More on the terrorist cell in Seattle investigation...

from the Seattle Times article above...

Abbassi, 22, a native of Uganda and a British citizen, continues to be detained at Camp X-Ray. His detention has prompted numerous protests in the United Kingdom.

The Seattle man he allegedly met in London — not Osman — has been described by intelligence sources as a close associate of Abu Hamza. The Seattle man, who grew up in Seattle and attended Ingraham High School, helped set up the London mosque's Web site, titled the Supporters of Shariah, which encourages jihad against the West. (The Times does not routinely name criminal suspects until they are charged.)

Hmmm - the suspect mentioned above makes a public statement in 7/16 Seattle Times....

Suspect calls FBI terrorism probe 'utterly ridiculous'

By David Heath, Susan Kelleher and Mike Carter
Seattle Times staff reporters

One of the Seattle men suspected by the FBI of supporting Islamic terrorism calls the federal investigation "horrible and utterly ridiculous."
In a press release issued by a family friend yesterday, Mustafa Ujaama said neither he nor his brother, James Earnest Ujaama, is a terrorist.

The Ujaamas — formerly known as Jon Thompson and James Earnest Thompson — are among the Seattle Muslims being investigated by the FBI and a federal grand jury in Seattle. Neither man had been named in stories on the investigation in The Seattle Times, which does not routinely name criminal suspects until they are charged.

But the family friend — Charlie James, a community activist and former free-lance columnist for The Times — said he and Mustafa Ujaama felt they needed to make a public statement.

The short press release, issued yesterday morning, announced a news conference to be held on the steps of the federal courthouse in downtown Seattle later in the day. That event was canceled, Charlie James said, after Mustafa talked with a lawyer.

Neither of the Ujaamas — Mustafa, who lives in Seattle, nor James, whose mother says he lives in London — was available for comment last night. Charlie James, who said he had known both men since they were boys, said repeatedly in an interview, "These are not terrorists."

The FBI is looking at the activities of the Ujaamas and other men in connection with a now-defunct Central Seattle mosque, Dar-us-Salaam. Members of the mosque are suspected of conspiring to support Islamic terrorism, including helping scout a property in southern Oregon as a possible terrorist training camp.

James Ujaama, who also goes by his middle name Earnest, is suspected of working for a British company called Sakina Security Services, whose Web site advertised U.S.-based paramilitary training it called the "Ultimate Jihad Challenge." The British government shut down the Web site shortly after Sept. 11 and arrested its founder, who is now on trial in London on charges of advertising firearms training for use in terrorism.

Federal sources say that James Ujaama, whom they say also has used the name Ahmed Bilal, took laptop computers to the Taliban in Afghanistan before Sept. 11.

The FBI suspects that members of the Seattle mosque have ties to Abu Hamza al-Masri, a militant cleric in London who supports Osama bin Laden and is suspected of recruiting for al-Qaida. Abu Hamza is wanted in Yemen on terrorism charges.

Authorities believe that James Ujaama has worked on Abu Hamza's Web site.

In yesterday's press release, Mustafa Ujaama, 34, confirms that his brother, 36, had traveled to London and to the Middle East but says it is unfair to call either man a terrorist "because of where we have prayed."

The release, on the letterhead of a group calling itself the Organization of African American Unity, says Mustafa Ujaama "wants to set the record straight."

The FBI and the U.S. Attorney's Office in Seattle would not comment on the press release.

Only one man from the Seattle mosque is in custody. A former cleric at the mosque, Semi Osman, a 32-year-old British citizen, is being held without bail on immigration and weapons charges. The government alleges that his alleged attempt to become a naturalized citizen through a sham marriage "was committed to facilitate an act of international terrorism."

Osman lived on a ranch near remote Bly, Ore., late in 1999. During that period, other members of the Seattle mosque, including James Ujaama, and two men from Abu Hamza's London mosque visited the ranch, sources say.

James Ujaama is the oldest of three boys raised as Catholics in the Central Area. He attended Ingraham High School as a freshman. After his parents divorced, he moved to San Diego with his father.

The men's mother, Peggy Thompson of Seattle, said she is "very angry" about the allegations. Their aunt, Carola Webb of Colorado, said, "They were raised with strong family morals and values," and insisted they were not Muslim extremists.

Webb said she had seen her nephew James in November at his grandmother's birthday party in Colorado. He did not discuss politics or religion but instead reminisced about growing up and fishing with his grandfather.

The Ujaamas' uncle, Billy Frazier, said James was "very ambitious" and used to give motivational speeches to disadvantaged youths. He also sold T-shirts at local festivals and authored a book on how to be an entrepreneur. James converted to Islam in the mid-1990s, Frazier said.

He then became a leader at the Dar-us-Salaam mosque at 2201 E. Union. Authorities say that in 1997, he became a follower of Abu Hamza and went to London to pray at his Finsbury Park mosque, a center of radical Islamic teachings in Europe.

Friends said James Ujaama recruited men from Seattle to go to London. In 1999, authorities say, he traveled to Afghanistan.

Charlie James said Ujaama traveled abroad "to see how other Muslims are living. That's all we're talking about."

"He's a curious guy," Charlie James said. "He goes out to see the world."

Charlie James is chairman of the Organization of African American Unity, which he says is a group of 25 men and women "trying to restructure the agenda in the African-American community" in Seattle.

The bottom of the group's letterhead, on which the press release was issued, reads: "Proud to be an American."

.....Jen