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  Hammoud apparently provided some of these credit cards to others so that they too could charge purchases at the JR outlet on his cards. And he was aware this exposed him to potential law enforcement scrutiny. In one conversation about a card Hammoud provided to someone else, Hammoud suddenly reminded the person at the other end of the line to be careful about what he says “because the line is being monitored by police.” The other person continued talking until Hammoud cut off the speaker again. “I am telling [you] over this telephone that I don’t know what [you] … mean by this … because the line is being monitored…. I have a big problem here.”102

  Where Harb could make a buck, he would. He was involved in an internet pornography business that, he conceded, was “religiously … wrong,” adding, “I’m not a religious person.”103 Some of the drivers who transported cigarettes to Michigan for Harb complained that he ripped them off. As one driver put it, “I mean, what was I going to do, go to the local police?”104 When a female driver threatened to quit, Harb retorted that he would go to the restaurant where she worked and “kick everybody’s ass” and blow it up.105

  “Death to America!”

  Alongside the funds Hammoud raised through criminal enterprises, he collected donations for Hezbollah at weekly Thursday evening prayer meetings he hosted in his home, according to several local Shi’a men who attended.106 The men would pray, talk politics, watch Hezbollah videos, and donate money to the cause. Several of the videos included footage of actual Hezbollah suicide bombing attacks targeting Israeli checkpoints in southern Lebanon.107 On one video, a “martyr squad,” posing for the camera strapped with explosives, vows to “detonate ourselves to cause the earth to shake under the feet of our enemy, America and Israel.”108

  One tape seized at Hammoud’s home contained footage of a Hezbollah parade. Following a Hezbollah anthem (“the hand of God gave us the weapons … surely, Hezbollah are the victorious … Israel will get its reprisal”), scout groups—like the one Hammoud himself belonged to as a youth—stomp on American and Israeli flags painted on the ground. “How little you are, America; how worthless you are, Israel,” the speaker intones. “Our heroes are stepping on the both of you as the Mujahedeen stomp with their feet on the American and Zionist terrorism.” Speakers next in line included the Iranian ambassador to Lebanon and the head of Palestinian Islamic Jihad, both just opening acts for the main attraction, Hassan Nasrallah, who quickly gets to his central point: “I scream loudly [at] our forever enemies, the Big Devil, the United States of America, and its cancerous gland, Israel.” His speech is interrupted by chants from the crowd focused not on Israel but on a more fundamental theme: “Death to America! Death to America! Death to America!”109

  After his arrest, Hammoud told FBI special agent Andre Khoury the videotapes brought “joy to his heart because the Resistance forces [were] trying to liberate Lebanon.”110 Hammoud, one law enforcement official commented, was a “Dr. Jekyll–Mr. Hyde type,” who shed his soft-spoken demeanor and came alive at the weekly meetings he hosted.111

  A theme that emerges in another tape is that of “economic jihad” ( jihad bin mal): If one cannot fight as a martyr in the south of Lebanon, viewers are told, “you can fight by giving your money.”112 The theme is echoed in a letter Hammoud received from a Hezbollah supporter and convert to Islam, Abu Adam.113 Then in Lebanon, Abu Adam once belonged to the Shi’a community in Charlotte and participated in Hammoud’s Thursday night meetings. In the letter, Abu Adam reminds Hammoud of the need for supporters to raise funds for Hezbollah, but to do so with “complete secrecy.” He then asks for the continued raising of funds at the meetings, to be delivered by local Lebanese visiting Lebanon. Abu Adam then notes that he has sent materials with another member of the Charlotte network that cover “the accomplishments of the Resistance” so that “the guys [at Hammoud’s meetings] could see it and donate to the Resistance.” Not to worry, he adds, “I will send you a receipt for any amount donated.”114

  What really charged the group, however, was propaganda targeting not only Israel but also the United States. In one video, produced by Mohamad Dbouk, a speaker harks back to the 1983 Hezbollah attack on the marine barracks in Lebanon and acknowledges that Hezbollah continues to look for suitable American targets in Lebanon and, if none are found there, then others abroad: “As I’ve said many times before, we don’t fear America or Israel, but rather fear our internal domain. The same spirit with which the martyr brother entered the Marines headquarters and rubbed the Americans’ nose in the dirt, this spirit still exists.”115

  “Our Guys” in Hezbollah

  Hammoud and other members of his network maintained contact with senior Hezbollah officials even once they left Lebanon for the United States. Their principal contact was Sheikh Abbas Harake, a Hezbollah military commander in southern Beirut. When FBI special agent Khoury interviewed Hammoud after his arrest, Hammoud admitted to knowing Abbas Harake and identified him as a sheikh who provided lectures, speeches, and other forms of support for Hezbollah. But he denied ever speaking to Harake while living in the United States.116 Unfortunately for Mr. Hammoud, the prosecution was armed with the transcripts of those supposedly nonexistent calls. “Unbeknownst to Mr. Hammoud,” Prosecutor Kenneth Bell noted, “the American intelligence community had a wiretap up on Mr. Hammoud’s house in the first part of 2000. And we have Mohamad Hammoud talking on the phone with Sheikh Harake.”117

  Then there are the letters. The FBI seized and translated at least two letters from Harake to Hammoud, which show the two maintained a close relationship, had worked together in Lebanon in the past, and continued to work together once Hammoud went to America. “When the letter is far away and the love is eternal and relationship is strong, it is impossible for words to summarize or depict an accurate picture of the amount of love that I have for you,” Harake wrote to Hammoud.118 At trial, prosecutors asked Hammoud about his work with Harake. Kenneth Bell recalled that exchange for the jury in his closing remarks: “Did he ever squirm around on any question more than that? At the end of lots of squirming and wandering [Hammoud’s only reply was], ‘I don’t know what he’s talking about.’”119 Later in his letter, Harake indicated that Hammoud was still involved in work for Hezbollah.120 In turn Bell asked the jury to consider, “What sort of work do you do as a military commander in Beirut for Hezbollah?”121

  In another letter, Harake provides Hammoud with a detailed report on the situation facing Hezbollah in Lebanon, including sections on the status of military, political, educational, and organizational affairs. Later in the letter Harake sends regards to “all the guys,” and assures Hammoud that while he cannot write about certain details owing to their sensitivity, “know that we are alright and stronger than we were, holding on to our weapons to protect the dignity of our nation.” Harake makes clear that he sees America as no less an enemy than Israel. After praising Iranian Supreme Leader Khamenei, and singing the praises of Hezbollah martyrs like Abbas Mousawi, Harake takes aim at his enemies. “As I greeted the virtuous ones, I must damn the evil ones. Damn America the criminal, and the arrogant Israel that commits injustice and hostility; and Allah, you are the everlasting over the enemies of Islam.”122

  His closeness to the Hezbollah military commander Abbas Harake aside, Hammoud also kept in contact with Mohammad Hussein Fadlallah. By this time, Fadlallah was no longer formally affiliated with Hezbollah, and by some accounts he was no longer the group’s spiritual adviser, either. Yet he still ran charities that funneled money to Hezbollah, some of which were designated as Hezbollah charities by the US government. For example, Fadlallah’s al-Mabarrat Charity Association maintained intimate ties with Hezbollah at least until Fadlallah’s death in July 2010, and its Dearborn, Michigan, office was raided by the FBI in July 2007.123 Hammoud received receipts from Hezbollah for at least some of his donations, including receipts from Fadlallah’s office.124

  Hammoud’s personal ties to Fadlallah went back to Beirut, where Hammoud attended Fad
lallah’s mosque. Hammoud told FBI special agent Khoury that he had several telephone contacts with Fadlallah since moving to the United States. “Unless you have direct knowledge or direct contact with [Fadlallah] in Lebanon, you will not be able to contact him while you’re outside,” explained Khoury, who grew up in Lebanon.125

  In another sign of Hammoud’s ties to powerful Hezbollah elements in Lebanon, he threatened to “have somebody take care of” the family back in Lebanon of anyone who testified he was tied to Hezbollah. The threats came from his jail cell in Mecklenburg County, North Carolina, after he and others involved in the conspiracy were arrested in July 2000.126 The threats resonated; perhaps some of those threatened were aware that Hammoud had Abbas Harake rough up Hammoud’s own nephew back in Lebanon at one point over the nephew’s “bad” behavior.127

  Hezbollah demonstrated a deep interest in Hammoud’s case, underscoring the extent of his ties to the group. When one member of the network returned to Lebanon after serving his eighteen-month sentence, Hezbollah detained him for two weeks. They “especially want[ed] to know [the details of] this case” and who was working with the American government, Samir Debk testified.128

  When FBI agents raided Mohamad Hammoud’s home on July 21, 2000, he pulled a handgun but then wisely thought the better of the decision and put it down. Authorities seized the handgun, as well as photographs of Hammoud and others holding automatic weapons at what appears to be an outdoor target-practice session.129 According to the FBI, although he was primarily a Hezbollah fundraiser, Hammoud may well have been willing to use these or other weapons for an attack in the United States if asked to do so. According to a US government affidavit, a confidential FBI source reported that “if Hezbollah issued an authorization to execute a terrorist act in the United States, Mohamad Hammoud would not hesitate to carry it out.”130

  Plotting to Assassinate “the Arrogant, Bastard Prosecutor”

  On January 12, 2001, Andy Walcott, an inmate with Mohamad Hammoud at Mecklenburg county jail, contacted the Charlotte FBI. He claimed Hammoud told him he planned to escape from jail, have assistant US attorney Ken Bell killed, and bomb the US attorney’s office in Charlotte in order to destroy the evidence against him. Moreover, he said that Hammoud had asked for a fake birth certificate and Social Security card, and claimed that a female guard was being bribed to pass notes among Hammoud and his co-conspirators. While the FBI questioned Walcott’s credibility—he had numerous prior convictions, was facing deportation to his native Trinidad, and failed his polygraph test—they deemed the allegations too serious to ignore.131

  Although the information was tantalizing, the government was in a bind, unable to initiate discussions with Hammoud about the subject matter for which he was on trial and represented by legal counsel. Eventually, a plan was hatched to arm Walcott with a recording device and have him meet with Hammoud.

  Walcott and Hammoud engaged in three separate conversations. The first was captured by a recording device and produced no useful information. The second was initiated by Walcott himself (in violation of the FBI’s instructions) and was thus unauthorized by the FBI. However, after the conversation, Walcott contacted the FBI in order to turn over an unsigned letter written in Arabic that he claimed Hammoud had given him. According to the FBI, the letter introduced Walcott to unnamed individuals and said, in part: “I retained A.G. [Walcott’s] service for a substantial fee, his assignment is to put bullets into the skull of the arrogant, bastard prosecutor.” Alternatively, the letter suggested, he could blow up the evidence against Hammoud.132 An FBI translator’s analysis of the letter would later conclude that it was written by someone who was illiterate or had limited knowledge of Arabic—since the writer most likely copied from an Arabic writing table—and was inconsistent with other communications discovered during the Hammoud investigation.133 Fingerprint analysis determined that the fingerprints on the letter were Walcott’s and a third party’s—the latter of which did not belong to Hammoud.134 Did somebody write the letter for Hammoud, or was it all fabricated by Walcott?

  At their third meeting, Walcott asked Hammoud to provide him with the potential victim’s name. This time Hammoud was crystal clear, repeating and spelling out Bell’s name (no spelling champion, he misspelled Bell’s name as Bill).135 When Walcott further mentioned that he had decided to shoot Bell rather than use an explosive device, Hammoud did not seem surprised and simply warned Walcott to be careful. However, Hammoud did not incriminate himself during any of the conversations: He made no direct statements ordering or requesting criminal activity, and when presented with the evidence against him, he denied his involvement and even offered to take a polygraph in order to prove his innocence.136 He did, however, tell Walcott that he was worried about his younger brother because he was a member of Hezbollah and had come to the states only to satisfy his mother. Mohammad says of his brother and other Hezbollah members, “[People like] my brother … they hate to come here, you know. Those [are people] waiting for the one day when they [are] going to meet God.” Furthermore, Hammoud told Walcott that his brother was happy when the visa application he filed at the US embassy in Beirut was denied and explained that he had to ask his wife for help in finding a wife for his brother so that he could legally enter the United States.137

  Dual-Use Procurement, the Canada Connection

  As the Charlotte case would show, Hezbollah is involved in arms trafficking and procurement not only in less-developed countries but in the West as well. “Ironically, the black market in developed countries also provides an excellent opportunity to engage in arms trafficking activities,” according to a study of Hezbollah prepared for US Special Operations Command. “Both U.S. and Canadian authorities track Hezbollah’s procurement of proscribed high-tech military and other equipment,” the study notes.138

  Hezbollah has been especially active procuring items from North America. An early example is Fawzi Mustapha Assi, a naturalized US citizen from Lebanon. He ultimately pleaded guilty to charges of providing material support to a terrorist organization for his attempt to smuggle night-vision goggles, a thermal imaging camera, and two global positioning modules to Hezbollah. Described by US authorities as a Hezbollah procurement agent, Assi first fled the United States after his arrest in 1998 but returned and surrendered to authorities in May 2004.139 Before his arrest, FBI agents watched as Assi tossed a variety of items into two different area dumpsters. A dumpster dive revealed that the items included literature on military equipment and remote-controlled aircraft, lists of Israeli government cabinet addresses downloaded from the internet, articles on the effects of napalm, and more.140 And although he was caught in 1998—while attempting to transfer these items to Hezbollah at Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport—he had apparently succeeded in the past. According to Dbouk’s longtime friend Said Harb, Dbouk described Assi as “‘the guy’ for getting equipment on behalf of Hezbollah until he got caught and fled the U.S. to Lebanon.” Dbouk continued, telling Harb that he, Dbouk, “personally met this individual [Assi] at the airport in Beirut to ensure Hezbollah got the equipment he obtained.”141

  In other cases, individuals found to be procuring weapons for Hezbollah in the United States had connections to Canada as well. Take the case of Ali Boumelhem, who bought several twelve-gauge shotguns over a two-year period at Michigan gun shows (despite having a criminal record). In late 2000, Boumelhem and others loaded a forty-foot-long shipping container with car parts outside their Detroit auto repair shop. The bill of lading listed the container’s contents as car engines and transmissions, but the FBI was aware it held more. A cousin had tipped off authorities that Boumelhem was sending weapons to Hezbollah, and provided a videotape of him firing an assault weapon in the desert and voicing support for Hezbollah. As an FBI surveillance team watched, a truck transported the container to a railway yard in Detroit, where it was scheduled for transport to Montreal. The container was seized at the railway yard, where US customs agents searched its contents and found
ammunition, a shotgun, and spare parts for automatic weapons all hidden in a car door. Another shotgun and a two-way radio were found elsewhere in the container. Boumelhem was arrested in mid-November 2002 at Detroit Metropolitan Airport holding a one-way ticket to Lebanon. After a one-week trial, he was convicted on seven federal counts.142

  Hezbollah has long maintained a particularly active procurement effort in Canada. Not only does the group have a significant pool of members, supporters, and sympathizers in Canada, but the country’s strong position in industry, trade, and finance make it an attractive place to procure dual-use items. The immigration case of Mohammad Hussein al Husseini, who was ultimately ordered deported from Canada in 1994, sheds significant light on Hezbollah’s presence in the country. Interviewed by Canadian security officials, al Husseini provided information both on Hezbollah attacks abroad and on the group’s presence and activities in Canada. He specified that “Hezbollah has members in Montreal, Ottawa, Toronto—in all of Canada.” Referring to the situation in Montreal, al Husseini implied that he could provide Canadian authorities information about cigarette and weapons smuggling if the Canadian government would cut a deal with him.143