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Feds Charge Portland Man in Terrorism Ring
Aired April 28, 2003 - 15:46 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: In Portland, Oregon terrorism charges have been brought against a software engineer. He's been in federal custody as a material for about six weeks. Authorities say he was part of the so-called "Portland Six." CNN's Justice correspondent Kelli Arena joining us now with the details from Washington. Hello, Kelli.
KELLI ARENA, CNN JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: Hi there, Miles. Well you BE UPDATED. remember the various press reports about Mike Hawash. He is an Arab-American. And as you said, he's been held as a material witness for just about six weeks. He lives out in Portland, Oregon and was a consultant for Intel Corporation.
Now his friends set up a Web site and they gave interviews to a variety of media outlets in an effort to shed some light on what they say was a very secret detention. Well, the government finally went public today. And they charged Hawash with conspiracy to levy war against the United States and conspiracy to provide services to both the Taliban and al Qaeda.
Now the government alleges that Hawash decided after the September 11 terrorist attacks to fight a jihad. The government says that he began to travel to Afghanistan in October of 2001 to join forces with the Taliban and al Qaeda troops who were then fighting against the United States. Well even though he never made it to Afghanistan, the government says that Hawash is still guilty of conspiracy.
Now if this scenario sounds at all familiar, Miles, it should, because five other Portland men were charged with trying to make the same exact journey. Four of those are in custody. Now, Hawash was, according to the government, traveling with that group.
We've put a call into Hawash's attorney, we haven't heard back yet. His family friends have repeatedly said he has absolutely no terror connections. In fact, in the government paperwork, Hawash had claimed he was going into Hong Kong and China to try to drum up some business in his software engineering business. But the government says they found absolutely no evidence he'd made any business contacts before that trip.
Miles, back to you.
O'BRIEN: CNN's Kelli Arena in Washington, thank you very much.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Aired April 28, 2003 - 15:46 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: In Portland, Oregon terrorism charges have been brought against a software engineer. He's been in federal custody as a material for about six weeks. Authorities say he was part of the so-called "Portland Six." CNN's Justice correspondent Kelli Arena joining us now with the details from Washington. Hello, Kelli.
KELLI ARENA, CNN JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: Hi there, Miles. Well you BE UPDATED. remember the various press reports about Mike Hawash. He is an Arab-American. And as you said, he's been held as a material witness for just about six weeks. He lives out in Portland, Oregon and was a consultant for Intel Corporation.
Now his friends set up a Web site and they gave interviews to a variety of media outlets in an effort to shed some light on what they say was a very secret detention. Well, the government finally went public today. And they charged Hawash with conspiracy to levy war against the United States and conspiracy to provide services to both the Taliban and al Qaeda.
Now the government alleges that Hawash decided after the September 11 terrorist attacks to fight a jihad. The government says that he began to travel to Afghanistan in October of 2001 to join forces with the Taliban and al Qaeda troops who were then fighting against the United States. Well even though he never made it to Afghanistan, the government says that Hawash is still guilty of conspiracy.
Now if this scenario sounds at all familiar, Miles, it should, because five other Portland men were charged with trying to make the same exact journey. Four of those are in custody. Now, Hawash was, according to the government, traveling with that group.
We've put a call into Hawash's attorney, we haven't heard back yet. His family friends have repeatedly said he has absolutely no terror connections. In fact, in the government paperwork, Hawash had claimed he was going into Hong Kong and China to try to drum up some business in his software engineering business. But the government says they found absolutely no evidence he'd made any business contacts before that trip.
Miles, back to you.
O'BRIEN: CNN's Kelli Arena in Washington, thank you very much.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
