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TIMOTHY JAMES McVEIGH AND BRIEF IN SUPPORT
MARCH 25, 1997
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PETITION FOR WRIT OF MANDAMUS OF PETITIONER-DEFENDANT, TIMOTHY JAMES McVEIGH AND BRIEF IN SUPPORT MARCH 25, 1997 |
VII. BEYOND ELOHIM CITY.
A. Suspect I. Posse Comitatus. and Iraq.
The defense believes that there is credible evidence that a conspiracy to
bomb federal property, very possibly the Murrah Building, is centered in
Elohim City and the persons described which are associated with Elohim City,
but that the technical expertise and possibly financial support came from a
foreign country, most likely Iraq, but possibly Iran or another state in the
Middle East. Dennis Mahon has admitted publicly to received money from Iraq,
approximately once a month. D.E. 2191 at 11. According to Mahon, the money
started arriving in 1991 after he began holding rallies protesting the
Persian Gulf War. Id.
Although the defense has no direct evidence linking Suspect I with Iraq,
there is evidence indicating an indirect connection between Suspect I and
Iraq through the militant Posse Comitatus group in Kansas. Suspect I made
two telephone calls to members of Posse Comitatus in Kansas: David Oliphant
and Buddy Snead (who also is married to a Filipina). Sources within the
Central Intelligence Agency have informed a defense source that two members
of the Posse Comitatus from Kansas traveled to New York City and made
contact with an Iraqi diplomat either immediately before the Persian Gulf
conflict with Iraq or immediately after. In addition, the defense has recent
information that someone made a telephone call from Suspect II residence to
a Member of the Order. D.E. 2482 at 22.
1. Posse Comitatus.
Posse Comitatus was originally formed by William Gale, who died in 1989 at
the age of 71 after having been convicted and sentenced to serve one year
for impersonating a federal law enforcement officer. D.E. 2482 at 22-23. Mr.
Gale died before his incarceration, apparently of natural causes. Id. Gale,
a retired Army colonel who led World War II guerrilla units in the
Philippines for General MacArthur, founded Posse Comitatus in 1969 with
Henry Beech. One of the principal leaders of Posse Comitatus is Jim
Wickstrom. Gordon Kahl was an activist in the Posse Comitatus who killed two
federal marshals in a shoot-out at his North Dakota farm and became a
fugitive. Kahl and Wickstrom were close friends. Id.
Kenneth S. Stern, in his book, A Force Upon the Plains (Simon & Schuster,
1995), wrote this of the Posse Comitatus in Kansas:
But the Posse did more than pass out literature.
Like many of today's militia groups, it practiced
for war. One of the leaders of the Christian Identity
(Elohim City is a branch of Christian Identity), the
Reverend William Potter Gale, joined with James
Wickstrom, leader of the Posse, to co-sponsor a
string of "counter insurgency seminars" in the early
1980s. In Kansas, the Attorney General's Office
reported that people were trained as "killer teams
and hand-to-hand combat techniques, the administration
of poisons, night combat patrol and murder by ambush."
At least one bomb making seminar was also held.
(Page 52) (Emphasis added.)
William Gale also authored a handbook on Guerilla warfare tactics for the
Posse Comitatus and stated that, "Yes, we are going to cleanse our land.
We're going to do it with a sword. And we're going to do it with violence."
James Corcoran, Bitter Harvest at 31 (Viking 1990). See D.E. 2482 at 23.
Three members of the Posse Comitatus met with the Iraqi Ambassador and one
is a resident of Kansas, living at Pratt, within an hour to two hours' drive
of Herington. James Wickstrom was in Kansas immediately before the bombing.
Of the three Posse members that met with Ambassador Mohammed Mashat of Iraq,
Ed Petruskie lives in Pratt, Kansas. Eugene Schroeder lives in Colorado and
the address of Alvin Jenkins is not known to the defense.
B. Saudi Report Concerning Iraq.
An official in the Saudi Arabian Intelligence Service reported[17] on April
19, 1995, and possibly earlier, that Iraq had hired seven Pakistani
mercenaries, all veterans of the Afghanistan War, to bomb targets in the
United States, one of which was the Alfred P. Murrah Building. D.E. 2191 at
3 (Exhibit "A").
------------------------------------------------
FOOTNOTES:
[17] Significant portions of this material are in the public record either
through media account or court proceedings.
-----------------------------------------------
A former Chief of Counterterrorism Operations for the Central Intelligence
Agency provided this information to the United States government and
described his source as "responsible for developing intelligence to help
prevent the Royal Family from becoming victims of a terrorist attack." Id.
Thus, this information is not only facially credible, it is highly credible.
The Director of Saudi Arabian Intelligence is the King's own son. There is
no reason for such a high ranking official in the Saudi Arabian intelligence
community to pass on such information if it is not true (or if there no
reasonable basis to believe it is not true). On the contrary, the
information has a strong indicia of reliability because of the extreme
embarrassment to Saudi Arabia if the information is in fact false or
unverifiable. It should be noted as well that the information provided to
the defense by the government indicates that there are possibly two sources
of this information. The FBI reports describe the source of the information
as a person who has provided accurate and reliable information in the past.
The information is credible and needs more investigation.
The information in these reports is not only facially credible, it is
specific. The Saudi Arabian official reported that the bombing of the Murrah
Building was sponsored by the Iraqi Special Services, who "contracted" the
mission to seven (7) former Afghani freedom fighters currently living in
Pakistan. The official also advised that the identity of the true sponsor of
the bombing was concealed from the Pakistanis and the Afghan mercenaries may
not have knowledge of Iraqi involvement or sponsorship. This is not unusual.
This is simply how things are done in the world of international terrorism,
intelligence, and covert operations. Despite repeated requests, the defense
has been provided the sum total of three pages of information concerning this
aspect of the case. See D.E. 2191 Exhibit "A."
The defense requested assistance from the United States State Department,
via letter to the Secretary of State, to assist in defense investigation and
travel to Saudi Arabia. Saudi Arabia has very stringent entry requirements
and the defense was unable to facilitate investigation there. The State
Department declined politely to assist the defense's travel to Saudi Arabia
and attempt to interview the Saudi Arabian official. However, the State
Department sent a list of law firms practicing in Saudi Arabia to the
defense; but of course the State Department had no difficulty in
facilitating entry into Saudi Arabia of American FBI agents traveling there
to investigate the death of Americans in Saudi Arabia.
C. FBI Special Agent Kevin Foust.
The report originally generated concerning the information provided by the
Saudi Arabian official came from a telephone call from a retired CIA
official to FBI Agent Kevin L. Foust on April 19, 1995--the very day of the
bombing. D.E. 2482 at 13. Agent Foust is no stranger to tracking down and
prosecuting international terrorists. In fact, according to information and
press reports in the public domain, Agent Foust appears to be one of the
FBI's leading investigators in charge of apprehending and prosecuting
terrorists. See D.E.
2482 Exhibit "D" (New York Times, Monday, October 7, 1996. The defense
believes the ex-CIA official called Foust and the CIA because he did credit
his informant and the informant's information, and that the government's
claim that ex-CIA official believed his informant was "untrustworthy" is
nothing more than ex-CIA official's efforts to protect his source. The
ex-CIA official it must be remembered is a long time intelligence operative.
Certainly, nothing in the documents furnished by the government report the
ex-CIA official as describing a Saudi official in that country's
intelligence services, charged with protecting the Saudi royal family, as
"untrustworthy."
Agent Foust, along with Agent Robert F. Clifford, were instrumental in
apprehending Omar Mohammed Ali Rezaq, a member of the notorious Abu Nidal
terrorist group, who, along with two other terrorists, hijacked an Egyptian
airliner in 1985. Separating the passengers by nationality, Rezaq pulled
aside the Americans and the Israelis, summoned five to the aircraft's open
front doorway and then fired point blank into the back of their heads.
Although three persons survived this brutality, two women were killed, one
an Israeli and one an American. D.E. 2482 at 14.
This incident involved Egypt Air Flight 648 on November 23, 1985, which was
a Boeing 737 carrying 98 passengers and crew members. Rezaq and two other
men seized the plane shortly after takeoff on a flight from Athens to Cairo.
In an ensuing gun battle, an Egyptian Sky Marshal on the plane shot and
killed the hijacking leader, and the pilot landed the plane in Malta.
Eventually, Egyptian commandos set out an explosive charge under the
airplane and rushed the plane. In the ensuing confrontation, the blast
rocked the rear of the plane and a fireball blew forward through the cabin.
Fifty-seven more passengers and one hijacker died in the raid from smoke
inhalation, explosive wounds or gun shots. Rezaq was in fact shot in the
chest as he fled the plane. D.E. 2482 at 14.
Rezaq was prosecuted in Malta which, in 1992, was considering whether to
free him, possibly as early as 1996. It was then that Agent Foust was
enlisted to build a case for prosecuting Rezaq in the United States. When
the Maltese government released Rezaq, Agent Foust and others tracked him
down through the Sudan, by way of Ghana Nigeria and Ethiopia finally
catching up with him and apprehending him in Nigeria.[18]
----------------------------------------
FOOTNOTES:
18 Agent Foust may also have been involved in the investigation of the
Achille Lauro case. Agent Foust is apparently knowledgeable concerning the
travel of terrorist Youssef Magied Molgi and has had contact with Italian
authorities concerning the case. See D.E. 2482 (Exhibit "E").
----------------------------------------
Clearly, the information concerning the possibility that Iraq enlisted
mercenaries to commit the bombing of the Murrah Building was relayed and
generated by people who should know. The phone call originally came to the
ex-CIA official, former Chief of Counterterrorism Operations for the Central
Intelligence Agency, who then notified Agent Foust. These men are dearly
familiar with such matters and their familiarity and background concerning
international terrorism should give weight to the information contained in
their reports and the fact that an official telephoned Foust and the CIA
immediately after the receiving the phone call from Saudi Arabia is strong
evidence he did not consider the Saudi General "untrustworthy".
2. State Sponsorship Precedent:
There is ample precedent supporting the assertion as alleged here that
terrorists sponsored by foreign states recruit American citizens for the
purpose of engaging in terrorists acts here in the United States. Such
countries include Iran and Libya.
Libyan efforts to recruit American citizens, particularly black Muslims, are
documented in the Federal Reporter in United States v McAnderson, 914 F.2d
934 (7th Cir. 1990). The McAnderson case involved the prosecution and
convictions of members of a Chicago street gang called the El Rukus,
convicted for conspiracy to commit terrorist acts throughout the United
States in exchange for payment from the Libyan government. Id. at 938. Upon
hearing that Louis Farrakhan had received $5 million from the Libyan
government, the leader of the El Rukns actively sought sponsorship from
Libya in exchange for an in kind amount of money. Members of the El Rukns
actually traveled to Libya to meet with military officials of the Libyan
government. Id. at 939.
The El Rukns sought to impress the Libyans and to demonstrate the depth of
their commitment by discussing specific terrorist acts, among them
destroying a government building, planting a bomb, blowing up an airplane,
and simply committing a wanton "killing here and a killing there" to get the
Libyans' attention. Eventually, the leader of the El Rukns decided that the
Libyans would only be impressed by the use of powerful explosives. Id. at
940. The El Rukns attempted to obtain hand-held rockets and rocket
launchers, LAW rockets, meaning "Light Anti-Tank Weapon" but were ultimately
intercepted by the FBI and
prosecuted.
Similarly, Iran, a well-known sponsor of international terrorists, is
believed to have recruited Americans to commit acts of terrorism here in the
United States. ABC News' 20/20 program has investigated this aspect of
Iranian support for terrorism here in the United States and in the first
quarter of last year aired a report concerning David Belfield, a/k/a Daoud
Salahuddin. See D.E. 2482 at 16. According to the ABC News story, Salahuddin
was born in North Carolina, but grew up in Bayshore, Long Island. Although
both of his parents were university graduates, Salahuddin believed that
because of his father's race, African/American, his father could not find
employment other than menial jobs, e.g., a security guard, bartender,
bouncer, etc. Id. at 17.
Salahuddin began studies at Howard University in 1969 where he was attracted
to the Islamic movement on campus. He adopted Islam as his faith and soon
was leading student protests and looking for an alternative to the rules of
white America.
Tom Jarriel, the 20/20 correspondent reporting this story, stated that U.S.
authorities now believed that other young American males have been recruited
by the Iranians. The Iranians utilized colleges and prisons to recruit young
black men, indoctrinated them into the Islamic faith, and convinced them
that, if necessary, they must use any means necessary, including deadly
force, for the sake of their religious or spiritual leader. Jarriel located
Salahuddin through the National Security News Service in Washington, D.C.,
and also through a retired detective located in Washington, D.C. They
eventually met Salahuddin in Istanbul, Turkey and Jarriel claimed that he
was in possession of police intelligence reports indicating that Iran has
recruited in the United States Americans for "home grown terrorism".
In 1980 while Americans were being held hostage in Iran, a former Iranian
Embassy official was the leading political opponent of the Ayatollah Khomani
in Washington, D.C. The official was popular politically and socially in the
United States and was often seen on American television supporting the
Washington agenda and advocating Khomani's overthrow. He was assassinated by
Salahuddin in 1980 after Salahuddin paid off a postman with $500 to allow
him to allow him to use a postal service jeep and gain access to the
official's home. Under the guise of having a package that the official must
sign for, Salahuddin shot the official three times in the chest After the
killing Salahuddin then fled to Iran, the country that had provided the
money and the orders for the assassination, and thereafter traveled around
the Middle East visiting various international hot spots and associating
with other terrorists. Salahuddin assumed that the order to commit the
assassination was issued by the Revolutionary Council in Iran.
These two examples are simply what counsel has been able to find in the
public record. Counsel, of course, does not have access to intelligence
information of this nature but believes that such recruitment by foreign
states which sponsor terrorism is not unusual. That is the working defense
hypothesis in this case. The Iranians seem to target young idealistic black
males and indoctrinate them to the teaching of Islam in order to "turn" them
against the U.S. government. These people are targeted because their
ideological compass is preset against the federal government. The same can
be said for neo-Nazis and/or white supremacists. Although the white
supremacist community are diametrically opposed to that of black Muslims, it
is a well known fact that both share a common hatred for the federal government.
In addition, the United States government has been aware for many years that
intelligence agents of foreign nation-states operate in the United States in
furtherance of foreign interests against United States citizens. These
concerns were brought before Congress in a still classified top secret staff
report prepared for the Senate Foreign Relations Subcommittee on
International Operations. See D.E. 2482 (Exhibit "I"). Portions of this top
secret report were made public by the press and published by the Washington
Post in 1979. The report analyzes the thorny foreign relations problem
concerning illegal actions on the part of foreign intelligence agents
against citizens in the United States. The government seeks a balance
between enforcing domestic laws, even against foreign intelligence agents,
and foreign policy concerns and recriminations against U.S. intelligence
agents in other countries.
Although the major story at this time this report was made public in 1979
involved the Iranian security organization SAVAK, whose agents had been
trained in surveillance and other espionage techniques by the CIA, and
SAVAK's plan in early 1977 to assassinate Nasser Afshar, an Iranian-born
U.S. citizen who angered SAVAK by taking out ads in U.S. newspapers
denouncing the Shah of Iran, other foreign powers operate in the United
States as well. D.E. 2482 at 19.
The subcommittee report, according to the Washington Post, examined cases of
harassment and surveillance as well as suspected assassination plots against
United States citizens by the intelligence agencies of Chile, Iran, the
Philippines, the Republic of China (Taiwan), the former Soviet Union, and
Yugoslavia. To choose just one example, the Iranian SAVAK, at the peak its
influence under the Shah, had at least 13 full-time case officers running a
network of informers and infiltration covering 30,000 Iranian students on
United States college campuses. The head of the SAVAK agents in the United
States operated under the cover of an attache at the Iranian Mission to the
United Nations, with the FBI, CIA, and State Department fully aware of these
activities.
Thus, the presence of foreign intelligence operatives in the United States
is a fact of international foreign policy and for such operatives to carry
out the policies of their foreign sponsors is not unusual.
D. Israelis Present at the Bomb Site.
The defense has obtained a memorandum of an interview with a high ranking
Israeli security figure. See D.E. 2482 (Exhibit "J"). This memorandum
confirms the following:
1. The source, who aids the Prime Minister on matters of counterterrorism,
confirmed that Israel gave a general warning to the United States shortly
before the bombing.
2. The United States approached Israeli "for consultations" and advice
concerning the bombing.
3. Although Israel suggested that the bombing was not "Islamically
motivated", Israel conceded that the bombing could have been implemented
"borrowed methods" or could have been inspired by Islamic actions.
Israel in fact sent two experts, accompanied by the security officer of the
Israeli Embassy in Washington, D.C., to the bomb site.
5. Israeli authorities were clearly not pleased that information had leaked
of Israeli experts involvement in evaluating the bomb site.
6. The source, since the bombing, met with his American counter-part, Phil
Wilcox[l9], on a regular basis to "compare notes."
----------------------------------
FOOTNOTES:
19 Wilcox is the U.S. State Department's coordinator for terrorism.
----------------------------------
It is clear in the defense's view that the Israeli government sent its
experts to evaluate the bomb site with full knowledge of the United States
government. It is also clear in the defense's view that the one page report
submitted by the government is not the complete report of the two Israeli
experts.
Counsel sought and obtained permission from the District Court to travel to
Israel to investigate the presence of Israeli officials at the bomb site. In
order to avoid drawing attention to counsel's visit, counsel entered Israel
by a tourist bus over the Allenby Bridge (the King Hussain Bridge) on the
West Bank via Damascus and Amman and, once in Israel, contacted very senior
Israeli political figures in the late Prime Minister Rabin's government and
others who confirmed the presence of Israeli bomb experts at the Oklahoma
City bomb site. The defense has learned that two weeks after the bombing,
two Israeli officials toured the bomb site in collaboration with the ATF.
D.E. 2191 at 9. Their conclusion, as outlined in their report to the United
States government, was that the Oklahoma City bomb bore the indisputable
earmark of Middle Eastern terrorists.[20] The two Israelis are Dorom
Bergerbest-Eliom and Yakov (or Yaskov) Yerushalmi.
----------------------------------------------
FOOTNOTES:
[20] The government failed to produce a copy of this report, or even
acknowledge the presence of Israelis in Oklahoma City--despite defense
requests for this information. See D.E. 2768 at 54; D.E. 1921 (Exhibit "C"
at 16). Instead, a Fort Worth television station interviewed Moshe Tal and
he stated that he was personally acquainted with the two Israelis who toured
the bomb site, that they had been in Oklahoma City and he had forwarded a
draft of a report to Cristi O'Connor of Channel 11. Not until this happened
did the government furnish a copy of the report to the defense, even though
the ATF had escorted the two men. The copy forwarded to the defense does not
mention a Middle East connection to the bombing. The defense believes that
the government has not forwarded a true copy of the entire report.
----------------------------------------------
Bergerbest-Eliom was, at the time, Chief of Security for the Israeli Embassy
in Washington, D.C. Yerushalmi was a civil engineer whom has been described
as a "consultant" to the Israeli government. The undersigned counsel has
confirmed that these two individuals were in fact sent by Israel and did in
fact tour the bomb site. The two Israelis prepared a report on their
observations. Counsel for Defendant McVeigh has not obtained a copy of this
report but is informed that the report suggests details of the explosive
device and that the bombing is a "signature" of Middle Eastern terrorists.
E. A Subject of the Investigation in the Philippines.
A subject of the FBI and Grand Jury investigation ("Suspect I") has been
linked personally by a Filipino terrorist to convicted international
terrorists Ramzi Yousef[21] and Abdul Hakim Murad[22] as well as Philippine
terrorist groups.
---------------------------------------------
FOOTNOTES:
[21] Ramzi Yousef was convicted in September in New York City of a
conspiracy to blow up 12 American jumbo jets in one day and he is currently
awaiting trial on an indictment charging him as the "mastermind" of the
World Trade Center bombing.
[22] Murad is a co-defendant of Yousef and told the FBI on April 19, 1995, a
Muslim group, the Liberation Army in the Philippines was responsible for the
bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building.
---------------------------------------------
The defense has learned of evidence suggesting a direct, personal link
between a suspect of the investigation and Ramzi Yousef, the "mastermind" of
the World Trade Center bombing according to a New York federal grand jury
indictment. D.E. 2482 at 1-2. The defense has recently learned, within the
last week, that three FBI agents are in the Philippines and have contacted
the Philippine National Police Intelligence. The FBI is investigating
Yousef's activities in the Philippines, including reports of terrorist
training in Batansas.
Defense counsel have interviewed in the Philippines a known terrorist in the
custody of the Philippine government. The purpose of the inquiry was to
determine his knowledge of foreign "mail-to-order bride" businesses[23] and
any links between that group and criminal activity in the Philippines and/or
terrorism.
-------------------------------------
FOOTNOTES:
[23] These businesses introduce American males to Filipinas who are
ostensibly "tour guides" for the visiting foreigners.
------------------------------------
During the course of this interview, (D.E. 2482, Exhibit "L"), the
individual relayed the following:
a. There were definite criminal connections to the mail-to-order bride
business in the Philippines;
b. He was able specifically to identify a photograph of an individual
engaged in smuggling activities;
c. He identified terrorist training as coming from the International Islamic
Academy at Peshawar Pakistan which has been funded in the past by Saudi
Arabia and other countries;
d. Targets of the Academy are "rich nations in Europe and Asia and the U.S.";
e. The contact between foreign terrorists and local Muslims was generally
initiated when local Muslim students came to know students from other
schools at various international academies;
f. He stated that Ramzi Yousef is also known as Abdul Basit and he
identified two other members of Ramzi Yousef's organization including Abdul
Hakim Murad, a codefendant of Ramzi Yousef, who told a security officer at
the detention center in New York that the Liberation Army was responsible
for the bombing in Oklahoma City (see D.E. 2482 Exhibit "M");
g. He specifically identified J.S., an individual that the defense has
learned knew or knows a subject of the investigation and has visited in the
subject's home in the Philippines. J.S. has been identified as an arms
dealer for the Moro Liberation Front, a terrorist organization in the
Philippines;
h. He was specifically interrogated as to what other bombing incidents after
New York were attributed to Muslim terrorists and he specifically cited the
bombing in Oklahoma City and the Saudi Arabia bombings;
I. He also told counsel he knows personally a subject of the investigation.
He met the subject and J.L sometime in 1992 or 1993 at the vicinity of Del
Monte labeling factory in Davao, Philippines. This was before the New York
City bombing. He (identified in the report as "No. 3") said that the subject
introduced himself as a "farmer." At that time, he said that his companions
were Abdul Basit (Ramzi Yousef), Wali Khan and Abdul Hakim Murad. They all
conferred with J.L and the subject." Yousef, Khan, and Murad were convicted
on September 5, 1996, in New York of conspiracy to blow up 12 U.S. jetliners
in a plot planned in the Philippines;
j. Because the person interviewed (No. 3) identified himself as knowing that
the subject of the investigation "introduced himself as a farmer," he was
asked to reduce his statement to writing and he did so. A copy of the
written statement is found at D.E. 2482 (Exhibit "N"). His written statement
identified three subjects discussed at the meeting where Ramzi Yousef and
the subject of the investigation among others were present. These subjects
were 1) bombing activities; 2) providing firearms and ammunition; and 3)
training in bomb making and handling;
k. He was also asked about the statement of Abdul Hakim Murad that the
Oklahoma bombing was the handy work of the Liberation Army. Mr. Murad was a
codefendant to Ramzi Yousef in the Philippine airline bombing case in
federal court in New York. (Ramzi Yousef was also charged by separate
indictment as the leader of the attack on the World Trade Center bombing
which involved a Ryder truck carrying a fertilizer bomb). Specifically, He
was asked "What was the identification of Liberation Army referred to by
Murad?" See D.E. 2482 (Exhibit "M"). He stated, according to the interview,
"It was the Palestine Liberation Army and/or the Islamic Jihad which Murad
was referring to. . . . This army is associated with Hamas and based in
Lebanon, he added." Id.
l. He also placed the meeting of the subject and J.L with Murad and Ramzi
Yousef in Davao and noted, "It was also the place where Muslims were taught
in bomb making." This statement tends to be corroborative of the
truthfulness of the Filipino terrorist because the defense has interviewed
two individuals who claimed that the subject asked them if they knew anyone
who made bombs, and one individual confirmed to a friend of his that the
subject had with him a book on making explosives. See D.E. 2482 (Exhibit "K"
at 10, 12);
m. There are a number of factors that indicate that the Filipino's statement
is truthful. First, he has no reason to lie as he is a cooperating witness
with the Philippine investigation, and there is sufficient documentation to
indicate that he was the co-founder and second-ranking member in Ramzi
Yousef's organization, Abu Sayyaf. See D.E. 2482 (Exhibits "S" and "M"). His
statement that Muslims were being trained in Pakistan at a charitable
organization through the international Islamic academy is consistent with
the intelligence information of the Saudi Arabian General that Iraq had
hired Pakistanis who might not know they were actually operating on behalf
of Iraq. The use of an intermediary, i.e. the International Islamic Academy,
and Islamic charity organizations would certainly disguise the role of Iraq.
See D.E. 2482 (Exhibit "U").
His statement that the United States is a target country is hardly
surprising. The dates that he claims to have seen the subject of the
investigation are consistent with the subject being in the Philippines (see
D.E. 2482 (Exhibit "V')), and his statement that the subject identified
himself as a "farmer" is likewise corroborative. Perhaps most important the
fact that he saw them near a place where Muslims make bombs is consistent
with statements by other witnesses who claim that the subject had a book on
bomb making with him and wanted to know how or where he could find someone
that knew how to make bombs. See D.E. 2482 at 25. In addition, the Filipino
identified correctly Yousef's real name as Abdul Basit. See D.E. 2482
(Exhibit "W").
Finally, the arrest of McVeigh and Nichols is not necessarily inconsistent
with this report. The district court has correctly summarized in the past
that the defense theory is that once McVeigh was arrested, the government
ceased pursuing an international connection because the arrest of McVeigh,
and later Nichols, would seem to preclude a foreign involvement. However,
material the defensne [sic] has submitted to the district court, indicates
that there is a relationship between neo-Nazis in this country and foreign
terrorist groups in Iraq and the Philippines. Moreover, the subject's
actions as articulated at D.E. 2482 (Exhibit "AA") are entirely consistent
with his seeking to find assistance in the Philippines on how to make a bomb.
The fact that Murad, while in custody, is a co-defendant and a close
associate of the alleged ringleader of the bombing on the World Trade Center
(and not incidently [sic] also the federal building in Manhattan) were a
Ryder truck was used to carry a fertilizer bomb is also highly relevant. The
materials also indicate that terrorist groups in the Philippines have been
trained in Pakistan, and that some of these same Pakistanis fought in
Afghanistan. See D.E. 2482 (Exhibit "X").
The revelations by the New York Times that the FBI was pulling out of the
investigation in Saudi Arabia because of lack of cooperation by the Saudi
government further tends to support this intelligence information. See D.E.
2482 (Exhibit "Y"); see also Exhibit "Z" (discussing the anti-American
climate in Saudi Arabia). The Saudis would be greatly embarrassed if it
should develop that either directly or indirectly they have been financing a
training area of terrorists in Pakistan, which may have led to deaths of
Americans, or they may simply fear that they will be upsetting Iran or Iraq
if the finger of suspicion of the investigation should point specifically to
those two governments. The important point is these reports from the
Philippines inferentially support the Saudi intelligence report.
The arrest warrant of Abraham Ahmad as a material witness makes reference to
three Middle Eastern men running from the Murrah building shortly after the
explosion. See D.E. 2482 (Exhibit "EE" at 1). Several eye witnesses,
including the next to last survivor pulled from the wreckage, have
identified an "olive complected" dark haired man (variously described as
Middle Eastern, Indian, Hawaiian) as being the driver and/or occupant of a
Ryder truck shortly before the explosion and seen outside the Murrah
Building. The FBI authorized an All Points Bulletin ("APB"), which was
broadcast on police radio, seeking information about a full-size brown
pickup truck occupied by Middle Eastern males. See D.E. 2406 (Exhibit "C").
The subject of the investigation was present in the Philippines in November,
1994 until January, 1995. During this same period of time, Ramzi Yousef was
also in the Philippines. See D.E. 2763 at 22. Yousef and two co-defendants,
Abdul Hakim Murad and Wali Khan Amin Shah, were convicted on September 5,
1996 in New York City with conspiring to blow up eleven (11) United States
jetliners. Yousef is generally regarded as the mastermind behind the World
Trade Center bombing and the government plans to try him for that crime. Id.
at 15.
Vince Cannistraro, the former Chief of Counterterrorism for the CIA (D.E.
2406 (Exhibit "B")), authored an article which appeared in The Boston Globe
in April of 1995, suggesting the probability of foreign terrorist
involvement, particularly Iraq, in the Oklahoma City bombing, while
observing its similarity to the World Trade Center bombing. Cannistraro
wrote, "Yousef had carefully prepared his escape, leaving under another name
from New York the evening of the bombing. He abandoned his comrades to the
police. If the Oklahoma bombing follows the same pattern, the foreign
sponsors will have covered their trail carefully, leaving only the support
cells of local adherents to face the prosecutor." D.E. 2406 at 3.
Ramzi Yousef was a Pakistani terrorist based in the Philippines. D.E. 2763
at 15-16. The Philippines is also the base camp for the Abu Sayyaf Group
(ASG). Id. Abu Sayyaf consists of between 500 and 600 fighters and is funded
by radical Middle Eastern Muslims. D.E. 2191 at 21; see general) D.E. 2763.
ASG was formed in 1991 and is based on the Philippine island of Mindanao,
which is a largely Muslim region which has been for all intents and purposes
at war with the Philippines for regional autonomy. Abu Sayyaf has been
linked to an international terrorist cell which is alleged to have plotted
the assassination attempt on Pope John Paul II when he visited the
Philippines in January, 1995. Ramzi Yousef made contact with the Abu Sayyaf
Group in the Philippines through his "Afghan connections." Id.
It has been reported reliably by Jane's Intelligence Review, a highly
respected source for intelligence information, that "by all accounts,
[Yousef] had ambitious plans to intensify his own Jihad against the U.S.A."
In addition to the plot to assassinate the Pope, Yousef and his team,
together with Abu Sayyaf support, were planning to attack the U.S. Embassy
and other facilities throughout Asia. The bombing of Philippine Airlines
Flight 434 on December 11, 1994 was simply a "test run" to smuggle a bomb
through the Manila Airport. Id.
Abu Sayyaf's funding includes support from Muslim billionaires in the
Persian Gulf including Osama bin Laden. Id.; see also D.E. 2763 at 17. Arab
intelligence sources report that Osama bin Laden's funding of Islamic
terrorist groups is "considerable" and is conducted through several
companies he owns in Africa, Europe and the Arab world. During the Afghan
War, bin Laden was a "driving force" behind recruiting young Muslim zealots
to join the Mujhedeen and he operated out of the northwest frontier province
of Pakistan along the Afghanistan border. Bin Laden became a close associate
of Sheikh Omar Abdullah Rahman, the blind Egyptian cleric who has been tried
in New York and whom U.S. authorities believe is a kingpin in an
international Islamic terrorist network. Id.
In February, 1995, United States authority named bin Laden and his Saudi
brother-in-law, Mohammed Jamal Khalifa, among 172 unindicted co-conspirators
with the eleven (11) Muslims charged for the World Trade Center bombing and
the associated plot to blow up other New York landmarks. At the time Khalifa
was linked to the World Trade Center bombing, he was already in prison in
San Francisco because his visa was revoked on the grounds that he had failed
to disclose when he obtained it in Jiddah, Saudi Arabia and that he was
wanted in Jordan for a series of bombings carried out in Amman in 1993.
Incredibly, Khalifa's presence in California went unnoticed until Abu Sayyaf
attacked the Christian town of Ipil in April, 1995. Id. Philippine
intelligence documents indicate that Khalifa, who had at one time ran a
Muslim religious center in the Philippines, was linked to Islamic
organizations in a number of countries, including Iraq and Jordan. Khalifa
was deported to Jordan and was cleared of all charges. Id. at 22.
While the brother-in-law of one of the financier's of Abu Sayyaf was being
deported by the Americans after spending time in solitary confinement in a
prison in San Francisco, one of Ramzi Yousef's co-defendants, Abdullah Hakim
Murad, then on trial in New York City for conspiracy to blow up American
airliners, readily admitted to a prison guard that he was a member of the
Liberation Army, and that the Liberation Army was responsible for the
bombing of the Murrah Building in Oklahoma City. Id. at 22-23.
The prison guard had asked Hakim Murad what he thought about the bombing
when it was reported on the radio, and, according to a FBI 302, Murad
responded to the guard's question by stating that the Liberation Army was
responsible for the bombing and, a short time later, confirmed in writing
that the Liberation Army was responsible for the bombing of the Murrah
Building in Oklahoma City. Id.
The manager of the Great Western Inn at Grandview Plaza, Kansas, told the
FBI that he observed the composite sketches of John Doe #1 and #2 when they
were released, and stated that one of the sketches looked like a man who had
checked into the motel on Monday, April 17, 1995 or Tuesday, April 18, 1995,
the same time Tim McVeigh was staying at the Dreamland Motel. According to
Mistry, the man was driving a Ryder rental truck which he parked in front of
the motel and the man reminded Mistry of a "Moslem" and had a Middle Eastern
accent. Mistry advised the FBI that the composite sketch of John Doe #2
"looked just like the man he described as having checked into the Great
Western Inn on April 17, 1995 or April 18, 1995." D.E. 2191 at 23.
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PETITION FOR WRIT OF MANDAMUS OF PETITIONER-DEFENDANT, TIMOTHY JAMES McVEIGH AND BRIEF IN SUPPORT MARCH 25, 1997 |