Federal probe eyes No. Brunswick man

Federal probe eyes No. Brunswick man

Suspected of creating

Web site that solicited

support for the Taliban

BY JENNIFERKOHLHEPP

Staff Writer

The federal Department of Homeland Security is investigating a North Brunswick man for allegedly creating a Web site to solicit funds for the Taliban, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office in Connecticut released a 37-page affidavit on Friday that implicates Bishop Boulevard resident Mazen Mokhtar in assisting Babar Ahmad, a British national residing in England, in operating a Web site that provided support to the Taliban.

"It is evident that Ahmad worked in concert with this individual [Mokhtar] to maintain the continued operation of the Azzam sites, through the use of mirror sites, when the administrators of Azzam sites shut the Azzam.com site down after 9/11," Craig Browning, a special agent and computer investigative specialist with the Department of Homeland Security, said in the affidavit.

As of yesterday, officials said Mokhtar had not been arrested. Phone messages left at Mokhtar’s home were not returned.

According to the affidavit, a search of Mokhtar’s home "in the recent past" resulted in the recovery of contact numbers for Azzam Publications in hard copy and electronic form.

The affidavit alleges Ahmad operated the Azzam Publications Web site, www.azzam.com, from 1997 to 2001 through Internet Service Providers in Las Vegas, Nev., and Trumbell, Conn.

Following Sept. 11, 2001, Browning alleges Ahmad, Mokhtar and others maintained mirror sites, which he describes as "Web sites identical to the original site, but which are often operated on a different computer system," for Azzam Publications.

The mirror sites, www.qoqaz.net and www.waaqiah.com, reportedly routed persons trying to access www.aazzam.com according to Browning.

As of yesterday, the Web sites remained inaccessible.

"The investigation has revealed that from in or about 1997 to at least in or about 2003, Ahmad assisted the Taliban and Chechen mujahideen [described in the affidavit as "militant Islamic guerrilla fighters"] via Web sites and e-mail accounts that Ahmad maintained and used through Azzam Publications," Browning said in the affidavit.

In the affidavit, Browning alleges Azzam Publications solicited contributions, funds, equipment and assistance to the two groups.

He also alleges the publications "recruited individuals to train, travel to Jihad lands using visas obtained by supplying false information to government officials, and join in Jihad, including fighting for the Taliban and assisting Chechen mujahideen leaders."

Although according to the affidavit Ahmad registered the domain names, paid for the use and hosting of the sites, and maintained the sites including processing customer orders, accounts and requests, Browning alleges Ahmad conspired with Mokhtar and other individuals in the United States to use Azzam Publications to solicit material support for terrorists.

"The mirror sites were used to solicit cash contributions to support the Taliban and Chechen mujahideen military and violent operations between 1999 and 2002," Browning said in the affidavit.

Browning alleges Mokhtar served as a United States-based administrator for www.qoqaz.net, a mirror site of Azzam.com, as well as for Azzam Publications sites, generally in late 2001.

According to the affidavit, Mokhtar is listed in administrative documents recovered from the Azzam Publications administrative e-mail accounts as their U.S. mirror-site contact.

Browning alleges Mokhtar "posted the same solicitation and instruction on another United States-based Web site, www.minna.com, which he also operated." The Web site reportedly urged individuals to directly participate in the Jihad infrastructure, according to the affidavit.

Browning said the Web sites posted Osama bin Laden’s 1996 "Declaration of War Against the Americans Occupying the Land of the Two Holy Places." According to the affidavit, the Web sites also posted the following: "The Jihad does not only consist of one person firing a gun. It consists of a large and complex structure that includes the one who organizes weapons and ammunition, the one who cooks food, the one who cleans toilets, the one who looks after the sick and injured, the one who oversees the raising of money, the one sitting in a Western country who locates and purchases highly sophisticated equipment."

Ahmad, a British computer specialist, was reportedly arrested in England on a U.S. extradition warrant last week. The British subject of Pakistani descent faces four counts of terrorism, including unlawfully and willfully combining, conspiring, confederating and agreeing with others to provide material support and resources to persons, groups or organizations in conspiring to kill, maim or damage property in a foreign country, according to the affidavit.

Ahmad’s attorney, appearing in a British court Friday, denied Ahmad was involved in terrorism, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.