.com , along with the identification number for al-Marri of “038.” From this coded information, al-Marri used the email address of farwaa72@hotmail.com.
The address book also listed Khalid Sheikh Mohammed’s email address as HOR70@hotmail.com .
From approximately June 2001 through August 2001, al-Marri communicated via email with Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, as directed and agreed upon, about his attempts to gain entry into the United States via a student visa from Bradley University in Peoria, Ill..
He applied online to Bradley University using the same email address he used to communicate with Khalid Sheikh Mohammed. To expedite his admission, he applied for a second bachelor’s degree instead of a master’s degree.
Once al-Marri learned he had been re-enrolled in Bradley University, he traveled to Dubai and met with al-Hawsawi, who provided him $10,000. Al-Marri then traveled to Pakistan to meet Khalid Sheikh Mohammed.
Al-Marri and his family arrived in the United States on Sept. 10, 2001. On Sept. 21, 2001, he traveled to another university in Illinois and created five new email accounts under different aliases. By this time, he knew al-Qaeda was responsible for the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks and understood why Khalid Sheikh Mohammed had directed him to be in the United States before that date.
From Sept. 23, 2001 through Nov. 4, 2001, al-Marri made several unsuccessful attempts to call al-Hawsawi and others he knew were al-Qaeda operatives. To conceal his communications efforts, he used prepaid calling cards at public pay phones in and around central and northern Illinois. Although the initial calls were made from payphones in the Peoria area, after al-Marri was interviewed by the FBI on Oct. 2, 2001, he expanded the calling area, sometimes traveling more 160 miles away to place calls.
Al-Marri agrees that the government would prove at trial that his research into cyanide compounds is consistent with research conducted by persons trained in camps teaching advanced poisons courses to terrorist organizations, including al Qaeda. He also agrees that the government would prove at trial that an almanac recovered in his residence was bookmarked at pages showing dams, waterways and tunnels in the United States, consistent with al Qaeda attack planning regarding the use of cyanide gases.
Finally, al-Marri used an “anonymizer” program on his laptop when surfing the internet. He agrees that the government would prove at trial that these types of programs are designed to allow individuals to anonymously search internet websites and programs, and that the program on his computer also erased all historical internet searches on a regular basis.
In December 2001, al-Marri was arrested on a material witness warrant issued in connection with the investigation of the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks.
Bill Warner
private investigator