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Florida Man With Ties to Alleged Dirty Bomber Arrested
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| Masjid
Al-Iman in Fort Lauderdale, Florida
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MIAMI,
June 16 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) -A man has been arrested in
south Florida on immigration charges after federal agents claimed he
had ties to alleged “dirty bomb” plotter Jose Padilla, also known
as Abdullah Al-Muhajir, U.S. daily newspaper, the Miami Herald
reported Saturday, June 15.
The
paper said Adhan Amin Hassoun, 40, an outspoken member of south
Florida
’s Muslim community was arrested at his home in
Sunrise
on Wednesday, June 12, by members of the Joint Terrorism Task Force,
and charged with overstaying his visa.
His
nationality was not given and it was not immediately possible to
confirm the arrest.
Citing
federal sources it did not name, the daily said authorities hoped the
arrest might provide clues into the investigation of Jose Padilla, a
former
Chicago
gang member who converted to Islam after serving a 10-month prison
term in
Florida
.
Although
the details of Hassoun’s affiliation with Muhajir were unclear, both
men attended the same mosque in
Fort Lauderdale
while Muhajir lived in south
Florida
from 1991 to 1998.
“They
were friends and attended the same
Fort Lauderdale
[
Florida
] mosque,” the paper quoted its source as saying.
The
story alleges both Padilla and Hassoun were close to Raed Awad, the
former leader of Al-Iman mosque and
Florida
representative of the Holy Land Foundation for Relief and Development,
a Muslim charity whose assets were frozen in December because it
allegedly raised money for terrorist groups.
Hassoun
had been under federal scrutiny for months for his ties to Islamic
groups.
The
Herald said that in earlier interviews, Hassoun, who has lived in the
United States
for more than a decade, said he briefly served as the
U.S.
distributor of the Call of Islam, a magazine that featured exclusive
interviews with Osama bin Laden.
The
paper said authorities hoped Hassoun’s arrest might lead to clues
about how Muhajir, who lived in south
Florida
during the 1990s, became “radical.”
“We
have suspicions; that’s it,” a federal source told the Herald.
“We are working hard right now to run this all out. We have reason
to believe this man has extremist views.”
Padilla,
31, was arrested last month on arrival in
Chicago
from
Pakistan
on suspicion that he was planning to build a radioactive-laced
so-called “dirty bomb.”
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