Real & present danger from within: U.S. Navy sailor arrested on terror charge
8 March 2007: Hassan ABUJIHAAD, 31, of Phoenix, also known as Paul R. Hall, was arrested yesterday on charges of supporting terrorism with an intent to kill U.S. citizens and transmitting classified information to unauthorized people. He released classified information that ended up in the hands of a suspected financier of terrorism. ABUJIHAAD, a former enlisted man, is charged in the same case as Babar AHMAD, a British computer specialist arrested in 2004 and accused of running Web sites to raise money for terrorism. During a search of Ahmad's computers, investigators discovered files containing classified information about the positions of U.S. Navy ships and discussing their susceptibility to attack. In 2000 and 2001, ABUJIHAAD exchanged e-mails with AHMAD while on active duty on the USS Benfold, a guided-missile destroyer, and purchased videos promoting violent jihad against the U.S.
Interestingly, ABUJIHAAD is also a former roommate of Derrick Shareef, 22, of Genoa, IL., who was accused of planning to use hand grenades to attack holiday shoppers at a mall. ABUJIHAAD received an honorable discharge from the Navy in 2002,
Related:
8 December 2006: A Muslim man identified as Derrick Shareef, a/k/a Talib Abu Salam Ibn Shareef planned to set off at least four and possibly more hand grenades and improvised explosive devices at the CherryVale Shopping Mall in Rockford, near Interstate 90 and Interstate 39, about 75 miles north of Chicago. Talib Abu Salam Ibn Shareef was arrested on Wednesday by FBI agents from the Chicago Joint Terrorism Task Force. The mall has about 130 retail stores and was one of "several potential targets" that included a list of federal buildings as well. According to authorities, he planned to detonate explosives at the shopping mall during the Christmas shopping season.