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09/22/03
 On
September 18, Muhammad Bilal and Ahmed Bilal pled guilty in
a Portland, Oregon, federal court to charges of conspiracy
to provide services to the Taliban, and conspiracy to possess
and discharge firearms in furtherance of crimes of violence.
Following the horrific attacks of September 11, 2001, they,
with co-conspirators, planned travel from Portland to Afghanistan
to assist the Taliban in fighting against the armed forces
of the United States.
Both
admit that during the summer of 2001, they and others trained
in fighting and with firearms in rural areas of Oregon and
Washington state to prepare for jihad in Afghanistan or elsewhere.
Both flew to Hong Kong to make their way into Afghanistan,
but were forced to turn back when they were unable to cross
into Pakistan.
Their
guilty pleas join that of Maher Mofeid Hawash, their co-conspirator,
who pled guilty in August to conspiracy of knowingly and illegally
supplying services "to the territory of Afghanistan controlled
by the Taliban or to the Taliban" in violation of Executive
Order 13129, which was issued by President Clinton on July
4, 1999.
The investigation
was conducted by the FBI's Joint Terrorism Task Force in Portland,
Oregon, made up of members of the Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco
and Firearms, Drug Enforcement Administration, the Internal
Revenue Service, the U.S. Marshals Service, the U.S. Department
of Agriculture, the Oregon State Police, the Portland Police
Bureau, the U.S. Postal Service, the Beaverton Police Department,
the Port of Portland, the Vancouver Police Department, and
the following agencies in the Department of Homeland Security:
ICE (formerly INS), U.S. Customs Service, U.S. Secret Service,
U.S. Coast Guard, and Federal Protective Services.
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