Pictures of Osama bin Laden and videotapes about martyrs were found in the car and apartment of Grossmont College student Osama Awadallah, according to the first indictment issued by the New York grand jury investigating the terror attacks.
The indictment, handed up in federal court in Manhattan late Wednesday and made public yesterday, alleges that the 21-year-old Jordanian lied when he denied knowing one of the hijackers.
According to the indictment, a search of Awadallah's apartment yielded computer-generated photographs of bin Laden, and inside his car were videotapes titled "Martyrs of Bosnia," "Bosnia 1993" and "The Koran v. the Bible, Which is God's Word?"
The 21/2-hour video "Martyrs of Bosnia" is described on a Web site as a documentary of stories about "Mujahedeen killed in Bosnia." Mujahedeen refers to Muslim warriors engaged in a jihad, or a struggle against injustice.
"For somebody who allegedly has no involvement with these people it certainly is interesting," said a federal investigator, who asked to remain anonymous because law enforcement officials have been told not to comment on the case. "Those (tapes) are the same propaganda devices bin Laden uses to recruit people. How many of these do you have in your collection? Let's see, bin Laden, that comes right after Bambi?"
Awadallah's attorney, Randall B. Hamud, called the new information "meaningless window dressing" meant to spice up a flimsy prosecution.
"They're just trying to demonize the kid, that's all," Hamud said. "It's not against the law to have a picture of Osama (bin Laden) and not against the law to have a videotape.
"He's not charged with being a member of al-Qaeda or being connected to Osama bin Laden or the World Trade Center."
Awadallah remains in custody in New York.
One of Awadallah's Grossmont College instructors said yesterday that Awadallah brought at least one of the videotapes to school during the spring semester, begging for permission to show it to fellow students.
"Sam brought this tape in showing all the atrocities being committed against Muslims in Chechnya, Bosnia and other countries," the teacher said. "He kept trying to show the video in class."
The teacher said the request was denied, but that Awadallah managed to show some of it to students before class.
"Sam showed what he felt were injustices against Muslim people in different countries," said the teacher of Awadallah's course in English as a second language. "He felt that it was being covered up and people in the states needed to know about it, felt it was his duty to show it.
"Teachers said this is not appropriate, and he stopped."
The teacher asked to remain anonymous to avoid further media attention.
A former roommate of Awadallah's said he never saw pictures of bin Laden posted in a City Heights home they shared. But he said it would not be unusual or alarming if he did, because before the attacks, many Muslims idolized bin Laden for standing up for Islam and challenging Western powers.
"Knowing (Awadallah), I wouldn't be surprised that he had the pictures. It wouldn't cause me to think he had been involved in this terrorist activity," said Mohammed Abdullah, who was born in the United States and converted to Islam.
Awadallah was arrested at his La Mesa apartment Sept. 23 as a material witness, because he was acquainted with San Diego-linked hijackers Nawaf Alhazmi and Khalid al-Midhar, who crashed a jet into the Pentagon.
Awadallah testified before the grand jury that he saw Alhazmi 35 to 40 times in the San Diego area between April 2000 and January.
And Awadallah's phone number was found in the glove compartment of a car registered to Alhazmi and abandoned at Dulles International Airport the day of the hijackings. One of the doomed flights left from Dulles.
The indictment said Awadallah lied that he never met al-Midhar, even when confronted with a class journal in which he mentions both men.
Hamud has said Awadallah was confused by the questions.
Portions of Awadallah's testimony contained in the indictment indicate that Awadallah repeatedly denied meeting al-Midhar, or even hearing the name.
