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Copyright 2003 The New York Times Company


The New York Times

March 9,2003, Sunday, Late Edition - Final

SECTION: Section 1; Page 29; Column 2; Metropolitan Desk; Second Front

LENGTH: 1594 words

HEADLINE: Brooklyn Mosque Becomes Terror Icon, but Federal Case Is Unclear

BYLINE: By ANDY NEWMAN with DARYL KHAN

BODY:
Al Farooq Mosque in Brooklyn, a six-story converted factory trimmed in orange and gold, has been many things to
many people during its life: a mystery, a noisy neighbor, a source of suspicion, and, for thousands of Muslims who live
or work along Atlantic Avenue, the main street of Arab Brooklyn, a place of worship.
Last week, the mosque became, not for the first time, a symbol of terror. A federal affidavit unsealed on Tuesday
describes links between the mosque, several Brooklyn businessmen and a cleric in Yemen who, prosecutors say, claims
to have funneled more than $20 million to Al Qaeda. "They did their fund-raising right here in our own backyard,"
Police Commissioner Raymond W. Kelly said.
But while Al Farooq has been the spiritual home of some infamous men — including, briefly, the blind Egyptian
sheik eventually convicted in the 1993 World Trade Center bombing and the man who killed Rabbi Meir Kahane in
1990 — the role of the mosque and its members in supporting more recent terrorist activity remains unclear.
The affidavit filed by federal prosecutors in Brooklyn last week against the cleric, Sheik Muhammad Ali Hasan Al-
Moayad, details the government's contention that he provided support to terrorists, but contains little evidence that the
mosque itself played a significant role.
The 41-page document does not mention any particular amount of money flowing through the mosque, saying only
that an associate of the sheik's spoke there in 1999 hoping to raise $27,000 in the name of needy families.
Sheik Moayad, according to the affidavit, told a government informant that he had received money for the jihad
that was collected at the mosque. A law enforcement official involved in the case said that actions detailed in the
affidavit support the sheik's claim. But the official said it was not clear whether people who donated money knew it
would go to terrorists. Several mosque members said last week that they had heard of Sheik Moayad, but only as
someone who worked with the poor.
According to the affidavit, in the months before 9/11, two unnamed Brooklyn supporters of Sheik Moayad moved
about $500,000 into or out of their bank accounts in small sums, a technique that the government said terror supporters
use to skirt the federal requirement that transactions of more than $10,000 be reported.
But the affidavit does not say that any of that money reached the sheik. And many local Middle Eastern immigrants
said that until 9/11 and the scrutiny that followed, it was common to use unlicensed money-senders, who employ similar
tricks and are faster and cheaper than Western Union, for routine overseas transfers to family and friends.
Al Farooq's imam, Abderahman Mohamed, said in an interview on Friday that one of the mosque's roles in the
community is to serve as a go-between for donors and charities. Giving to charity is one of the pillars of Islam. Since he
became its imam 15 months ago, Mr. Mohamed said, the mosque has never knowingly steered donations to terrorists,
though he added, "It would be hard for a mosque like us to control a large organization orjce the money leaves us."

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