Southern California InFocus : Is Big Brother at your mosque?

Is Big Brother at your mosque?

By ABDUSSALAM MOHAMED | Senior Staff Writer | August 7, 2007

LOS ANGELES – On the first Friday of each month, Mohammed Elsisy, an Egyptian-born software engineer, usually drives from his home in Irvine, Calif., to the King Fahad mosque in Culver City, Calif., to deliver the khutba, or sermon.

Elsisy thought the first Friday of this past June would be no different.

But little did he know something totally unexpected was about to happen that would make this particular Friday the most memorable for years to come.

Elsisy had two passengers in his car at the time.

In the back seat sat Ahmed Niazi, 33, a language teacher and a friend, while in the passenger seat sat a man who converted to Islam almost a year ago.

The man was 44-year-old Craig Monteilh, but he went by the name "Farouk Aziz."

"Monteilh started talking about the Iraq war," Niazi said. "He went off on a rant against U.S. foreign policy in the Middle East."

But then, out of the blue, Monteilh said something that sent chills down the spines of his companions.

He asked Elsisy and Niazi if they knew of an "operation" he could be part of.

Pin-drop silence followed. Elsisy’s eyes bounced over to the rearview mirror and traded a horrified glance with Niazi.

"Blood froze up in our veins," Elsisy recalls.

Exactly a year earlier, Monteilh had walked into the Islamic Center of Irvine and declared his intention to embrace Islam.

Issa Edah-Tally, president of the center, said Monteilh, known only as Farouk then, was just another convert among many who took Shahada, or declaration of faith, at the center and became regulars at the mosque.

"We don’t ask people for their real names and don’t keep track of who attends prayer service," Edah-Tally said.

Monteilh started attending regularly and enrolled in the weekly adult Arabic class taught by Niazi.

"Farouk told me his real name was Frederick Jordon," Niazi recalled. Monteilh also told Niazi that he was of French and Moroccan descent.

However, when Monteilh joined the Berlitz Language Institute’s Costa Mesa branch – where Niazi works – to learn Arabic, he filled out a form and wrote his name as Craig Monteilh.

"I don’t know why he lied about his real name," Niazi said. "And I don’t know why he chose to write down his real name knowing I worked at the Berlitz."

A few months after his conversion, Monteilh was able to make several friends at the mosque. Some recalled how he often went on anti-American tirades, blasting U.S. foreign policy and decrying the suffering of Muslims throughout the world.

But then he started talking about something else.

Ashruf Zied, a software engineer from Irvine, Calif., said Monteilh approached him one day claiming to have access to weapons and asking if he wanted to join him in "waging jihad."

Zied was floored. "I was completely taken aback by what he said," Zied said. "I said, hold it there. What are you talking about?"

Zied said he tried to give Monteilh advice, but found him argumentative and set in his ways.

As his call for armed war became more aggressive, some frightened worshippers stopped attending the prayers altogether.

Board members at the center felt compelled to take action.

They contacted the southern California office of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, known as CAIR.

Hussam Ayloush, the council’s executive director, recommended they immediately report the incident to the Irvine Police Department (Irvine PD) and to the FBI.

"There was no question about what they were supposed to do next," Ayloush said.

Detective Frough Jahid from the Irvine PD and Special Agent Ellis Kuppferman from the FBI ended up interviewing Edah-Tally, Elsisy, Niazi and Zied, among others.

Elsisy, Niazi and Zied were shocked to find out through Jahid that Monteilh had a criminal record.

Monteilh had told the three he worked as a fitness trainer and was a former pastor.

However, a routine search on the Internet revealed that Monteilh had an extensive criminal record dating as far back as 1987.

The charges included the following: separate charges of grand theft in 1987, 2002 and 2003; burglary in 2002 and forgery in 2003.

There were also several reports against Monteilh on ripoffreport.com, accusing him of scams, fraud and grand theft.

As the fuzzy picture of Monteilh started to come into focus, rumors spread within a community in jitters about agent provocateurs and informants who were infiltrating mosques in order to trick Muslims into false "terror confessions."

A recent case in New Jersey involved a new immigrant from Pakistan named Shahawar Matin Siraj, 24, who was befriended by a fellow Muslim named Osama Eldawoody at a local mosque. Siraj was later talked into a conspiracy to bomb Manhattan’s 34th street subway station.

FBI agents arrested Siraj based on a taped confession he made to Eldawoody that the latter recorded in his car.

A similar incident almost repeated itself inside Elsisy’s car on that fateful Friday as he rode with Monteilh.

Elsisy recalled how Monteilh always touched his Blackberry before he talked. "I thought he was getting calls," Elsisy said. "Now that I think about it, I believe he was recording our conversations."

The Washington Post published an extensive article on May 29 about confessed FBI informant Eldawoody, who was accused by Siraj’s family and supporters of goading his victim into a terror plot Siraj had neither the means nor the know-how to carry out.

The article further said, "The case in New York isn’t the only one. Two informers played a role in the recent case of the young Muslim men accused of plotting to kill soldiers at Fort Dix, N.J. One of the young men was recorded telling the informer he was at his service. Later the informer volunteered to obtain machine guns and heavier arms. In Miami, an FBI informer posing as a member of al-Qaeda gave a group of men military boots and cell phones, promised weapons and suggested their first target be a Miami FBI office. In Lodi, Calif., a federal informer who lied about seeing an al-Qaeda leader in the area helped to convict a 23-year-old of training at a terrorism camp."

Defense lawyers in a number of other terrorism suspect cases accused informants of solely seeking financial boon by creating so-called terrorists that did not exist.

According to court records, Eldawoody was paid $100,000 over a period of 3 years.

Since Siraj’s conviction, Eldawoody has his rent covered and receives a monthly stipend of $3,200.

According to The Washington Post, a police spokesman indicated the direct payments to Eldawoody would likely continue "indefinitely."

With such incentives, critics argue, informants are likely to be created out of thin air to join the "inform-and-cash" industry.

Meanwhile, the Muslim community across the country is feeling the heat of being closely watched.

"This is creating mistrust between our community and law enforcement officials," Ayloush said.

In light of their extensive criminal records, Ayloush added, these individuals would neither qualify as police officers nor as FBI agents, yet they are on the payroll of law enforcement agencies and are allowed to do law enforcement work.

"We all respect hardworking law enforcement agents," Ayloush said. "But mercenary informants? Hardly."

Laura Eimiller, spokeswoman for the FBI Los Angeles office, told InFocus the bureau could not confirm nor deny an investigation.

"However, individuals are encouraged to come forward to report any suspicious activity to law enforcement officials," she said.

But Ayloush argued this case sends mixed messages to the Muslim community.

"On one hand, they are asked to report suspicious activity, but on the other hand, they are left without any protection once the suspected terrorist or informant gets angry and chooses to retaliate against those who reported him," he said. "How is this going to encourage people to do the right thing?"

Niazi said an angry Monteilh visited him at the Berlitz office and verbally threatened him shortly before he was supposed to appear in court to testify against him.

Niazi later received a provocative e-mail from Monteilh, a copy of which was made available to InFocus.

In the e-mail, Monteilh wrote, "…there is a restraining order against me. And now I’m hearing you are a part of this whole thing... The F.B.I. has contacted me. They want to interview me about certain rumors. What’s funny is these rumors cannot be proven. There’s no proof of me doing or saying anything. This is why I’m somewhat laughing. But Ahmad, I have evidence of things we discussed. I have proof. And lots of proof. Now it’s my turn. I’m very sorry it had to come to this."

The incident was reported to law enforcement officials in the first week of June, but the FBI waited three weeks to contact Monteilh.

Moreover, Monteilh was reportedly seen attending evening prayers at the Omar Al Farouk mosque in Anaheim.

"Why did they wait so long to contact him? Why wasn’t he arrested?" some community members asked. "What if this individual acted on his words?"

These were legitimate questions, they said, which were not addressed by any of the law enforcement officials involved.

Human intelligence

A July 25 article on an ABC News blog reported that, following a directive from President Bush in 2004, the FBI was ordered to boost its human intelligence capabilities by recruiting informants.

According to a recent unclassified document, the FBI plans to "overhaul its database system, so it can manage records and verify the accuracy of information from more than 15,000 informants."

The document, which was made available to Congress, goes on to state, "While many of the recruited informants will apparently be U.S. residents, some informants may be overseas, recruited by FBI agents in foreign offices."

The cost to taxpayers is expected to top $22 million, according to the document.

"The question is: Are we genuinely monitoring would-be terrorists to protect the public, or are we in the business of creating terrorists so we can justify use of the funds appropriated to fight domestic terrorism?" Ayloush said.

Many argue the problem is that informants are people who are usually ex-cons and criminals who choose this path to buy their freedom.

As was the case with Eldawoody, they say informants feel forced to create something if necessary to exonerate themselves in the eyes of the law and justify receiving money for information they feel compelled to collect.

Ayloush said these so-called informants are oftentimes rapists, drug dealers or people who have broken the law in different ways.

"How can you put national security in the hands of crooks and criminals who have no respect for the law to begin with?" he said.

Other critics maintain that individuals like Eldawoody and Monteilh are not acting as informants, but rather as agent provocateurs.

They pressure and brainwash people who otherwise would not engage in violence and extremism, and always choose their victims among the most vulnerable, such as disenchanted youth, the unemployed and the angry who exist in every community.

"They are creating terrorists in a way that no actual terrorist recruiter would have been able to," Ayloush said.

Edah-Tally believes all Islamic centers should be vigilant and pay attention to what is going on in their mosques.

"Community members should be encouraged and not be afraid to come forward to report incidents as they occur," he said.

The Friday following the incident, Elsisy gave a sermon in which he made reference to his traumatic experience.

He told his congregation that American Muslims are patriots who love their country and would not hesitate to protect it from anyone who wants to harm it.

"We, as American Muslims, should never hesitate at all to report any kind of suspicious activity," Elsisy said.