Churches can be found practically on every street corner both in town and in its sprawling suburbs. Charlotte has been a steady hub of southern Protestantism for the entirety of its history. That distinction continues today.
This city, therefore, is an unlikely place to find a terrorist cell that is part of a broad network of similar cells that are connected to Hizbollah, the dangerous Palestinian terrorist group associated with murderous attacks on Israel and its allies. Yet right here, in the buckle of the Bible belt, can be found one of the most dangerous and subversive Islamic extremist groups in the world.
In fact, the FBI reports that the entire state of North Carolina has become a common place of refuge for extremist Muslims, perhaps precisely due to the fact that this is a most unlikely place in which to find them. Their work can therefore be undertaken beneath the radar screen.
The FBI is investigating a terrorist network with connections in Raleigh, NC, Charlotte, NC, Greensboro, NC, Dearborn, MI, New York City, and a handful of other cities in America that serve as havens for Hizbollah. According to sources within the nation's counterterrorism apparatus, these terrorist cells did not come to North Carolina after 9/11 or after the first attack on the World Trade Center in 1992. One must go all the way back to the 1980s when a tight-knit group of Islamic extremists attended the North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University in Greensboro. There the foundation was laid for what would become a covert haven of Muslim extremists with definite connections to worldwide terror.
This subversive network was built by Sami al-Arian, a professor in computer engineering; his brother-in-law, Mazen al-Najjar; and Khalid Shaikh Mohammed. Mohammed used the knowledge he gained in engineering at North Carolina A&T allegedly to mastermind the Sept. 11 attacks. He also is suspected of plotting other atrocities, such as the bombing of the USS Cole, the murder of journalist Daniel Pearl, and the 1993 World Trade Center attack with his nephew, Ramzi Yousef.
Further investigations have uncovered more criminal activity by the Charlotte cell, including sending money and other aid to Hizbollah, racketeering, and money laundering.
The Counterterrorism Network reports the following:
* U.S.A. v. Mohamad Youssef Hammoud et al., Charlotte, North Carolina: 25 individuals charged in connection with cigarette smuggling, money laundering, credit card fraud, marriage fraud and immigration violations. Four individuals were charged with providing material support or resources to a foreign terrorist organization, Hizballah, specifically providing currency, financial services, training, false documentation and identification, communications equipment, explosives, and other physical assets to Hizballah, in order to facilitate its violent attacks. In 2003, Mohamad Hammoud was sentenced to 155 years in prison, while his brother, Chawki, was sentenced to 51 months.
* U.S.A. v. Elias Mohamad Akhdar et al. (pdf), Dearborn, Michigan: 11 co-defendants charged with racketeering related to the Charlotte, North Carolina scheme. In January, 2004, Akhdar was sentenced to 70 months in prison and was fined over $2,000,000 after having pled guilty in July, 2003.
* U.S.A. v. Imam Mohamad-Musbah Hammoud, et al., Michigan, Canada (Ontario, Quebec), Lebanon: In March, 2006, 19 co-defendants charged with a racketeering scheme involving contraband cigarettes, counterfeit Zig Zag rolling papers and counterfeit Viagra, counterfeit cigarette tax stamps, transporting stolen property, and money laundering. A percentage of the profits derived from the illegal enterprise were given to Hizballah. On July 7, two of the defendants, Imad Majed Hamadeh and Theodore Schenk, 73 pled guilty (pdf). Hamadeh and Schenk face a maximum possible penalty of 20 years imprisonment and a $250,000 fine.
This activity, however, is not confined to aiding and abetting terrorism overseas. The threat to the local area from these terrorist cells that seek safe haven here is very real. The Center for Immigration Studies reports, for example, that 'Kamran Sheikh Akhtar was detained in Charlotte, North Carolina while videotaping buildings there in July 2004. He entered the United States illegally through Mexico in December 1991 and claimed political asylum in 1992. Five years later, in 1997, the asylum request was denied. A month later, he sought to resist removal by filing for residency based on marriage to an American. In March 1998, he is found by an immigration judge to be removable and is given voluntary departure, but a month later the marriage petition secures a permanent residency.'
While using American law to further their subversive agenda, these killers gain asylum throughout the U.S. through the marriage exception, i.e., being married to an American prevents their deportation. Sheikh Akhtar benefitted from such an arrangement and was subsequently caught videotaping buildings in Charlotte.
According to the FBI, Charlotte is a potentially attractive notch in the belt of terrorists. The city's large banking district is considered to be one of the top financial hubs in the nation today.
Not surprisingly, there is a definite Iranian connection to the Hizbollah terrorist activity in Charlotte. According to the Washington Center for Near East Policy, 'Hezbollah operatives in Charlotte, North Carolina, responded directly to Sheikh Abbas Haraki, a senior Hezbollah military commander in South Beirut. At the same time, Hezbolllah procurement agents in Canada who coordinated with the Charlotte cell worked directly with Haj Hasan Hilu Laqis, Hezbollah's chief procurement officer who operates closely with Iranian intelligence.'
Connect the dots. Iran, which is building nuclear weapons to use against Israel, Britain, and the United States, is directly involved with the activity of Hizbollah in Lebannon, with cells operating right here in Charlotte and in other parts of the U.S.
The long and significant history of radical Islam's movements in North Carolina is reason for alarm. For twenty years the area has been the subject of intense scrutiny by Jihadist operatives who have made inroads into the region. That fact that this subversive activity is occurring not only in Charlotte, but in Raleigh, Greensboro, Ashville, Winston-Salem, and other areas of North Carolina should be a sobering wake-up call to citizens who have been lulled to sleep by the six years of calm since the 9/11 attack.
The question is, is this simply the calm before the storm?
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