toledoblade.com --

The key witness in the U.S. government’s case against three men accused of terrorist activity took the stand Wednesday morning and is being questioned about his background.

Darren Griffin, 42, a former member of the U.S. Army’s Special Forces, was born in Lima, Ohio but has lived in Toledo for most of his life where he attended Woodward High School for a period.

An informant in the terrorist case, Mr. Griffin said he became involved with the Federal Bureau of Investigation after spending a year working undercover for the Drug Enforcement Agency. He then said with deep emotion that it was the events of Sept. 11, 2001, that led him to want to take a more active role in the solution.

Mr. Griffin admitted on the witness stand that he’s had some problems with money and drug use in his past.

He testified that he created a new identity for himself, one of a former Green Beret who was disenchanted with the U.S. and the country’s policies overseas. He grew a beard, dressed in traditional Arabic clothing, and began taking classes at a mosque on Monroe Street, he testified.

During questioning from Assistant U.S. Attorney Greg Sofer, Mr. Griffin outlined his initial contacts with the three defendants. He said that they were not the original "people of interest" that he was assigned to gather information on but that questions from the men heightened his curiosity.

Mohammad Zaki Amawi, 28; Marwan Othman El- Hindi, 45, and Wassim I. Mazloum, 26, are each charged with planning to wage a "holy war" using skills they learned on the Internet. Specifically, the government alleged that the three conspired to kill or injure people in the Middle East — including U.S. troops serving in Iraq — by providing "support and resources." They also are charged with "distributing information regarding explosives."

Mr. Griffin said Mr. El-Hindi asked him about how easy it would be to kidnap an Israeli soldier or a politician. He also spoke of a phone call from Mr. El-Hindi in which he asked Mr. Griffin to train two young men.

"He wanted me to train them for Islamic extremist jihad or holy war," Mr. Griffin testified.

He also testified about meeting Mr. Amawi, specifically about the change in his attitude and appearance after returning from a trip overseas. He said that Mr. Amawi spoke of attempting to cross the border from Jordan to Iraq during his trip overseas and that he later spoke of wanting to perform "jihad against U.S. troops overseas."

Mr. Griffin’s testimony, which is expected to last several days, will continue after lunch.

Although there are more than 300 hours' worth of recorded conversations focused on concepts such as holy wars and suicide vests and roadside bombs, the evidence will show that "nothing happened," defense attorneys countered.

Instead, the tapes will reveal a government informant who constantly criticizes U.S. policy in the Middle East and finally gets the three men to tepidly agree, defense attorney Stephen Hartman said.

UPDATED - 10:35 A.M.

Government informant takes witness stand in federal court

The key witness in the U.S. government’s case against three men accused of terrorist activity took the stand this morning and is being questioned about his background.

Darren Griffin, 42, a former member of the U.S. Army’s Special Forces, was born in Lima, Ohio but has lived in Toledo for most of his life where he attended Woodward High School for a period.

An informant in the terrorist case, Mr. Griffin said he became involved with the Federal Bureau of Investigation after spending a year working undercover for the Drug Enforcement Agency.

He became connected with the FBI after seeing the events of Sept. 11, 2001 and deciding he wanted to be a part of a solution.

Mr. Griffin admitted on the witness stand that he’s had some problems with money and drug use in his past.

His testimony is expected to last several days.

ALSO
BEGINNING OF THIS STORY: 3 charged in terror plot; local suspects planned attacks in Iraq, U.S. says (Feb. 22, 2006)

VIEW: Read the original grand jury indictment
VIEW: Toledo terror trial
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Specifically, federal officials alleged that the men conspired to kill or injure people in the Middle East - including U.S. troops serving in Iraq - by providing "support and resources."

They also are charged with "distributing information regarding explosives."

Assistant U.S. Attorney Thomas Getz outlined the government's case against the men in a 40-minute opening statement. He referred to 2003, when he said Mr. Amawi returned from an extended stay in Jordan a different man, one who was more extreme in his beliefs, in his appearance, and in his disdain for Westerners.

"At this time he was accessing jihadist Web sites that showed the beheading of Americans and the killing of American soldiers," Mr. Getz said. "He would sing along to jihadist songs and hum along with the soundtrack of these violent videos."

Mr. El-Hindi, Mr. Getz added, was "extremely familiar with these sites." But Mr. El-Hindi's role was as the "moneyman of the operation," Mr. Getz said.

Saying Mr. El-Hindi helped create various organizations and businesses, the assistant U.S. attorney said the goal was to use this money "to fund some of the violent jihad training."

It is through one such company, which recruited students for medical schools overseas, that Mr. El-Hindi met and subsequently recruited two cousins from the Chicago area into the terrorist training, Mr. Getz said.

Khaleel and Zubair Ahmed face terrorism-related charges and will be tried separately in U.S. District Court in Toledo.

"Mr. El-Hindi knew about the cousins' radical thoughts and secretly recruited them, not for medical school, but convinced them that they needed to be trained," he said.

Attorneys said the bulk of the government's evidence is in the form of taped conversations over three years of the men and the government's informant, Darren Griffin, a former member of the U.S. Army's Special Forces.

The informant met the men through the local mosque, where he presented himself as a converted Muslim activist with radical views who opposed the war in Iraq.

Defense attorneys attacked Mr. Griffin's credibility in their opening statements.

Speaking for about one hour each, defense attorneys for Mr. Amawi and Mr. El-Hindi said that Mr. Griffin was a man with a sordid past who was paid more than $350,000 for his information.

Despite the government's contention that Mr. Griffin's conversations with the three defendants reveal radical thoughts in their "minds and hearts," the defense team said these conversations were in fact "twisted" by Mr. Griffin to sound sinister.

"When you hear these tapes, when you hear words like jihad, when you pay attention to who is saying these words . ... They are not going to be said by Mr. Amawi. They are not going to be said by Mr. El-Hindi. They are not going to be said by Mr. Mazloum. They are going to be said, the evidence will show, by Mr. Griffin," said Timothy Ivey, who is representing Mr. Amawi.

Mr. Ivey called the case against the men "a misplaced effort by the government to go out and find terrorists." And Mr. Griffin, he said, made that happen by engaging the men in conversations that they likely never would have had.

THE ALLEGATIONS

The federal government is alleging that Mohammad
Zaki Amawi, Marwan Othman El-Hindi, and Wassim I.
Mazloum:

• Conspired to kill or injure people in the Middle East — including U.S. troops serving in Iraq — by providing “support and resources.”

• Distributed information regarding explosives.

• Planned to wage a “holy war” using skills they learned on the Internet.

• Created various organizations and businesses with the goal of using the profits “to fund some of the violent jihad training.”

Mr. Hartman, who is representing Mr. El-Hindi, said that the snippets of recorded conversations that the government will present as evidence won't show the whole picture. Instead, it's the conversations in between that show Mr. Griffin "pushing" and Mr. El-Hindi's lack of response.

Mr. Mazloum's attorneys chose not to make an opening statement.

Mr. Amawi has dual Jordanian and American citizenship and was living in Toledo. Mr. El-Hindi, who is a naturalized U.S. citizen, was born in Jordan and living in Toledo at the time of his arrest. Mr. Mazloum, who is from Lebanon but is a legal permanent resident of the United States and who was living in Sylvania, was a University of Toledo student at the time of his arrest.

All of the men are Muslim.

Defense attorneys said that the fear of terrorism on local soil and the fear of the Islamic religion are fueling the drive to seek out terrorist cells. They reminded jurors that the men's opposition to the war in Iraq and to U.S. foreign policy is not illegal.

"Part of the evidence will be about fear, fear about Islam and about the war on terror," Mr. Hartman said.

The trial, which is expected to last more than three months, will be heard by a jury of nine men and nine women, including six alternates chosen for the case.

Jurors, who are allowed to take notes during the proceedings, are expected to be able to begin deliberations in early July.

The case will resume this morning with Judge James Carr presiding.

Contact Erica Blake at: eblake@theblade.com or 419-724-6076.

TIMELINE OF EVENTS

ASSOCIATED PRESS

A timeline of events according to federal prosecutors and documents filed in their terrorism case against Marwan Othman El-Hindi, Mohammad Zaki Amawi, and Wassim I. Mazloum, who all lived in Toledo in recent years:

• 2002 — A former military man, who is Muslim — identified only as “the trainer” — is approached by El-Hindi about providing security and bodyguard training.

• July, 2004 — El-Hindi, Amawi, Mazloum and two recruits from Chicago meet with “the trainer” at a Muslim convention in Cleveland. They talk about a five-year plan to carry out their mission.

• November, 2004 — “The trainer” meets with Amawi and Mazloum about training for a holy war. El-Hindi solicits “the trainer” to go to the Middle East with him to set up a facility that would give firearms training. Amawi and “the trainer” meet for an instructional session on making bombs and timing devices.

• January, 2005 — Amawi shows “the trainer” a video on how to make explosives and they talk about different types of explosives. Amawi, “the trainer” and others practice target shooting at an undisclosed indoor range in Toledo. Amawi gives “the trainer” a computer disk containing a video on building a suicide bomb vest.

• February, 2005 — Amawi, El-Hindi and “the trainer” discuss plastic explosives. El-Hindi suggests to “the trainer” that they download training materials from a Web site for insurgents and show them to two recruits in Chicago. Mazloum offers to provide some funding for training supplies. The three men discuss the effectiveness of snipers against the U.S. military.

• April, 2005 — Amawi asks “the trainer” if he has a contact overseas who can supply a chemical explosive on behalf of a “brother” in the Middle East. Amawi gives the trainer a napkin on which he’s written a code word for the chemical explosive. Amawi sends a coded e-mail to a contact in the Middle East asking for the amount of chemical explosives needed and where it should be sent. Amawi and Mazloum participate in firearms training, express interest in learning about explosives and agree to obtain false identification documents.

• May, 2005 — Amawi requests training in the use of mortar.

• June, 2005 — Amawi suggests training with explosives on the Fourth of July.

• August, 2005 — Amawi and “the trainer” fly to Jordan, planning to deliver five computers to others involved in the alleged plot. Amawi carries a letter from a Toledo travel agency where he works that says the computers are intended to help the agency with an immigrant visa program. Amawi communicates with someone regarding turning over laptops to insurgents.

• February, 2006 — Amawi, El-Hindi and Mazloum are arrested. The three are charged with conspiracy to kill, kidnap, maim or injure people or damage property in a foreign country; conspiracy to kill U.S. nationals; and, conspiracy to provide or conceal material support to terrorists.

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