Jihad Pacific Northwest

The FBI is investigating a man who spent a signifigant amount of time in Seattle from 1999-2000 for possible connections to the London bombings.

From the P-I:

British police have identified Haroon Rashid Aswat as a possible source of logistical, financial and technical support to the four bombers, according to media reports. The question for federal agents in Seattle is whether the man named by Scotland Yard is the same man as Aswat Haroon Rashid who, along with James Ujaama of Seattle, Semi Osman of Tacoma and al-Qaida colleague Oussama Abdullah Kassir set up the camp in Bly in south-central Oregon.

The Jihad camp in Bly was once home to a number of criminals known to London authorities. As the most recent thwarted attacks in London would suggest, the camp was said to not be on par with those in eastern Afghanistan.

From the LA Times in 2002:

Ultimately, authorities say, Ujaama's audacious proposal disintegrated into a kind of moujahedeen comic-opera. According to federal investigators, the Al Qaeda agents who ventured to Oregon complained of grossly inflated claims and abysmal conditions at the ranch. Apparently blaming Ujaama, the burly militant calling himself Bin Laden's hit man mused about killing the Seattle deal-maker.

"Ujaama basically saw this as a cash cow," said one federal official, referring to the proposed Oregon camp. But, he said, once the amateurish reality on the ground became clear, "No self-respecting international terrorist would have anything to do with" Ujaama's plan.

Ujamma was called James Thompson when he was born in Denver and was one of the founders of the Dar-us-Salaam mosque in Seattle's Central District. Abu Hamza (pictured) who was arrested in 2004 in London is said to be a large backer for the Bly camp.