] An American citizen detained for more than a month as a
] material witness in a terrorism case in Oregon was
] charged today with plotting to fight against American
] soldiers in Afghanistan.
]
] The American, Maher Hawash, a 38-year-old software
] designer in Portland, was accused of conspiring with a
] group of six others who had already been charged with
] trying to provide material support to Al Qaeda and the
] Taliban.

] An American citizen detained for more than a month as a
] material witness in a terrorism case in Oregon was
] charged today with plotting to fight against American
] soldiers in Afghanistan.
]
] The American, Maher Hawash, a 38-year-old software
] designer in Portland, was accused of conspiring with a
] group of six others who had already been charged with
] trying to provide material support to Al Qaeda and the
] Taliban.

I'm glad he's no longer in "material witness" limbo!

Having read the 41-page affidavit (http://www.freemikehawash.org/hawashaff.pdf) that was issued by the FBI on Monday (4/28/2003), the "material witness" charge does make more sense now. The case against him isn't completely solid, but there's definitely enough information to plant more than a reasonable doubt in my own mind as to what he was doing. Aside from his association with this "Portland 6" group (traveling with them on their way to fight in Afghanistan, and being occasionally mentioned in their conversations and correspondence), the main points that stick out to me are:

- The "Portland 6" group does indeed have a ton of solid evidence against it including being caught with guns, making anti-American statements, having lots of Islamic fundamentalist texts, and there are plenty of documented sources who said they heard members of the group talking about how they wanted to fight or kill Americans.

- The Portland 6 were trying to get into Afghanistan to fight against the U.S., and had heard that there was a way in to Afghanistan via Bangladesh. There's lots of documentation in the affidavit that they traveled from the U.S. to Hong Kong to China, but then couldn't all get travel permits to enter Bangladesh, and eventually most of them gave up and came back to the U.S.

- Hawash followed the same travel route from the U.S. to Hong Kong to China, staying in the same hotels as the Portland 6 (sometimes the same room).

- Hawash, who had been laid off from his job as a software engineer at Intel in August 2001, told his wife that he was traveling to China to look for software business. Then while in China, he called and told her he was looking into the possibility of importing light bulbs to Jordan from China.

- Hawash told his mother-in-law that he went to China to establish an import/export business making handheld microphones.

- There were no records of any types of business transactions in China. No phone calls, no Emails, no contacts with business authorities in China (that the FBI could find).

- One of the leaders of the "Portland Six" group, Battle, described Hawash pretty clearly as being a member of the group: A Palestinian man, married to an American, traveling with the "third wave" of fighters from their home location in Oregon. The dates, itinerary, and description all match up.

One key factor in all this, in my opinion, would be Hawash's level of cooperation with the FBI. Since the FBI had documented proof of Hawash's travels and associations, and especially because Hawash had been literally staying in the same hotel room with someone who was on their way to fight in Afghanistan, did Hawash cooperate when the FBI asked him questions about the trip? Or did he try to deny that he was there, and deny that he talked to any of the "Portland 6" individuals? What it's sounding like, is that he tried to play innocent, and got caught in a lie, which is why he was finally picked up on the material witness charge. But that's just a guess on my part.

Anyway, I look forward to learning more about the case!