Ujaama sentenced for aiding Taliban

By Gene Johnson
The Associated Press

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"Mr. Ujaama, I wish you luck," U.S. District Judge Barbara Rothstein told him. "I think you are going to set things straight with your government and with your people."

"Thank you," Ujaama responded, as a dozen relatives and supporters looked on.

Ujaama, 38, was arrested in July 2002 following an investigation into a Seattle mosque. He was indicted on two charges: that he conspired to set up a terrorist training camp in Bly, Ore., and that he used a firearm to further the conspiracy.

Last April, the government dropped those charges and filed a superseding complaint, alleging that Ujaama brought money, computer equipment and a recruit to Taliban officials in Afghanistan.

In a deal with prosecutors, he pleaded guilty, agreeing to cooperate with terrorism investigations in exchange for a recommended two-year prison term. Prosecutors especially wanted to hear what he knew about fiery London cleric Abu Hamza al-Masri, whose Web site Ujaama once ran.

"Our highest priority is to disrupt the networks of terror, and the information gained from individuals like Ujaama helps us protect innocent Americans from terrorist attacks," U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft said today.

Ujaama is due to be released July 22. He will spend the months until then in a halfway house.

However, he will be subject to three years of supervised release, will have to surrender his passport and will be required to continue cooperating with the federal government for nine more years. He also would not be allowed to discuss his involvement in any investigations.

"None of this has been easy for me," Ujaama told Rothstein, softly but clearly. He said he does not agree with the law he was convicted of violating. "That's my right; however, it is U.S. law," he said.

"In the future, I will act more responsibly and make the right choices," he told the judge.
 
Rothstein said she was initially surprised by the light term called for in the plea agreement. In Portland, Ore., six men who tried to enter Afghanistan to fight for the Taliban received sentences ranging from seven to 18 years.

But the judge said she also had never seen a case where a defendant had agreed to provide such extensive cooperation. "This is a unique circumstance," she said.

Ujaama was born James Earnest Thompson in Denver but moved to Seattle with his family as a boy. As a young man he and his brother, Jon, who now goes by Mustafa Ujaama, were credited with working to rid the Central Area neighborhood they lived in of drugs and crime.

In the early 1990s, Ujaama converted to Islam and soon became involved in the now-closed Dar-us-Salaam mosque in Seattle, whose members preached a more extreme version of Islamic teachings. In about 1997, Ujaama left his son and family and moved to London, where he eventually became friends with al-Masri at the Finsbury Park Mosque.

The U.S. State Department has classified al-Masri as a terrorist, and he is wanted in Yemen for his alleged role in the 1998 kidnappings of 16 Western tourists by the Islamic Army of Aden. Four of the hostages died during a shootout.

But Ujaama sometimes traveled back to Seattle, and in 1999, federal officials alleged, he joined others in trying to set up a terrorist training camp at a ranch in Bly. He sent al-Masri a fax, investigators have said, proposing the establishment of a camp there, and al-Masri sent two representatives to evaluate the site.

The two were reportedly disappointed that the property had no barracks for troops, and the camp was never developed. One of them was Oussama Kassir, who was arrested at his apartment in Sweden last year and is being held on weapons charges.

Investigators learned of the plot through an informant within the group.

Beginning in 2000, Ujaama returned to London and ran al-Masri's Web site, which advocated jihad, or holy war, against the United States. Late that year, at al-Masri's bidding, he escorted another man to a terrorist camp in Afghanistan, Ujaama admitted in his plea agreement.

Ujaama initially contended he brought the computer equipment and money to benefit a girls school in Afghanistan.

He also tried to travel to Afghanistan shortly after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, but was unable to cross the border from Pakistan, his plea agreement reads.

The Seattle Times, citing unidentified sources, reported Thursday that while in Afghanistan, Ujaama fell ill and was treated by Osama bin Laden's personal physician and top adviser, Ayman al-Zawahiri. The U.S. government has offered a $25 million reward for al-Zawahiri's capture.

Ujaama has testified before a grand jury in New York that is investigating al-Masri's role in the attempted establishment of the terrorist training camp in Bly.

Copyright © 2004 The Seattle Times Company