Maryland Man Pleads Guilty to Conspiracy to Provide Material Support to Terrorists

WASHINGTON—Mohammad Hassan Khalid, 18, a Pakistani citizen and U.S. lawful permanent resident who resided in Maryland, pleaded guilty today to conspiracy to provide material support to terrorists, stemming from his participation in a scheme to support, recruit, and coordinate members of a conspiracy in their plan to wage violent jihad in and around Europe.

The guilty plea before U.S. District Judge Petrese B. Tucker in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania was announced by Lisa Monaco, Assistant Attorney General for National Security; Zane David Memeger, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania; and George C. Venizelos, Special Agent in Charge of the Philadelphia Division of the FBI.

Khalid, aka “Abdul Ba’aree ‘Abd Al-Rahman Al-Hassan Al-Afghani Al-Junoobi W’at-Emiratee,” was charged with one count of conspiracy to provide material support to terrorists in a superseding indictment returned on October 20, 2011. Khalid faces a potential sentence of 15 years in prison and a $250,000 fine at sentencing.

Khalid’s co-defendant, Ali Charaf Damache, aka “Theblackflag,” 46, an Algerian man who resided in Ireland, was charged with one count of conspiracy to provide material support to terrorists and one count of attempted identity theft to facilitate an act of international terrorism. Damache is in custody in Ireland and is being prosecuted there on an unrelated criminal charge.

“Today’s plea, which involved a radicalized teen in Maryland who connected with like-minded individuals around the globe via the Internet, underscores the evolving nature of violent extremism today,” said Assistant Attorney General Monaco. “I thank the many agents, analysts, and prosecutors who helped bring about this case.”

“This case has demonstrated that age is not a limiter to threats to our nation’s security,” said U.S. Attorney Memeger. “Regardless of a defendant’s age or background, we are committed to keeping our communities and our country safe through the investigation and prosecution of violent extremist activity.”

“This investigation and the guilty plea announced today underscores the continuing threat we face from violent extremism and radicalism, both from within our country and from across the world,” said FBI Special Agent in Charge Venizelos. “These threats can emerge from anywhere and from anyone, from individuals and groups in the farthest reaches of the globe or from those in the United States sitting in the perceived safety of their own homes.”

According to the plea memorandum, indictment and other court documents filed in the case, from about 2008 through July 2011, Khalid and Damache conspired with Colleen R. LaRose, Jamie Paulin Ramirez, and others to provide material support and resources, including logistical support, recruitment services, financial support, identification documents, and personnel, to a conspiracy to kill overseas.

LaRose, aka “Fatima LaRose,” aka “JihadJane,” pleaded guilty in February 2011 in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania to conspiracy to provide material support to terrorists, conspiracy to kill in a foreign country, false statements, and attempted identity theft. Ramirez pleaded guilty in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania in March 2011 to conspiracy to provide material support to terrorists.

Khalid, Damache, and others devised and coordinated a violent jihad organization consisting of men and women from Europe and the United States divided into a planning team, a research team, an action team, a recruitment team and a finance team; some of whom would travel to South Asia for explosives training and return to Europe to wage violent jihad.

As part of the conspiracy, Khalid, Damache, LaRose, and others recruited men online to wage violent jihad in South Asia and Europe. In addition, Khalid, Damache, LaRose, and others allegedly recruited women who had passports and the ability to travel to and around Europe in support of violent jihad. LaRose, Paulin-Ramirez and others traveled to and around Europe to participate in and support violent jihad. In addition, Khalid, LaRose, and others also solicited funds online for terrorists.

For example, in July 2009, Khalid posted or caused to be posted an online solicitation for funds to support terrorism on behalf of LaRose and later sent electronic communications to multiple online forums requesting the deletion of all posts by LaRose after she was questioned by the FBI. In August 2009, Khalid sent a questionnaire to LaRose in which he asked another potential female recruit about her beliefs and intentions with regard to violent jihad. In addition, Khalid received from LaRose and concealed the location of a U.S. passport that she had stolen from another individual.

The Khalid case was investigated by the FBI Field Division in Baltimore, in conjunction with the FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Force in Philadelphia and the FBI Field Divisions in New York and Washington, D.C. Authorities in Ireland also provided assistance in this matter.

The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Jennifer Arbittier Williams, in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, and Matthew F. Blue, Trial Attorney from the Counterterrorism Section of the Justice Department’s National Security Division. The Office of International Affairs in the Justice Department’s Criminal Division also provided assistance.

Accomplishments in Afghanistan Set Stage for 2012 Progress

By Donna Miles
American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON  – Almost a month into 2012 -- a year both Defense Secretary Leon E. Panetta and Marine Corps Gen. John R. Allen, the top commander in Afghanistan, called pivotal to operations there -- International Security Assistance Force officials said last year’s accomplishments have set the stage for continued success.

“This year offers an opportunity to turn a corner,” Brig. Gen. Carsten Jacobson of the German army, spokesman for the NATO-led ISAF coalition, told reporters during a Jan. 24 news conference in the Afghan capital of Kabul.

“I hope that when we will look back at 2012,” he said, “we will continue to see the incredible progress for the people of this nation on their path to a well-deserved peace.”

Panetta, during his pre-holiday visit to Afghanistan last month, told deployed troops he believes the effort has reached a turning point and emphasized the importance of what happens there this year.

“We’re moving in the right direction,” Panetta said during a visit to Forward Operating Base Sharana in remote but strategically important Paktika province. “And we’re winning this very tough conflict in Afghanistan.”

Navy Adm. James G. Stavridis, NATO’s supreme allied commander for Europe and commander of U.S. European Command, said in his blog earlier this month he believes that progress will continue by focusing on the “keys to security.”

One of these keys, he said, is a unity of effort, with a goal of achieving a sense of “in together, out together” among ISAF’s 50 troop-contributing nations.

“In the military sphere, that means we have to pull together smoothly on the oars as we all downsize the number of coalition troops over the coming year,” Stavridis said.

He said he was encouraged by the long-term commitment exhibited by 100 nations and international organizations represented at the Bonn Conference on Afghanistan in December.

Stavridis also noted continued progress during 2011 in two other key areas: the transition to an Afghan security lead, and continued pressure on the insurgents.

Jacobson reported during this week’s news conference that this trajectory is continuing.

Already, “2012 is off to a very rough start for the insurgency,” he said. He noted that it follows another “tough year” during 2011, with the insurgents losing key ground and resources and failing to accomplish their stated goals in Afghanistan.

Meanwhile, their leadership “continues to hide across the border in Pakistan,” losing much of their ability to command and control their troops, Jacobson said.

Insurgent forces in Afghanistan continue to use improvised explosive devices to launch indiscriminate attacks, he said, despite orders from Mohammed Omar, the Taliban’s spiritual leader, to quit harming civilians.

While acknowledging that they still have the ability to launch high-visibility attacks, Jacobson said “these acts of desperation should not fool anyone.”

“I believe the insurgency is starting to understand that they cannot continue their terrorist acts of the past against the Afghan people, and the only clear solution is reintegration into a peaceful Afghan society,” he said.

Jacobson lauded solid gains during 2011 that are laying the foundation for this momentum to continue.

He cited positive trends in terms of offensive operations against insurgents, as well as improvements in capacity development within the Afghan national security forces.

“Our goals were to increase Afghan lead of security responsibilities, target key insurgent leaders, retain and expand secure areas and help [Afghan forces] earn the support of the people through improved security capacity and capability,” he told reporters.

Jacobson cited areas of focus for the year ahead to build on and expand these gains.

In the east, for example, ISAF and Afghan national security forces “will continue to apply maximum pressure,” he said, to eliminate the Haqqani and other insurgent networks and disrupt their logistical capabilities through the winter and into spring.

This effort supports the vision Allen set for 2012.

During Panetta’s visit to Kabul in December, Allen told reporters he sees this year as a time to consolidate gains already made in Afghanistan’s north, south and west and to extend them eastward. This, he said, will include “significant counterinsurgency operations” to continue this year in the Regional Command East area, with the goal of pushing the security zone east of Kabul.

Jacobson said this week that progress also will continue in other areas ranging from education to infrastructure to counternarcotics.

Afghanistan had 175,000 teachers in 2011, up from 20,000 in 2012, he reported. Eight million Afghan children were enrolled in school, compared to fewer than 1 million in 2002. Afghanistan now has more than 6,200 miles of paved roads, with more than 80 percent of the population using them.

Local security development is progressing, too, Jacobson reported. The Afghan National Army now is almost 180,000 strong, and the Afghan National Police now has nearly 144,000 men and women in uniform, serving local communities.

As they grow in number, Afghan national security forces are assuming greater security responsibility. More than 50 percent of Afghanistan is slated to be under Afghan security control by this spring, Jacobson said, “and we have every expectation that this will increase to 66 percent in the very near future.”

Mullen Discusses Regional Issues With Foreign Press

By Jim Garamone
American Forces Press Service

Nov. 20, 2007 - The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff gave reporters a whirlwind tour of the world during a news conference at the Foreign Press Center here today. Journalists from around the world quizzed Navy Adm. Michael G. Mullen on topics relevant to their regions. Europe, Iraq, Iran, Afghanistan and Asia figured in his answers.

Iraq and Afghanistan were the main concentrations. Mullen credited the reduction in violence in Iraq to the troop surge and the changes in Iraqis' perception of al Qaeda and other extremist groups.

"Clearly, security is much better, but it isn't just having the extra troops," he said. "It's how they're being employed. And that strategy has worked up to this point in time, very effectively. And it has a lot to do with being out in the villages and towns, and out and about, where the Iraqi citizens live."

Baghdad still is a very violent city, he said, but the violence has been reduced in most parts of the country, with the Iraqi people themselves playing a key role. "One of the unexpected outcomes that's had a big impact on security has been this group of some 70,000 concerned local citizens, who have taken back ... their towns and their villages and their areas," he said.

The trends in Afghanistan are mixed, Mullen said. He visited Afghanistan in October and said he was taken aback "that it was in better shape than I had anticipated personally."

"There are opportunities (in Afghanistan) for additional forces," he said. Both Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates and the chairman pressed NATO allies for more troops and capabilities at recent NATO meetings.

"The commitment and the need to continue to engage in Afghanistan is going to be there for a long time," Mullen said.

Turning to India and Pakistan, the chairman said military-to-military contacts with India are good and growing. "We are in a position where we've had in recent years an increased number of military-to-military contacts, and I think that's positive," he said. "I'm actually very positive about the continuing and emerging relationship between the United States and India."

The state of emergency in Pakistan, Mullen said, has not affected military-to-military contacts. He told reporters that the security of Pakistani nuclear weapons does not appear to be a problem, and logistics support to U.S. troops fighting in Afghanistan continues with no interruptions.

Mullen discussed the U.S. relationship with Kuwait as an opportunity to engage with other nations of the Persian Gulf region and reassure them of American commitment. "Kuwait has been an enormously important ally in our efforts in that part of the world and will continue to be in the future," he said.

Mullen used questions about reduction of U.S. forces in Europe to address the global footprint of American forces.

"I think, in places like Europe, places like Korea, that continuous engagement and the relationship-building that goes on when you have American soldiers, sailors, airmen (and) Marines living in countries as we do is a great strength of relationships and understanding each other, and also a significant commitment on the part of the host country, as well as the United States of America," he said.

Mullen said he worries about Iran because of the rhetoric coming out of Tehran, because of the country's push to develop nuclear weapons and because of its help to insurgents in Iraq. "From that standpoint, I think the diplomatic engagement is really important," he said. "I am hopeful that talks will resume with them. At the same time, I'd never take the military operation off the table."

"Having the military option on the table doesn't mean it's going to get used," he explained, "but it certainly is intended to ensure that there's no miscommunication or miscalculation -- that the potential is there and the resolve is there, though it is restrained at this point."