Al Qaeda agent cased Washington Beltway overpass

More evidence of Jihadi terrorists working highway targets? The FBI's terrorism taskforce found shredded engineering plans ("blueprints") of the Connecticut Avenue Capital Beltway MD overpass in the Brooklyn NY apartment of Syrian-born Hassan Faraj after they arrested him in June. Faraj is a doctor! An affidavit by Faraj promising financial support to prospective immigrant to the US, Amir Abdulrazzak, the FBI says, is an indication of links to al Qaeda since Abdulrazzak is an al Qaeda associate. Also prosecutors say Faraj worked in Croatia for a Jihadi front organization in the early 1990s. (Based on AP report 2004-11-06)

In another incident of apparent target casing, on August 20 an associate of the Palestinian terrorist organization Hamas, Ismail Selim Elbarasse and his family were stopped by police after they were observed videotaping vulnerable points in the Chesapeake Bay Bridge. They behaved furtively at first denying they had camera equipment which was then found hidden among belongings in their van. Hamas has not committed terrorist acts against Americans but its agents have been reported as providing assistance to al Qaeda and other Jihadi groups. The US has been a major fundraising center and refuge for Hamas, which has been called a "criminal enterprise" by the US Department of Justice. Two of its senior US officers are in jail in Chicago facing multiple charges involving transferring money raised by the "charity" to finance suicide bombings and other terrrorist attacks in israel.

The DoJ indictment in the case in Chicago names Elbarasse as a "co-conspirator" with those charged and also calls him a "high ranking operative" of Hamas. After the Bay Bridge videotaping incident Elbarasse was held for a while as a "material witness" in the Chicago case, but has not been himself charged with any offense.

Elbarasse, 51, of Palestinian birth is a US citizen with his home in northern Virginia. An accountant by profession he has worked as Comptroller of the Islamic Saudi Academy in Loudoun County VA. He claimed the videotaping of the Bay Bridge was harmless tourist activity and that the family were simply on a holiday visit to the eastern shore.

AADT at the Connecticut Av overpass is about 220k. The Beltway is 8-lanes and Connecticut Av underneath is 4-lanes. The interchange is a combination of loops and signalized left turns in a modified cloverleaf design. The major portion of the overpass was built 1962-64 when the Beltway originally opened as a 2x3-lane facility. In the early 1990s the Beltway was 4th-laned and the overpass had extra stringers installed and new deck for the extra lanes and inside shoulder. It is not clear what "blueprints" would be available except those from about a decade ago when the 4th laning was done.

Since 2001-09-11 the terrorist groups seem to have been quite active in this kind of surveillance and preparatory activity within the US but they have demonstrated almost no ability to follow through with actual attacks. Active law enforcement supported by public tips are said to have thwarted many attacks. But they may also be stretched and be giving priority to fighting in Iraq. TOLLROADSnews 2004-11-07