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© St. Petersburg Times, published October 22, 2002
BUFFALO, N.Y. -- A federal grand jury indicted six men Monday on charges of providing material support to a terrorist organization through their participation in an al-Qaida training camp.
The charges in the two-count indictment were the same as those laid out in a complaint filed when the men were arrested in September. At the time of the arrest, authorities described the men as a "sleeper cell," one awaiting orders to begin an attack.
The case involves six men from the Yemeni immigrant community in Lackawanna, N.Y. Federal authorities said they traveled to Pakistan in the spring of 2001 and later spent 10 days to six weeks at a terrorist training camp in Afghanistan.
The government, based on what it said were the statements of two of the men, said the men had received training in terrorism and had witnessed a speech by Osama bin Laden.
Five of those being held -- Shafal Mosed, 24; Yahya Goba, 25; Sahim Alwan, 29; Yasein Taher, 24; and Faysal Galab, 26 -- were arrested on Sept. 13. Another suspect, Mukhtar al-Bakri, was arrested earlier in Bahrain.
During bail hearings two weeks ago, federal authorities acknowledged that they had no evidence that the men were planning a specific and imminent attack. However, prosecutors said attendance at an al-Qaida training camp would constitute providing material support to a terrorist organization.
Magistrate Judge Kenneth Schroeder of U.S. District Court denied bail for five of the men. Bail of $600,000 was granted to Alwan, who told authorities that he had tried desperately to leave the camp.
If the men are convicted they could be sentenced to up to 15 years in prison.
JAKARTA, Indonesia -- Indonesia's two largest Muslim organizations, claiming nearly one-third of the population as members, urged Monday that the government crack down on Islamic militants suspected of violent activities.
Following the arrest of radical cleric Abu Bakar Bashir, the two main groups representing mainstream Muslims labeled Islamic extremists as a fringe minority.
Leaders from Nahdlatul Ulama and Muhammadiyah have rallied behind a pair of government decrees issued over the weekend that make it easier to detain people suspected of involvement in terrorist activities, such as the bombing of Bali's nightclub district on Oct. 12 that killed at least 183 people.
"We badly need such regulations to prevent terrorist attacks," said Hazim Muzadi, chairman of the 40-million-member Nahdlatul Ulama.
Investigators disclosed Monday that the main bomb in the Bali attack was made of ammonium nitrate, a compound stockpiled by Jemaah Islamiyah, the radical group of which Bashir is spiritual leader.
U.S. TOLL AT SEVEN: At least seven Americans are thought to have died in the nightclub bombing in Bali, but the remains of only two of them have been positively identified, a U.S consular official said Monday.