U.S. Claims Arab-Americans Planned Attack on Incirlik AFB
Bust in Detroit reveals crude sketches of Incirlik base
The Turkish Times - The Washington Post published a story on September 15, 2002 detailing the charges leveled against 4 Arab-Americans arrested in Detroit and accused of operating a terror cell. The indictment against the four "alleges that the men, two of whom have been in custody since the Sept. 17 raid, operated an underground support unit to collect guns and intelligence, recruit members and produce false documents for "the purpose of engaging in violent attacks against persons and buildings within the territory of Jordan, Turkey and the United States."

The indictment contends that a videotape of U.S. landmarks seized on Sept. 17 belonged to the men, as did a day planner found in the apartment that contained crude sketches of a U.S. air base in Incirlik, Turkey.

Sources have said that then-Defense Secretary William S. Cohen canceled a 2000 trip to the air base, in part because of concerns about an attack on him.

The indictment, which calls the detainees a "sleeper operational combat cell," describes some of the most extensive efforts to date in the United States to aid the al Qaeda network. The 24-page Detroit indictment alleges that Farouk Ali-Haimoud, 23, Ahmed Hannan, 35, Karim Koubriti, 25, and Abdella belonged to Salafiyya and al-Takfir Wal Hijira, religious movements that include radical adherents who are part of "the greater global jihadist organization known as al Qaeda." All three men have pleaded not guilty.

The indictment relies heavily on an informant, Youssef Hmimssa, a former roommate of the defendants and a suspected con artist who faces criminal charges in Chicago and Detroit.

For the full story, visit www.washingtonpost.com