Agents in Denver make arrest in al-Qaeda probe By Ryan Morgan, Kirk Mitchell, Howard Pankratz and Sean Kelly Denver Post Staff Writers Wednesday, July 24, 2002 - A Seattle man suspected of ties to the al-Qaeda terrorist network underwent a swift and secret federal hearing in Denver on Tuesday after police swarmed his aunt's house and arrested him Monday night. James Ujaama, 36, gave himself up to FBI agents and Denver police who surrounded the house in the 2800 block of Dexter Street with guns drawn. He was arrested on a federal warrant as a material witness in an investigation into an alleged al-Qaeda cell in Seattle.

Video: Relatives shocked by arrest

According to the Seattle Times, the FBI is investigating Ujaama's connections to London cleric Abu Hamza al-Masri, who had strong ties to Osama bin Laden. Federal agents suspect Ujaama may have helped members of Hamza's mosque scout out a Bly, Ore., property as a possible terrorist training camp.

Hamza's London congregation has included shoe-bomber suspect Richard Reid and the alleged 20th hijacker, Zacarias Moussaoui. Hamza told the Seattle Times on Tuesday that Ujaama ran the London mosque's website until about a year and a half ago, "when he disappeared."

In Denver, relatives said federal investigators told them they believe Ujaama also provided Afghanistan's Taliban leaders with computers when he visited there in December.

On Friday, after reports circulated of his impending arrest, Ujaama issued a statement to the Seattle media denying that he or his brother, Mustafa, 34, was involved in terrorism.

"My brother and I are not terrorists, and we should not have been charged in the media and harassed," he wrote. "We are prepared to challenge the government's charges in a court of law and order, in a fair and impartial hearing."

On Tuesday, Mustafa Ujaama stood outside the home where his brother was arrested and also denied involvement. "No, man," he said. "Why do you ask me that? That's a bad question. I'm an American citizen, I'm a veteran." He said he served in the Army for eight years, including a stint in the Persian Gulf War. He was not detained.

At the northeast Denver home Tuesday, relatives said federal investigators have been quizzing them for a month about the Ujaama brothers, who were born in Denver and lived here for about two years before moving to Seattle.

James Ujaama was arrested at the home of his aunt, Carola Webb, the ex-wife of Mayor Wellington Webb's son.

Mayoral spokesman Andrew Hudson said there was no connection between Webb and the Ujaamas. "The mayor and Mrs. Webb don't even recall meeting" James Ujaama, Hudson said.

Ujaama's cousin, Billy Frazier of Denver, said James Ujaama arrived in Denver at the beginning of the summer. Other family members said Ujaama had previously lived in London, where he has a wife and child, but arrived here from Seattle.

Family members said Ujaama was a devout Muslim who also was harshly critical of the U.S. government on issues ranging from racial profiling to sanctions against Iraq.

Ujaama's real passion wasn't for business, said aunt Diane Jones, but for religion, "almost to the point of being a fanatic." On his occasional visits to Denver, Ujaama marked up Bibles, pointing out what he called errors. He wanted his family to convert to Islam.

Jones said Ujaama has several creditors on his trail and that he owes money to his own family. The last time he visited, he made several expensive long-distance calls to Africa and didn't pay for them, she said.

"Jimmy left us a lot of bills," she said.

Jones said that Ujaama has a 7-year-old son from a previous marriage in Seattle but that the courts have refused to award him custody of the boy.

Another aunt, Diedre Badu, said she believes Ujaama was just a businessman plying his trade when he gave the Taliban computers.

"My nephew is an entrepreneur," she said. "If that means selling computers to people where he was (in Afghanistan), that's what it means."

"There is no way he could funnel computers to Osama," she said. "He can barely funnel computers to himself."

A third aunt, Robin Sherrod, said the Oregon camp wasn't used to train terrorists but to teach proper Islamic practices, such as food preparation.

"They learned how to butcher a goat," she said.

In his statement Friday, Ujaama devoted several pages to scathing criticism of the United States: "Here we are supposed to be the most civilized nation in the world behaving more like barbarians after blood simply because we have anger in our hearts and revenge on our minds," he wrote. Citing the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, he wrote, "Our foreign policy also makes it okay to sell drugs and ship arms to a country that engages in apartheid and racism."

Talib Syed, president of the Colorado Muslim Society, said he has not heard of the Ujaamas.

A Seattle grand jury is investigating the allegations of possible al-Qaeda links in the Seattle area. So far, only one indictment has been issued - against Tacoma auto mechanic Semi Osman. Osman, who faces immigration and gun charges, is a former leader of a now-defunct Seattle mosque attended by the Ujaamas.

On Tuesday, federal marshals blocked access to a hallway at Denver's federal courthouse as attorneys for Ujaama and the government met before U.S. Magistrate Judge Craig Shaffer.

U.S. Attorney John Suthers argued the government's case but would not comment as he walked from the courthouse, citing federal rules.

Likewise, Shaffer would not say why the hearing had been closed. Ujaama, who had been held in Denver County jail overnight, was returned to the custody of U.S. marshals.

Ujaama's lawyer, Dan Sears, declined comment.

Colorado Director of Public Safety Sue Mencer said Denver FBI officials told her Tuesday that residents were in no immediate danger during the Ujaama investigation. But Mencer said FBI officials wouldn't discuss the investigation further.

Denver District Attorney Bill Ritter was on the scene for Ujaama's arrest but said he didn't know about the investigation until then.

Numerous other law enforcement officials in Seattle, Denver and Washington, D.C., declined to comment.

-- Anonymous, July 24, 2002

Answers

Here we are supposed to be the most civilized nation in the world behaving more like barbarians after blood simply because we have anger in our hearts and revenge on our minds

And they don't?

-- Anonymous, July 24, 2002

You know that AQ training video the TV stations show all the time? The one where they go into a building, kick down doors and fire at human-shaped targetss? Well, I'm still waiting for somone to note that there is a CROSS on the chest of the target you see. It's not an X oe a cross with equal sides, it's like the Christian cross, where the cross piece is shorter than the support piece.

What does this tell you?

-- Anonymous, July 24, 2002