Virginia Man Accused In Terror Case Faces Two New Charges

WASHINGTON — Federal prosecutors have brought two new charges against a northern Virginia man accused of offering himself as a fighter to a Somali terror group, and have charged his wife with making a false statement in connection with the case.

Zachary A. Chesser, who was arrested this summer and allegedly told FBI agents he had twice tried to travel to Somalia to join a terror group, was charged Monday in federal court in Virginia with one count of communicating threats and another count of soliciting crimes of violence, both related to his previous case. The new charges carry a total of 15 years in prison.

Chesser, 20, was charged in July with material support to terrorists, which carries a potential 15-year sentence. Chesser acknowledged to FBI agents that he wanted to travel to Somalia to join the al-Qaida-linked terrorist group al-Shabab, according to an FBI affidavit filed this summer.

Before Chesser's arrest this summer, he was best known for posting harshly worded online warnings to the creators of the animated TV show "South Park" that they risked death for mocking the prophet Muhammad.Chesser's wife, Proscovia Kampire Nzabanita, was also charged Monday with one count of making a false statement, which carries a possible prison sentence of up to eight years. Her charge is related to her husband's case, but it was not clear how.

Chesser and Nzabanita, who is from Uganda, have an infant son whom Chesser tried to take with him on a flight from New York to Uganda this summer in order to appear less suspicious, the affidavit said. Chesser was denied entry to the flight and told he was on the no-fly list. He and his wife had previously tried to go to Somalia by way of Kenya, but that attempt also failed.

After his latest attempt to leave the country, Chesser apparently tried convincing FBI agents he had renounced his extremist views and said he would work for the FBI if the government helped him travel to Africa, according to the affidavit. Instead of accepting Chesser's offer, FBI agents arrested him.

Chesser has not yet been indicted in the case and the timeline for doing so has been extended twice. Lawyers often seek an extension of the indictment deadline to work out details of a plea bargain

An attorney for Chesser, Michael Nachmanoff, said in an e-mail that he could not comment further on the case. An attorney for Nzabanita, David Smith, did not immediately respond to e-mailed requests for comment.

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Closure Of The Detention Center Is Becomming More Difficult As Time Passes

President Barack Obama came into office pledging to close the Guantanamo Bay detention center in Cuba and to try terrorist suspects in U.S. courts rather than in military tribunals overseas. Yet, a year and a half into his presidency, Mr. Obama still has not succeeded in closing the facility, and the first trial of a terrorist suspect opened there this week before a military tribunal.

That trial is rightly being closely watched now as a bellwether of how the Obama administration plans to deal with the thicket of political, legal and ethical issues raised by the Guantanamo facility's role in the war on terror.

The case involves a 23-year-old Canadian citizen, Omar Khadr, who was captured by U.S. special forces in Afghanistan eight years ago, when he was only 15. Prosecutors allege that during a four-hour firefight around an al-Qaida compound, Mr. Khadr threw a grenade that killed an American soldier, an act to which he later confessed to military interrogators at Bagram Air Base outside Kabul.

Mr. Khadr's lawyers argued the confession should be thrown out because, they allege, their client was tortured and made the statements only after he had been threatened with death and rape. But that claim was rejected by the Army colonel overseeing the trial.

More troubling are the charges of United Nations officials and human rights activists, who say that because Mr. Khadr was only 15 when he was captured, he was essentially a "child soldier" who was forced to participate in armed conflict, not a willing enemy combatant. Instead of facing trial, they argue, he should be offered help in rebuilding his life.

Mr. Khadr's case has highlighted the divisions in the Obama administration over how to deal with terrorist suspects at Guantanamo. Ever since the president signed an executive order two days after taking office directing the closure of the facility within a year, U.S. Attorney General Eric H. Holder has insisted the detainees could be securely held and tried in the U.S. But state and local officials have consistently thrown up roadblocks to that plan, arguing terrorists on U.S. soil would endanger American citizens.

Even New York's Mayor Michael Bloomberg, known for his unflappable approach to problems, balked at the prospect of trying Sept. 11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Muhammad in his city after realizing the security arrangements required by such a proceeding would likely be prohibitively expensive.

Meanwhile, there are still about 50 detainees at Guantanamo who remain in a virtual legal limbo. The government admits it lacks enough evidence to convict them, but they are nevertheless considered too dangerous to release. So the administration seems resigned to holding them indefinitely without charges and without bringing them to trial — in effect, continuing the policy of indefinite detention that Mr. Obama so sharply criticized as a candidate.

In the long run, that's not a sustainable policy. All the reasons Mr. Holder has advanced for closing Guantanamo — that it's a propaganda tool for al-Qaida, that it alienates us from our allies in the fight against terrorism, that it undermines the basic principle of the rule of law in a democratic society — remain as cogent as ever. Political reality has forced Mr. Obama to backpedal on his promise to shut Guantanamo down quickly, but he shouldn't abandon it as a goal by the end of his first term in office. It's never going to be an easy decision to make, but it
will only get harder the longer he waits.
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German Authorities Close Mosque Where Sept. 11 Attackers Once Met

Christoph Ahlhaus, secretary of interior of the city of Hamburg, speaks during a press conference about the closing of the a mosque and the ban of Arab-German culuture organization "Taiba" in Hamburg, northern Germany, on Monday, Aug. 9, 2010. The Hamburg mosque formerly known as the al-Quds mosque and now named Taiba mosque that was once frequented by some of the Sept. 11 attackers was closed Monday by German authorities, who said they believed it is now a meeting-point for Islamic radicals again. The Taiba mosque was shut down and the cultural association that runs it was banned, a statement by Hamburg officials said. (AP Photo/dapd/Axel Heimken) (Axel Heimken, AP / August 9, 2010)

BERLIN (AP) — A Hamburg mosque once frequented by some of the Sept. 11 attackers was shut down Monday because German authorities believed the prayer house was again being used as a meeting point for Islamic radicals.

The Taiba mosque was closed and the cultural association that runs it was banned, Hamburg officials said in a statement.

"We have closed the mosque because it was a recruiting and meeting point for Islamic radicals who wanted to participate in so-called jihad or holy war," said Frank Reschreiter, a spokesman for Hamburg's state interior ministry.

He said that 20 police officers were searching the building and had confiscated material, including several computers. He was not aware of any arrests.

However, the homes of leading members of the cultural association were searched and the group's assets were confiscated, the Hamburg state government said in a statement.

Authorities have said the prayer house, until two years ago known as the al-Quds mosque, was a meeting and recruiting point years ago for some of the Sept. 11 attackers before they moved to the United States. Ringleader Mohamed Atta as well as Marwan al-Shehhi and Ziad Jarrah had studied in Hamburg and frequented al-Quds mosque.

Reschreiter said Monday marked the first time the mosque had been closed, and that it had been under observation by local intelligence officers for "quite a long time."

A 2009 report by the Hamburg branch of Germany's domestic intelligence agency also said the mosque had again become the "center of attraction for the jihad scene" in the northern port city.

"Latest developments have shown that the training courses, sermons and seminars by the association as well texts published on the group's home page not only violate the constitution but also radicalize listeners and readers," Monday's statement said.

By Monday morning, the group's home page on the Web had been taken down and it was not possible to reach any members directly.

It said some people who belonged to the mosque's cultural association and prayed there had traveled to a radical training camp in Uzbekistan.

A group of 11 militants that traveled to military training camps in Uzbekistan in March 2009 was formed at Taiba mosque, the report said.

Most of the group's members were either German converts, of Middle Eastern origin or from the Caucasus region.

"A very important factor for the radicalization of the group members was certainly their joint visits to the mosque," the intelligence report stated.

It appears that one man from the group joined the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan, a terrorist organization in Central Asia, the report said.

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