Truck Driver Pleads Guilty To Supporting Al-Qaeda Terrorists

The Justice Department announced Thursday that a U.S. truck driver has pleaded guilty to charges of supporting al-Qaeda terrorist projects in the United States.

Iyman Faris, also known as Mohammed Rauf, a Kashmir native who entered the United States in 1994 and became a U.S. citizen in 1999, pleaded guilty on May 1 to "conspiracy to provide material support to the al-Qaeda organization, as well as providing material support to that terrorist group," announced Attorney General John Ashcroft June 19.

In remarks prepared for delivery at a Washington news conference, Ashcroft said that Faris had traveled to Pakistan and Afghanistan, met with Osama Bin Laden and helped al-Qaeda by doing research and scouting U.S. sites intended to be targets of al-Qaeda's future acts of terrorism.

For several years Faris worked as an independent truck driver from his home base of Columbus, Ohio, and traveled across the country, "making deliveries to airports and businesses without raising any suspicions," the attorney general said.

U.S. intelligence, law enforcement and homeland security communities were able to piece together Faris' communications to al-Qaeda through his use of cell phones and the Internet. "This case sends a clear message that the United States will continue to be vigilant against all threats, whether they come from overseas or here at home," Ashcroft said.

Ashcroft explained, "Faris led a secret, double life. He traveled to Pakistan and Afghanistan, covertly met with Osama Bin Laden, and joined Al Qaeda's jihad against America.

"From late 2000 to March of this year, Faris worked in concert with our Al Qaeda enemies to plot potential attacks against America and its citizens here in his adopted homeland.

"This afternoon, I am announcing that Judge Leonie Brinkema, of the United States District Court in the Eastern District of Virginia, has unsealed the guilty plea of Iyman Faris, a/k/a Mohammed Rauf.

"On May 1st, Faris pled guilty to two charges: conspiracy to provide material support to the Al Qaeda organization, as well as providing material support to that terrorist group."

Here's What Faris Admitted:

• In late 2000, meeting with Osama Bin Laden and other senior Al Qaeda operatives;
• In late 2000 or early 2001, providing Al Qaeda with research on ultralight planes, which Al Qaeda intended to use in its terrorism;
• In early 2001, providing Al Qaeda with material support, including dealings involving cash, thousands of sleeping bags, plane tickets, and cell phones; and
• Between April 2002 and March 2003, scouting sites for acts of terrorism in the United States, including a bridge in New York and train tracks.

Faris was born in Kashmir on June 4, 1969. He entered the United States in May 1994 and became a United States citizen in December 1999. For several years he has worked as an independent truck driver from his home base of Columbus (OH).

The "Ultralight Connection"

According to the plea documents, in late 2000, Faris traveled to Pakistan and joined with a long-time friend and supporter of Al Qaeda to travel to Afghanistan. There, at an Al Qaeda training camp, Faris met with Osama Bin Laden. During his stay in the camp, Faris was asked by one of Bin Laden's lieutenants about obtaining information about "ultralight" airplanes. Faris agreed to do so.

Approximately two months later, back in Pakistan, Faris admits that he went to a Karachi Internet café and performed an online search. He downloaded information about ultralight aircraft and provided it to an Al Qaeda representative.

In 2002, Faris outlined to an Al Qaeda terrorist leader his job as a truck driver, detailing his routes and deliveries for airport cargo planes. The senior Al Qaeda operative was interested in the cargo planes, according to Faris, because they would hold "more weight and more fuel."

Terrorists' Conclusions

Faris's "ultralight connection" apparently proved a dead end. The terrorists, after hearing what he had learned, seemed to turn him in another direction. The AG detailed more activities, aimed at destructin of bridges, for example, that his handlers thought to be more-feasible destructive activities. Fortunately, Faris was nabbed this Spring.

EAA Responds.

Because the uneducated mass media will doublessly seize upon this one small part of Ashcroft's report, and because so many in those media are still paranoid about anything that flies, the "U/L connection" will, no doubt, get a lot of play. Ultralighters in particular, and pilots of small aircraft in general, will again be looked at suspiciously. The EAA's Executive Vice President, Bob Warner (right), has anticipated that reaction, and has issued the following statement. His points are unassailable:

"We [EAA] are pleased to see the efforts of our nation's security agencies continue to break down those organizations bent on doing America harm. The ironic point in the news reports, however, is that the convicted operative likely discovered during his research that ultralight aircraft are rather poor terrorist tools. Limitations on weight, speed and operating parameters make ultralights bad choices -- either as a weapon or as an escape vehicle."

FMI: State Dept Report