PORTLAND, Ore., Sept. 9 (UPI) -- Traces of explosives were found on the luggage of a Muslim cleric who was nabbed by an anti-terrorism squad at Portland's airport over the weekend as he waited to catch a flight to the Middle East, federal officials said Monday.
Sheik Mohamed Abdirahman Kariye pleaded innocent to the rather innocuous charges of possessing false Social Security cards and putting a wrong birth date on an immigration document, but he was nonetheless ordered held by a federal magistrate pending a detention hearing Tuesday.
"These are trumped-up charges," said an angry Omar Wiilhaad, one of several dozen supporters from Portland's Muslim community that showed up at the federal courthouse for Monday's arraignment. "This is part of a witch hunt (that began) after Sept. 11."
Wiilhaad and others in the crowd described Kariye as a well-respected member of the community and an imam who led prayers at a Portland mosque.
"He's no terrorist," Wiilhaad insisted to reporters.
A federal prosecutor, however, told the magistrate that tests performed on Kariye's luggage turned up traces of TNT residue, and that his luggage contained a substantial amount of cash that indicated he and his four children planned to leave the United States and most likely, to not return.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Charles Gorder, in open court, called Kariye a flight risk that appeared to have traveled repeatedly to the Middle East in 1999 and 2000, despite not having any visible means of support to finance the expensive trips.
There was no immediate comment on the case from the U.S. Attorney's office, and the FBI declined to elaborate beyond confirming that the arrest had been made Sunday afternoon.
Port of Portland police Sgt. Cindy Walker told the newspaper that the agents from the Joint Terrorism Task Force "wouldn't even let us down there" when they arrested Kariye as he waited for a plane to begin his trip to the United Arab Emirates.
The Oregonian said records showed that Kariye was a native of Somalia who had lived in the Southwest area of Portland since 1997 and was on the board of directors for the Islamic Center of Portland-Masjed As-Saber.
