Examiner : Sailor's Trial Reveals Top Navy Fears

Sailor's Trial Reveals Top Navy Fears

By JOHN CHRISTOFFERSEN, The Associated Press | March 2, 2008

NEW HAVEN, Conn. - U.S. Navy commanders were wary as their ships headed to the Persian Gulf in the months after a terrorist ambush in 2000 killed 17 sailors aboard the USS Cole.

Passing the Strait of Hormuz, a narrow, busy shipping lane that often invited challenges from Iran, was never easy. Ship commanders decided to travel quickly at night after conducting a drill. Sailors took up machine gun positions and shut valves and hatches to limit damage in case of attack.

"We really weren't sure what to expect," said Lt. Commander Jay Wylie, who was on board the USS Benfold.

No one expected to find a threat from within.

But federal authorities say there was. A Benfold signalman, Hassan Abu-Jihaad, had provided suspected terrorist supporters in London with sensitive details of when U.S. ships would pass through the strait and their vulnerability to attack, prosecutors say.

Testimony last week in Abu-Jihaad's trial has provided a window into the fears of top Navy officials after an explosives-laden boat rammed the Cole as it refueled in a Yemen harbor. It also revealed how heightened vigilance after Sept. 11 triggered an investigation that began in Connecticut and expanded to London before Abu-Jihaad and others were arrested.

Abu-Jihaad, 32, of Phoenix, has pleaded not guilty to federal charges alleging he provided material support to terrorists and disclosed classified national defense information.

Prosecutors rested their case Friday. Abu-Jihaad does not plan to take the stand Monday when his attorneys call one witness before closing arguments.

Abu-Jihaad, an American born Muslim convert, changed his name from Paul Hall in 1997. A year later, he was granted security clearance that gave him access to secrets, according to Navy officials.

Abu-Jihaad was one of the first sailors Petty Officer Josh Kelly met when he boarded the Benfold. Abu-Jihaad was chatty about where the ship was headed, Kelly says.

"We always wonder where we were going," Kelly testified, noting the stress of life at sea.

But advance movements were a closely guarded secret. Dennis Amador, a quartermaster and Abu-Jihaad's supervisor, told his wife where he was in code.

"We in the Navy are taught from the minute we come in that loose lips sink ships," he said.

Those details were kept locked in a safe with a red sticker marked secret. But when the charts and travel plans were laid out, Abu-Jihaad could see them in his job as a signalman, Navy officials say.

The Benfold and other ships left San Diego in March 2001. Their first stop was Hawaii, where the sailors were treated to a luau feast.

As the ship headed toward the Middle East, Abu-Jihaad began to send e-mails to Azzam Publications, a Web site that authorities say provided money and equipment to terrorists.

While the Cole was the worst nightmare for commanders, Abu-Jihaad called it a martyrdom operation in one of his e-mails to Azzam and praised "the men who have brong (sic) honor ... in the lands of jihad Afghanistan, Bosnia, Chechnya, etc."

Abu-Jihaad signed the e-mail: "A brother serving a kuffar nation," meaning nonbeliever or infidel, according to testimony. He also ordered graphic videos from Azzam that depicted Muslim fighters in Chechnya and Bosnia.

"He seemed to be fascinated with the Chechen conflict and seemed to be supportive of the Chechen rebels," Amador said, not thinking much of it at the time.

Abu-Jihaad kept communicating with Azzam until a little over a week before the Sept. 11 attacks.

Shortly after the attacks, a company that hosted Web sites raised concerns with federal authorities about one of Azzam's Web sites in Connecticut. That complaint led investigators to those they say ran Azzam in London, where they say they found the leaked ship details in an apartment.

Authorities also say they found Abu-Jihaad's e-mail account with Azzam. They were able to recover e-mails he exchanged with the group, but say accounts were regularly purged by e-mail service providers.

Authorities acknowledge they do not have direct proof that Abu-Jihaad leaked the classified details. His attorneys call the case weak, urging a judge Friday to dismiss the charges while prosecutors objected.

Navy officials acknowledged that the allegedly leaked details were filled with errors. Still, they say the leak was alarming and they would have immediately changed plans had they known about the compromise at the time.

The ships were never attacked.

The Navy did plenty of soul searching after the Cole attack, said Rear Adm. David Hart Jr., commander of the battle group.

"It was a very vulnerable period of time for us," Hart testified.

Copyright 2007 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Examiner : Sailor's trial provides window into Navy fears after Cole attack

Sailor's trial provides window into Navy fears after Cole attack

By JOHN CHRISTOFFERSEN, The Associated Press | February 29, 2008

NEW HAVEN, Conn. - U.S. Navy commanders were wary as their ships headed to the Persian Gulf in the months after a terrorist ambush in 2000 killed 17 sailors aboard the USS Cole.

Passing the Straits of Hormuz, a narrow, busy shipping lane that often invited challenges from Iran, was never easy. Ship commanders decided to travel quickly at night after conducting a drill. Sailors took up machine gun positions and shut valves and hatches to limit damage in case of attack.

"We really weren't sure what to expect," said Lt. Commander Jay Wylie, who was on board the USS Benfold.

No one expected to find a threat from within.

But federal authorities say there was. A Benfold signalman, Hassan Abu-Jihaad of Phoenix, had provided suspected terrorist supporters in London with sensitive details of when U.S. ships would pass through the strait and their vulnerability to attack, prosecutors say.

Testimony last week in Abu-Jihaad's trial has provided a window into the fears of top Navy officials after an explosives-laden boat rammed the Cole as it refueled in a Yemen harbor. It also revealed how heightened vigilance after Sept. 11 triggered an investigation that began in Connecticut and expanded to London before Abu-Jihaad and others were arrested.

Abu-Jihaad, 32, has pleaded not guilty to federal charges alleging he provided material support to terrorists and disclosed classified national defense information.

Prosecutors rested their case Friday. Abu-Jihaad does not plan to take the stand Monday when his attorneys call one witness before closing arguments.

Abu-Jihaad, an American born Muslim convert, changed his name from Paul Hall in 1997. A year later, he was granted security clearance that gave him access to secrets, according to Navy officials.

Abu-Jihaad was one of the first sailors Petty Officer Josh Kelly met when he boarded the Benfold. Abu-Jihaad was chatty about where the ship was headed, Kelly says.

"We always wonder where we were going," Kelly testified, noting the stress of life at sea.

But advance movements were a closely guarded secret. Dennis Amador, a quartermaster and Abu-Jihaad's supervisor, told his wife where he was in code.

"We in the Navy are taught from the minute we come in that loose lips sink ships," he said.

Those details were kept locked in a safe with a red sticker marked secret. But when the charts and travel plans were laid out, Abu-Jihaad could see them in his job as a signalman, Navy officials say.

The Benfold and other ships left San Diego in March 2001. Their first stop was Hawaii, where the sailors were treated to a luau feast.

As the ship headed toward the Middle East, Abu-Jihaad began to send e-mails to Azzam Publications, a Web site that authorities say provided money and equipment to terrorists.

While the Cole was the worst nightmare for commanders, Abu-Jihaad called it a martyrdom operation in one of his e-mails to Azzam and praised "the men who have brong (sic) honor ... in the lands of jihad Afghanistan, Bosnia, Chechnya, etc."

Abu-Jihaad signed the e-mail: "A brother serving a kuffar nation," meaning nonbeliever or infidel, according to testimony. He also ordered graphic videos from Azzam that depicted Muslim fighters in Chechnya and Bosnia.

"He seemed to be fascinated with the Chechen conflict and seemed to be supportive of the Chechen rebels," Amador said, not thinking much of it at the time.

Abu-Jihaad kept communicating with Azzam until a little over a week before the Sept. 11 attacks.

Shortly after the attacks, a company that hosted Web sites raised concerns with federal authorities about one of Azzam's Web sites in Connecticut. That complaint led investigators to those they say ran Azzam in London, where they say they found the leaked ship details in an apartment.

Authorities also say they found Abu-Jihaad's e-mail account with Azzam. They were able to recover e-mails he exchanged with the group, but say accounts were regularly purged by e-mail service providers.

Authorities acknowledge they do not have direct proof that Abu-Jihaad leaked the classified details. His attorneys call the case weak, urging a judge Friday to dismiss the charges while prosecutors objected.

Navy officials acknowledged that the allegedly leaked details were filled with errors. Still, they say the leak was alarming and they would have immediately changed plans had they known about the compromise at the time.

The ships were never attacked.

The Navy did plenty of soul searching after the Cole attack, said Rear Adm. David Hart Jr., commander of the battle group.

"It was a very vulnerable period of time for us," Hart testified.

Copyright 2007 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Examiner : Top Official Testifies in Navy Case

Top Official Testifies in Navy Case

By JOHN CHRISTOFFERSEN, The Associated Press | February 27, 2008

NEW HAVEN, Conn. - The Navy would have immediately changed plans had it known that details of ship movements had been leaked to suspected terrorism supporters, a former top Navy official testified Wednesday at the trial of a former sailor on terrorism charges.

Hassan Abu-Jihaad, 32, of Phoenix, has pleaded not guilty to federal charges alleging he provided material support to terrorists and disclosed classified national defense information.

If convicted, he faces as many as 25 years in prison.

Abu-Jihaad, an American-born Muslim convert formerly known as Paul R. Hall, is accused of leaking information that could have doomed his own ship. He was a Navy signalman and received an honorable discharge in 2002.

He is accused of leaking details that included the makeup of his Navy battle group, its planned movements and a drawing of the group's formation when it was to pass through the Straits of Hormuz on April 29, 2001.

Files found on a computer disk recovered by authorities from a suspected terrorism supporter's home also included the number and type of personnel on each ship and the ships' capabilities and ended with instructions to destroy the message, according to testimony.

Retired Rear Adm. David Hart Jr., who was involved in planning the deployment of the battle group and was the commander, testified Wednesday that he would have immediately alerted his supervisor in 2001 had he known that a battle group document was in the hands of suspected terrorism supporters. He said he would have sought an opportunity to change the time and nature of the operation.

"It was a very vulnerable period of time for us," Hart said. He noted earlier that naval officials had taken steps to protect sailors after 17 of them were killed in the 2000 terrorist attack on the USS Cole in Yemen.

Hart also said that sailors were typically in a heightened state of readiness through Strait of Hormuz, a busy, narrow Persian Gulf waterway where they are frequently challenged by Iranian officials.

Hart confirmed that the information Abu-Jihaad is accused of leaking was sensitive and classified.

But on cross-examination, Abu-Jihaad's attorney, Dan Labelle, said the Navy wasn't shy about letting the world know when it was deploying ships to the Persian Gulf because it wanted to project strength and deter a crisis.

"I think that's fair to say," Hart responded.

Hart testified that some other information in the leaked documents was incorrect, including a claim related to the vulnerability to a small craft attack. But he said he was still concerned because even if the allegedly leaked details were not precisely accurate, they would have given away the key tactical element of surprise.

Defense attorneys introduced a ship log indicating that the battle group passed through the Strait of Hormuz on May 2, 2001, not April 29. But Hart testified that the plan did call for passing on April 29 into an area sometimes confused with the Strait of Hormuz.

The documents indicated that ships would pass through the strait in a dual formation, which did not happen, Hart said. He also called a diagram that showed a submarine on each side of the ships "tactically unfeasible."

Prosecutors noted that a title on the document appeared on only one column of the ships, suggesting a single formation.

Prosecutors also acknowledge that they don't have direct proof that Abu-Jihaad leaked details of ship movements. But they introduced e-mails he exchanged with a Web site operated by suspected terrorism supporters.

Prosecutors also introduced a document showing Abu-Jihaad had a secret security clearance, saying that could have given him access to the ship movements.

He was charged in the same case that led to the 2004 arrest of Babar Ahmad, a British computer specialist accused of running Web sites to raise money, appeal for fighters and provide equipment such as gas masks and night vision goggles for terrorists. Ahmad is to be extradited to the U.S.

Abu-Jihaad is being prosecuted in New Haven because the federal investigation first focused on a Connecticut-based Internet service provider.

Copyright 2007 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Examiner : Navy says documents allegedly leaked by Phoenix sailor dangerous

Navy says documents allegedly leaked by Phoenix sailor dangerous

By JOHN CHRISTOFFERSEN, The Associated Press | February 27, 2008

NEW HAVEN, Conn. - The Navy would have immediately changed plans had it known that details of ship movements had been leaked to suspected terrorism supporters, a retired top Navy official testified Wednesday at the trial of a former sailor on terrorism charges.

Hassan Abu-Jihaad, 32, of Phoenix, has pleaded not guilty to federal charges alleging he provided material support to terrorists and disclosed classified national defense information.

If convicted, he faces up to 25 years in prison.

Abu-Jihaad, an American-born Muslim convert formerly known as Paul R. Hall, is accused of leaking information that could have doomed his own ship. He was a Navy signalman and received an honorable discharge in 2002.

He is accused of passing along details that included the makeup of his Navy battle group, its planned movements and a drawing of the group's formation when it was to pass through the Straits of Hormuz on April 29, 2001.

Files found on a computer disk recovered by authorities from an alleged terror supporter's home also included the number and type of personnel on each ship and the ships' capabilities and ended with instructions to destroy the message, according to testimony.

Retired Rear Adm. David Hart Jr., who was involved in planning the development of the battle group and was the commander, testified Wednesday that he would have immediately alerted his supervisor in 2001 had he known that a battle group document was in the hands of suspected terrorism supporters. He said he would have sought an opportunity to change the time and nature of the operation.

"It was a very vulnerable period of time for us," Hart said. He noted earlier that naval officials had taken steps to protect sailors after 17 sailors were killed in the 2000 terrorist attack on the USS Cole in Yemen.

Hart also said that sailors were typically in a heightened state of readiness through Strait of Hormuz, a busy narrow Persian Gulf waterway where they are frequently challenged by Iranian officials.

Hart confirmed that the information Abu-Jihaad is accused of leaking was sensitive and classified.

But on cross-examination, Abu-Jihaad's attorney, Dan Labelle, said the Navy wasn't shy about letting the world know when it was deploying ships to the Persian Gulf because it wanted to project strength and deter a crisis.

"I think that's fair to say," Hart responded.

Hart testified that some information in the leaked documents was incorrect, including a claim related to the vulnerability to a small craft attack. But Hart testified that he was still concerned because even if the allegedly leaked details were not precisely accurate, they would have given away the key tactical element of surprise.

Referring to ship movements, Hart said, "That could be an important piece of information."

Defense attorneys introduced a ship log indicating that the battle group passed through the Strait of Hormuz on May 2, 2001, not April 29. But Hart also testified that the plan did call for passing into another area on April 29 that is sometimes confused with the Strait of Hormuz.

The documents indicated that ships would pass through the strait in a dual formation, which did not happen, Hart said. He also called a diagram that showed a submarine on each side of the ships "tactically unfeasible."

Prosecutors noted that a title on the document appeared only on one column of the ships, suggesting a single formation.

Prosecutors acknowledge that they don't have direct proof that Abu-Jihaad leaked details of ship movements. But they introduced e-mails he exchanged with a Web site operated by suspected terrorism supporters.

Prosecutors also introduced a document showing Abu-Jihaad had a secret security clearance, saying that could have given him access to the ship movements.

He was charged in the same case that led to the 2004 arrest of Babar Ahmad, a British computer specialist accused of running Web sites to raise money, appeal for fighters and provide equipment such as gas masks and night vision goggles for terrorists. Ahmad is to be extradited to the U.S.

Abu-Jihaad is being prosecuted in New Haven because the federal investigation first focused on a Connecticut-based Internet service provider.

Copyright 2007 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.