Material witnesses lose case in court, are headed to N.Y.

September 26, 2001

Three Middle Eastern college students lost an emotional and rare court battle yesterday and will remain in jail indefinitely without being charged with a crime. The decision makes them unwitting symbols of a new era in criminal justice that pits civil liberties against national security.

The men, arrested over the weekend in La Mesa and San Diego, will be taken to New York to appear before a federal grand jury as material witnesses with suspected ties to three San Diego-based hijackers, federal law enforcement sources said.

Mohdar Abdallah of Somalia, Osama Awadallah of Jordan and Yazeed Al-Salmi of Saudi Arabia, all of whom attend San Diego colleges, appeared in federal court yesterday before U.S. District Judge Ruben B. Brooks to decide whether they should be released.

On Monday, Brooks sealed all proceedings, barred the media from the courtroom and imposed a gag order on attorneys, citing "national security concerns." Yesterday, after a 51/2-hour hearing, he ordered that the men remain in custody.

The secrecy, the forced transfers to New York, the detentions without bail and the use of immigration and material-witness laws are extraordinary measures in an investigation of unprecedented methods and proportions.

"I never have heard of such a thing," said a federal law enforcement source. "We've never had this type of crime before, and it necessitates dealing with things differently. It's indicative of how we're dealing with a different society now. I don't think it will ever be the same."

Randall B. Hamud, the attorney representing the jailed men, said after the ruling yesterday that the case amounts to a witch hunt of Middle Easterners that ultimately jeopardizes the civil rights of all Americans.

"How many innocent ones must suffer until the few guilty ones can be found?" Hamud asked. "Just remember, there but for the grace of God could go you or I."

Before the gag order, Hamud had said his clients were merely acquaintances of one hijacker, Nawaf Alhazmi. He said the jailed men voluntarily gave the FBI extensive interviews before being jailed.

The FBI has identified Alhazmi, Khalid Al-Midhar and Hani Hanjoor as San Diego-based hijackers believed to have been aboard the jet that crashed into the Pentagon.

Law enforcement sources said the jailed men, all in their 20s, had "strong connections" to the hijackers, although the sources would not elaborate because the case is sealed. "They may be unwittingly part of a cell," a source said. "I think they are certainly indoctrinated."

A fourth man, Omer Bakarbashat, was arrested as a material witness Sept. 15 or Sept. 16 in La Mesa and was taken to New York to appear before the grand jury. His status yesterday was unknown.

Bakarbashat shared an apartment and worked with some of the other men now being held at the downtown federal jail. Sources said he is suspected of financially aiding the hijackers.

At yesterday's hearing, four witnesses appeared on behalf of the jailed men, including Osama Awadallah's brother, Jamal, and Ed Salamah, manager of Sam's Star Mart gas station in La Mesa, where some of the arrested men and Alhazmi worked at various times, sources said.

At gunpoint

Another witness was Muna Ismail, a friend of Abdallah who was with him when he was arrested Friday at gunpoint in the parking lot of Fry's Electronics near Aero Drive and Interstate 15.

Jamal Awadallah, an American citizen who lives in La Mesa with his wife and children, emerged from the courtroom in tears after testifying. He then stood in a corner, lips moving as he read the Koran.

Osama "Sam" Awadallah, who was arrested at his Saranac Street apartment Friday, attends Grossmont College. Abdallah attends San Diego State University, and Al-Salmi is a student at Grossmont College, the schools said.

Detainees Bakarbashat, Awadallah and Al-Salmi lived at the Southridge Apartments on Saranac Street in La Mesa at various times over last few years, with various roommates.

Al-Salmi also rented a room in the Lemon Grove home of Muslim leader Abdussattar Shaikh, whose other boarders included Bakarbashat and hijackers Alhazmi and Al-Midhar.

Shaikh said he thought he was renting to needy students, not terrorists. The FBI said Shaikh is not a suspect.

Authorities believe the San Diego-linked hijackers lived here for most of last year -- in a Clairemont apartment the first half of 2000 and then at Shaikh's home.

Friends of the jailed men came to the federal courthouse yesterday to offer support and protest their treatment.

Prayed together

He said Awadallah moved to the Saranac Street apartments to be closer to the mosque.

"He would lead the prayer. He is a good, devout Muslim. I want to show support to him. We believe in justice like anybody, but not a witch hunt. The government hasn't offered any evidence," Abdullah said.

Hamud said his clients are not discouraged. "Their state of mind is excellent. They find this process and this situation something from which to grow and learn."

It appears certain that their case will be appealed, but it must be done in New York.

"I will go to New York, assuming they will let me on a plane," said Hamud, referring to reports of racial profiling against Arabs. Hamud is Arab-American.

"Even though these are sad and trying times, I have a copy of my Constitution here and I have to ask myself, are the principles on which this country was founded being adhered to? I submit to you they are not."

Meanwhile, a Texas doctor who was held almost two weeks as a material witness in New York was released Monday.

Al-Badr Al-Hazmi, 34, of Saudi Arabia had been working at a hospital on Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio before the terrorist attacks.

Al-Hazmi's name is similar to that of hijacker Nawaf Alhazmi.