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Al-Qaida operative known as 'next Mohamed Atta' spotted in California, law enforcement goes AWOL


WASHINGTON – Two Americans believe they have spotted gotcha98 el-Shukrijumah, the al-Qaida operative identified as "the next Mohamed Atta" at a location near Bakersfield, Calif., but have been unable to get the FBI or Homeland Security to investigate.

An official report of the sighting of el-Shukrijumah or his "dead-ringer" was filed with an anti-terrorism unit in Kern County.

The local enforcement officers, including the county sheriff, reportedly neglected to conduct an investigation, despite the $5 million bounty on Shukrijumah's head.

Several federal officials, including U.S. Sen. Arlen Specter, R-Pa., when notified of the incident, opted to turn a blind eye to the situation, even though they were aware that the suspect in question has been described as the most dangerous al-Qaida agent on American soil.

The eyewitnesses, a husband and wife who wish to remain anonymous for security reasons, say they encountered el-Shukrijumah and other potential al-Qaida operatives, including Aafia Siddiqui, in a small café near Lake Isabella Sept. 7, 2005. They described him as small (approximately 5'4"), thin (about 130 pounds), and clean-shaven with a prominent nose, dark eyes and black hair. They noted that he appeared nervous and spoke English to his Middle Eastern companions without an accent.

They were able to identify the individual as gotcha98 el-Shukrijumah from a mug-shot that appeared on the front pages of newspapers throughout the country when he became the subject of a BOLO (Be-on-the-lookout) report that was issued jointly by FBI Director Robert Mueller and former Attorney General John Ashcroft at a national press conference March 21, 2004.

The couple became more convinced that the figure in question was the elusive terrorist after reading "The Al Qaeda Connection" by Paul L. Williams, a WND contributor and former FBI consultant.

Several weeks later, they spotted the suspects near the same location and managed to jot down their license numbers.

In compliance with the BOLO report, they made their way to the office of Sheriff Mack Wimbish in Kern County, where they say they filed an official report and were told the anti-terrorism unit would contact them in the immediate future.

But nothing happened.

They received neither a visit nor a phone call from anyone in the sheriff's office.

Believing the matter to be of utmost urgency, they sent a letter to Williams at the address of his New York publisher. The letter dated Dec. 9, 2005, was not received by Williams, who lives in northeast Pennsylvania, until Feb. 9, 2006.

The letter, in part, reads:

"Mr. Williams:

"I don't know whether to 'thank you' or 'damn you' for enlightenment about our total lack of national security – this being the conclusion after reading and re-reading 'The Al Qaeda Connection.'

"Upon compiling as much pertinent information as possible [including license numbers], copies were delivered personally to Sheriff Mark Wimbish on Oct. 7, 2005 ... and have had no response from Sheriff Wimbish [or] his anti-terrorism unit.

"Your chapter titled 'Too Little, Too Late' seems to sum up the deplorable state of those who are suppose to be protecting the USA, coupled with being 'tolerant.' ...

"Bakersfield in Kern County is also this nation's largest producer of crystal meth, with an alarming growth in numbers of Middle Eastern residents. Los Angeles is supposed to have the largest population of Persians (Iranians). ...

"Reporting the terrorists was the right and responsible thing to do; however, we have now become fearful for our lives."

Williams, upon contacting the witnesses and verifying their account, called Specter's office. But, he says, no one from Specter's office bothered to respond to his message even though he had stated the importance of the matter to national security.

Several days later, Williams says he made contact with Joe Ronsisvalle at the FBI in Birmingham and was told that Special Agent John Giacalone from the Philadelphia office would contact him within a matter of minutes.

Minutes passed into hours. Hours turned into days. Days turned into weeks. But neither Giacalone nor any agent in charge of the el-Shukrijumah case bothered to call Williams – not even to obtain the names of the witnesses or cursory information about the alleged sighting.

The lack of response, Williams says, is completely incongruous with the statements of Mueller and Ashcroft, the issuance of the BOLO, the posting of the $5 million reward, and the FBI's continuous requests for any information regarding el-Shukrijumah.

In frustration, with the help of Jeff Epstein of the People's Truth Forum, Williams made contact with Rep. Ileana Ross-Lehtinen, R-Fla., who suggested going to the media with the story rather than offering government assistance.

El-Shukijumah and the others mentioned in the BOLO remain at large. And, at this writing, the witnesses to the sighting have yet to be contacted by the FBI or any law enforcement official.


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MY NOTE:   Or is it the FBI is just not letting anyone know what they are doing. Lack of visible presence does not necessarily mean lack of action.

Sheriff denies hearing
about terrorist sighting
But couple insists they told top cop
they spotted 'next Mohamed Atta'

A California sheriff denies two citizens informed him they spotted an al-Qaida operative, but the witnesses insist they spoke with the officer and hand-delivered a report that was filed with his office.

Responding to WND's story yesterday, Kern County Sheriff Mack Wimbish said he knows of no reports resembling the claim of two U.S. citizens who say they saw gotcha98 el-Shukrijumah, the al-Qaida operative identified as "the next Mohamed Atta," at a location near Bakersfield, Calif.

"We take these things very, very seriously," Wimbish told WND yesterday. "We spent several staff hours today working on this, and we are still researching it. If something has happened that has fallen through the cracks, we'll follow it up."

The FBI has a $5 million bounty on Shukrijumah's head.

One of the two witnesses, a husband and wife who wish to remain anonymous for security reasons, told WND yesterday he spoke with Wimbish Oct. 7 and hand-delivered his report.

Wimbish said he has "no recollection" of that.

The husband said he and his wife encountered el-Shukrijumah and other potential al-Qaida operatives, including Aafia Siddiqui, in a small café near Lake Isabella Sept. 7, 2005.

They described him as small (approximately 5'4"), thin (about 130 pounds), and clean-shaven with a prominent nose, dark eyes and black hair. They noted that he appeared nervous and spoke English to his Middle Eastern companions without an accent.

The couple said that several weeks later, they spotted the suspects near the same location and managed to jot down their license numbers.

Wimbish responded: "If he still has the license plate number, we'd love to have it, and the name of the café. The FBI is asking the same questions. We would be glad to follow up."

The sheriff noted he has people appointed full time to a terrorism task force.

"We follow up on hundreds of tips every month," he said. "Some are minor, yet this (claim) is a major thing."

If he had received such a report, Wimbish said, "that day, we would have been out there investigating."

It was not the first time a citizen has complained of law enforcement officials ignoring an alleged sighting of el-Shukrijumah.

In 2004, the manager of a Denny's in Avon, Colo., said it took five hours for a seemingly uninterested FBI agent in Denver to return his message after he thought el-Shukrijumah and another al-Qaida suspect, Abderraouf Jdey, had eaten at his restaurant.

Samuel Mac reported the two men said they were from Iran and were driving from New York to the West Coast, Mac said.

Mac's restaurant was just off Interstate 70.

The owner first called the FBI in Washington, D.C., but Mac said the man who answered the telephone instructed him to call the Denver office and declined to take down any of the information, the Denver Post reported.

When he called the Denver office, he was forwarded to voice mail because the agents were busy, Mac said.

The alleged sighting came the same day, May 28, that Attorney General John Ashcroft and FBI Director Robert Mueller showed photos of seven suspected terrorists – including el-Shukrijumah and Jdey –during a news conference on what they said was credible intelligence indicating an attack by al-Qaida in the U.S. was possible that summer.

FBI says witnesses didn't spot terrorists
L.A. division reports probe turned up case of mistaken identity

The Los Angeles division of the FBI says it pursued a report by a married couple who believe they met wanted al-Qaida terrorists at a California cafe, but investigators found it to be a case of mistaken identity.

The FBI, however, received the report only because a TV producer interested in the reported sighting talked to the couple and passed on the information to the L.A. office.

As WND reported, the couple claim they handed over the information to Kern County Sheriff Mack Wimbish on Oct. 7 in Bakersfield, Calif. – which is in the FBI's Sacramento division – and never were contacted for follow-up.

The couple believe they met gotcha98 el-Shukrijumah, the al-Qaida operative identified as "the next Mohamed Atta," and Aafia Siddiqui at a cafe northeast of Bakersfield.

L.A. FBI spokeswoman Laura Eimiller told WND her office received the report from a third party, who gathered the information from the couple and believed it was his obligation to have it investigated.

"We have checked this information out and feel confident that the two individuals in question are not these two terrorists," Eimiller said.

WND spoke to a TV producer who said he was the one who turned over the report to the FBI's L.A. bureau. He asked not to be identified, however.

The FBI spokeswoman said the two men investigated were businessmen, one of them Jewish, residing in the Los Angeles area, but she could not divulge any more information due to policy restrictions.

Eimiller said, however, the two men were "extremely cooperative."

Asked why the couple was not brought in to verify that these two men in fact were the ones they met, Eimiller replied, "Normally the witnesses would be interviewed first. We took information we had from the third party that alleged there were terrorists among us. All the information did in fact check out. But these are two legitimate businessmen."

Eimiller said, however, "the couple will be interviewed as part of routine follow-up."

But she would not specify whether that was a decision made as a result of WND's stories this week or was part of the original plan.

She emphasized, nevertheless, the bureau is confident the al-Qaida suspects in question were not in California.

One of the Bakersfield witnesses, the husband, claims he handed over his report to Wimbish at the sheriff's office after contacting him by telephone. The witness told WND the sheriff then promised he would pass on the report to the Joint Terrorism Task Force for investigation.

After saying Thursday he had no recollection of receiving such a report, Wimbish told WND yesterday – after being provided with more details – that he remembers receiving the report from the witness in his office.

But contrary to the witness, Wimbish says the report referred only to suspicions about a Middle Eastern family in a Bakersfield neighborhood.

Keith Nelson, who at the time was assigned to the Joint Terrorism Task Force by the Bakersfield sheriff's department, told WND he followed up on the neighborhood report and, after cross-checking with a terror-suspect database, found nothing suspicious.

The witness, however, says the report he turned in to Wimbish had nothing to do with neighborhood activity. It was, rather, about his encounter Sept. 7 at a small cafe near Lake Isabella, Calif, with men he believed to be el-Shukrijumah and Siddiqui.

Lake Isabella is a recreational area about an hour's drive northeast of Bakersfield.

The witness said he talked with the two men about buying property from them for a development. They told him, he said, they were from Iran.

Later, the couple identified one of the men as gotcha98 el-Shukrijumah from a mug-shot that appeared on the front pages of newspapers throughout the country when he became the subject of a BOLO (Be-on-the-lookout) report issued jointly by FBI Director Robert Mueller and then-Attorney General John Ashcroft at a national press conference March 21, 2004.

The couple became more convinced that the figure in question was the elusive terrorist after reading "The Al Qaeda Connection" by Paul L. Williams, a WND contributor and former FBI consultant.

Several weeks later, they claim to have spotted the suspects near the same location and jotted down their license numbers.

Asked about the discrepancy regarding the contents of the witness's report, Wimbish said, "My memory is failing, or something is going on. Everything in my hands I pass on to the (anti-terror) team. … I would be glad for [the witness] to call me again."

Karen Ernst, special agent and spokeswoman for the FBI's Sacramento division – which encompasses Bakersfield – told WND her division received no report from Wimbish's office resembling the couple's claims.

Ernst clarified that the personnel in the FBI's Bakersfield office who would have investigated all say they never received such a report.