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Los Angeles Times

May 10, 2003 Saturday

Home Edition

SECTION: CALIFORNIA METRO; Part 2; Metro Desk; Pg. 1

LENGTH: 972 words

HEADLINE: Saudi Envoy in L.A. Is Deported;

Prayer leader at King Fahd Mosque is suspected of having links to terrorists, officials say.

BYLINE: Patrick J. McDonnell, Times Staff Writer

BODY:
A Saudi consular official and Muslim prayer leader based in Los Angeles was denied entry to the United States this
week and expelled from the country because of suspected terrorist links, according to law enforcement officials and
documents.
Fahad al Thumairy, 31, part of the Saudi Consulate here since 1996, was detained at Los Angeles International
Airport on Tuesday after arriving on a Lufthansa flight from Frankfurt. He carried a Saudi passport and an A-2 visa
normally issued to diplomats or government dignitaries.
U.S. authorities, acting on undisclosed intelligence information, revoked the visa in March ~ a fact apparently
unknown to al Thumairy.
After two days in custody, al Thumairy was expelled from the country Thursday and put aboard a Frankfurt-bound
flight with connections to Saudi Arabia, officials said. The terms of his expulsion ban him from returning to the United
States for five years.
"He was placed on an international flight, destined for Riyadh," said Virginia Kice, a spokeswoman for the
Department of Homeland Security.
At the consulate, al Thumairy held a diplomatic post in the Islamic and cultural affairs section. He also served as a
prayer leader at the King Fahd Mosque in Culver City, one of Southern California's largest Muslim houses of worship.
A many as 1,000 worshipers gather at the blue and white mosque on Fridays, the Muslim holy day. The worshipers
include many immigrants from Asia, Africa, the Middle East and elsewhere, along with U.S.-born Muslims.
The Saudi government helped finance construction of the King Fahd Mosque, part of the government's practice of
promoting Islam abroad.
The Arab kingdom also funds construction of other mosques, prints and distributes Korans, and provides prayer
leaders and religious speakers worldwide. Members of the Saudi royal family, including the ailing King Fahd, view
themselves as the caretakers of Islam and its holiest shrines.
Since Sept. 11, 2001, U.S. officials have stepped up scrutiny of visa applicants from Saudi Arabia and other
Muslim nations, while launching a program to register and question those who come to the United States. Saudis and
other Arabs have complained that it has become extremely difficult to visit the United States. The number of visas
issued to Saudi Arabians plummeted almost 70% in fiscal 2002, to about 14,100.
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Los Angeles Times May 10, 2003 Saturday

U.S. authorities canceled al Thumairy's visa March 21. One source said a State Department communique
specifically mentioned that al Thumairy had suspected affiliation with terrorists. Further details were not available.
Officials placed his name on a computerized list of travelers who should be denied entry to the United States
because of suspected links to terrorism, criminal records or other reasons. When he arrived at the airport, inspectors
noted the alert, directed him for additional inspection and discovered that his visa was no longer valid.
His detention prompted a flurry of telephone calls to Washington and the arrival of agents from the FBI, the Joint
Terrorism Task Force ~ a multi-agency group ~ and other security services. Al Thumairy was interrogated for several
hours but, according to one official, did not offer much.
"He was fairly clammed up, and kept to himself," the official said. "He shut his mouth and didn't ask for anything."
Knowledgeable observers said the fact that al Thumairy was allowed to leave the country indicates there was no
direct evidence linking him to extremists. "If he were a terrorist and we thought he would do harm, we wouldn't have
deported him," said one Justice Department official, speaking on condition of anonymity.
Saudi consular officials from Los Angeles tried to reach al Thumairy — one attempted to deliver a prayer rug while
he was at the airport, an official said - but were unable to speak with him.
Officials of the Saudi Consulate in Los Angeles and the Saudi Embassy in Washington declined to comment on the
matter.
Al Thumairy is a religious expert whose scholarship on Islam has earned him the title shaikh -- roughly, "learned
one" - even though he is only 31. Officials at the King Fahd Mosque described him as an extremely spiritual, beloved
and nonviolent man whose sermons and conversation never veered to the political. They said he explicitly condemned
terrorism and the attacks of Sept. 11.
"Shaikh Fahad was a very religious person ~ he never dealt with politics, in his public comments or in private
gatherings," said Tajuddin Shuaib, a native of Ghana who directs the mosque, which is run by a nonprofit group. "Like
the rest of us, he was really shocked about Sept. 11. He felt it was wrong and, in the long term, that it would harm
Muslims. His impression was that it would have some bad repercussions."
Mosque leaders said they were happy to have him as their imam because of his great knowledge and the fact that
his status as an employee of the Saudi government saved them the expense of hiring a prayer leader. However, Shuaib
stressed that his presence was a convenience, not a mandate from Saudi Arabia. Al Thumairy traveled frequently to
Saudi Arabia, including a recent trip back for the Hajj, the holy pilgrimage to Mecca that all Muslims strive to
undertake. He had recently left again for Saudi Arabia and was expected back this week.
Oil-rich Saudi Arabia has long been a key ally of Washington in the Middle East, but the attacks of Sept. 11 - and
the revelation that 15 of the 19 hijackers were Saudi nationals — have introduced new tensions in relations between the
two nations. Saudi officials have angrily denied reports that some hijackers may have received financial support from
government representatives.
Riyadh has also stressed its role in hunting down militant followers of the Saudi-born Osama bin Laden.
*
Times staff writer Greg Krikorian contributed to this report.

LOAD-DATE: May 10, 2003

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Fahad al-Thumairy

Background

*Education

Where did you study? What did you study?

*Employment history

Describe your current occupation. When did you start this position? How did you get it? What does it
entail?

Describe your previous employment.

*Fa»iily

Where are you from? Where does your family live now? Do you have any family currently living in the
United States? Have any of your family members previously lived in the U.S.?

Where do your family members work? Do any of your relatives work for the Saudi Government?

* Tra vel/Residence History

Where do you live now? Where have you lived previously? Have you ever lived in the U.S.? If so, when
were you in the U.S. and where did you live during that time? Why did you decide to come to the U.S.?

Where did you travel within the U.S. while you were living there? For what purpose did you travel? Who
were you meeting with on these trips?

Did you travel abroad while you were living in the U.S.? When did you do so, and what was the purpose of
these trips?

*Associates

Who are your closest personal and professional associates? Who were your closest professional and
personal associates, both in the U.S. and abroad, when you were living in the U.S.? Do you maintain
contact with any individuals in the U.S.?

*Lxt Role at the King Fahad Mosque, Culver City, California

When was the first time you were there9 When was the last time you were there? How frequently did you
attend the mosque'.'

Are you currently affiliated with the KFM. How did you first become affiliated with the mosque? What
^^ roles have you played at the mosque in the past? How did you get that position? During what time period
••^^ were you affiliated with the mosque? Who were your superiors at the mosque? Were there others who
worked for you, and whom he could task? Are you still in contact with individuals at the mosque?

Who were your closest associates at the mosque? Do you keep in touch with any of these individuals?

Do you know how the KFM was originally funded? Who supports it now?

Who currently runs the mosque? Who has had this role in the past? What was your relationship like with
the mosque's leadership? What were your impressions of them?

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Who selects the imams and leadership of the mosque? Who has had this role in the past? What role do
Saudi government officials play in this process?

How well known is the mosque, in California, in the U.S., and abroad? Are most of the attendees from the
Culver City area, or do individuals from elsewhere frequently attend the mosque?

How big is the mosque? How many people generally come to daily services? Would a new visitor to the
mosque stand out in any way? How are new visitors generally received? Who would play a role in
welcoming a new visitor, and what would this entail?

Describe generally the attendees at the mosque. Has the mosque had any problems with radical elements?
If so, what steps have mosque leadership taken to address this problem?

Does the mosque play any role in welcoming or hosting visiting Saudis, including religious figures,
students, and others? If so, what role does the mosque play, and is it independent of the Saudi government,
or in conjunction?

Describe the relationship between mosque leadership and Saudi government personnel in the U.S. What
role do the Saudi establishments in the U.S. play in managing the mosque?

Were you affiliated with any other mosques?

Role at Saudi Consulate

What role did you have at the Consulate? How did you get that position? How much did you receive in
compensation?

Who were your superiors at the Consulate?

Were there others who worked for you, and whom you could task?

Who were your closest associates at the Consulate? At the Embassy in Washington?

San Diego

Did you ever visit San Diego when you were living in the U.S.? For what purpose? Whom did you visit?
How often?

How did you travel to San Diego? With whom did you go? Where did you stay?

Have you visited any mosques in San Diego? If so, which ones?

Do you know:

Anwar Aualqi?
Modhar Abdullah?
lyad Kreiwesh?
Omar al-Bayoumi?
Yazeed al-Salmi?
Omar Bakerbashat?
Osama Awadallah?
Samir Abdoun?
Djmal Hadjerowa?

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Fathi Abdullah?
Arif or Asif Shaikh?

If so, how would you characterize your relationship with this person?

Benomrane

Do you knowTBenomrane? If so, how? Who introduced you?

Describe your relationship with Benomrane.

Did you ever ask Benomrane to run errands or perform tasks for you at the KFM or the consulate? If so,
how often? Did you pay him? How much? With what money?

Did you ask Benomrane to show any visiting Saudis around Los Angeles?

Saudis Visiting the U.S.

What role did you have in hosting or welcoming visiting Saudis, including religious figures, students, and
others?

If you had a role, was it through the Consulate or the mosque?

How would you find out about incoming visitors?

Consulate Meeting

Are you aware of the alleged meeting between Bayoumi and another individual at the consulate?

Associates

Do you know:

Khali 1 A. Khali)?
Khalid Charif?
Mohammed Aliter?

If so, how would you characterize your relationship with this person?

Hijackers

Are you aware that 9/11 hijackers Nawaf al-Hazmi and Khalid al-Midhar attended the KFM? Did you ever
have any contact with Hazmi, Midhar, or Hani Hanjour. all of whom spent some time on the West Coast of
the U.S.?

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