<http://online.wsj.com/article_print/0,,SB109139743763779889,00.html> The Wall Street Journal August 2, 2004 WORLD NEWS Prosecutors See Potential Break In Terrorism-Financing Probe By GLENN R. SIMPSON Staff Reporter of THE WALL STREET JOURNAL August 2, 2004; Page A4 WASHINGTON -- Federal prosecutors investigating terrorism financing said they hope to unravel the murky finances of some major fundamentalist groups, after winning cooperation from a key fund-raiser for Islamic causes in the U.S., Europe and the Middle East. Lawyers for the fund-raiser -- prominent Muslim activist Abdurahman Alamoudi -- said the Justice Department's belief that he has information on Islamist terror networks is a fantasy. Mr. Alamoudi on Friday pleaded guilty to tax and immigration fraud and violating terrorism sanctions on Libya, in a bargain with prosecutors. (See related article1.) "There is not a shred of evidence" linking Mr. Alamoudi to Islamist terror groups, his lawyer Stanley Cohen told reporters outside the courthouse in Alexandria, Va., where Mr. Alamoudi confessed. While Mr. Alamoudi admits to involvement in a plot to kill the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia, "none of that involves Hamas, Al Qaeda or jihad," Mr. Cohen said. The government takes a very different view. "Alamoudi was a major player in the financial support of terrorism," said Paul McNulty, U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia. "Mr. Alamoudi's decision to cooperate with the government will help us gain additional insight into terrorist activities," added Gary Bald, assistant director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation's counterterrorism division. The contradictory statements suggest the government's "cooperation agreement" with Mr. Alamoudi is likely to be severely tested in coming weeks and months. While Mr. Alamoudi and his lawyer Mr. Cohen have seemed almost eager to give up his Libyan financial backers including Col. Muammar Gadhafi, the Libyan leader, it appears the Libyans aren't who the government really wants. The charges to which Mr. Alamoudi confessed do little to help build a case against Libya, which is in a diplomatic rapprochement with the U.S. after agreeing several months ago to give up its weapons of mass destruction. On the other hand, prosecutors do see Mr. Alamoudi as a central figure in their sprawling, multipronged investigation into fundamentalist fund-raising in Northern Virginia. Mr. Alamoudi, who was born in Eritrea, has little ideological loyalty to the Libyan regime, whose origins are secular, socialist and nationalist. His background is deeply Islamist and rooted in the Muslim Brotherhood, a militant fundamentalist society founded in Egypt that seeks world government under the Quran whose leaders often provide ideological justification for terrorism. Mr. Cohen is well known to federal prosecutors for his pro-Palestinian rhetoric and a client list that includes many Hamas and Al Qaeda figures. Still, Mr. Cohen doesn't deny the plain language of Mr. Alamoudi's deal. "He will provide honest and complete and candid cooperation," he promised. In several court filings, prosecutors have disclosed numerous links between Mr. Alamoudi and alleged terrorists and their supporters, including top Hamas leaders and some alleged supporters of al Qaeda. In addition, Mr. Alamoudi admitted in court that two prominent Saudi dissidents in London were key figures in the plot to kill Saudi Crown Prince Abdullah that was broken up last fall. The government has a good deal of leverage to get what it wants. Mr. Alamoudi won't be sentenced until Oct. 15, and while he faces as many as 23 years in prison, a good word from prosecutors could net him far less. Moreover, since he pleaded guilty to an immigration charge, his wife's status as a U.S. citizen is at the mercy of the government. -- ----------------- R. A. Hettinga <mailto: rah@ibuc.com> The Internet Bearer Underwriting Corporation <http://www.ibuc.com/> 44 Farquhar Street, Boston, MA 02131 USA "... however it may deserve respect for its usefulness and antiquity, [predicting the end of the world] has not been found agreeable to experience." -- Edward Gibbon, 'Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire'