FBI Special Agent: Some Trained 'Jihadists' Are In Oregon
KiroTV.Com
January 26, 2005PORTLAND, Ore. -- The FBI knows of "jihadists" who have trained in terrorist camps in Afghanistan and are now living in Oregon although there is no "imminent threat," the agency's Oregon chief said on Tuesday.
Robert Jordan's comments come as the city of Portland considers whether to remove its officers from a joint terrorism task force with the FBI. Some members of the Portland City Council want greater civilian oversight of the task force.
In an interview with The Associated Press, Jordan said the FBI is not aware of any "imminent threat" from al-Qaida terrorists in Oregon.
"But I will say this: We have people here in Oregon that have trained in jihadist camps in bad areas. In the bad neighborhoods of the world," Jordan added.
He said the FBI knows "they've trained overseas, taken oaths to kill Americans and engage in jihad," but the challenge is "to prove those things."
Jordan refused to go into details.
After discussing the "jihadists," Jordan pointed to the case of six Portland area men who pleaded guilty in 2003 to charges of plotting to wage battle against American forces in Afghanistan.
He said that is one of the must successful cases in the war against terrorism.
"Which is what is puzzling about this current local debate, about whether or not the Portland Police Bureau is going to participate" in the terrorism task force, Jordan said.
This was "not a far-flung case that happened in Southern Florida or New Hampshire. It happened right here," he said.
Two Portland police officers are on the FBI's joint terrorism task force, which was created in 1997.
During the interview with The AP, which lasted nearly two hours, Jordan discussed a wide range of themes -- from his agents' participation in the Bush administration's war on terror to the upcoming opening of a new laboratory in Portland to conduct forensic work on computers seized from suspects.
Jordan said that last fall FBI agents in Oregon took part in an analysis of crop-dusting aircraft across the country, interviewing their current and past owners, examining bills of sale and other pertinent information.
The crop duster interviews, he said, led to some questionable activities being disrupted. He declined to provide specifics.
Beth Anne Steele, spokeswoman for the FBI's Portland office, said it was the second time since the terror attacks of Sept. 11, 2001 that FBI agents had interviewed owners and pilots of crop duster planes.
The purpose is not just to make an accounting of where the aircraft are, she said, but also to encourage people who use the planes to contact the FBI if a suspicious person inquires about buying such an aircraft.
Jordan said demands on the FBI's agents in Oregon have increased since the Sept. 11 terror attacks and since the launching of the war on Iraq.
He said some of his agents have been assigned to the U.S. prison for suspected terrorists at Guantanamo Bay.