than the infrastructure which was exposed when New York State Troopers tripped on the Application meeting of Organized Crime in 1959.

During the Hollywood raid, documents of PLO activities were seized and records of money laundering were found. As a result, the Bahour network was disrupted, but unfortunately not broken. Some of the suspect in the Bahour case were prosecuted locally, other disappointingly released. After all, as I've heard all too often from Prosecutor's throughout America's major cities, "this is not guns, its's not drugs- it's coupons and those rich companies can afford to lose a little."

Moving to America's heartland, the mid-west, from St. Louis to Madison, Wisconsin, an active network of grocery store owners were creating havoc in an organized consumer coupon fraud network. One of it's leaders, store owner Zion Isa, was identified as a "cell leader" of the Abu-Nidal terror network. During his coupon fraud activities, a regional task force of local law enforcement officers, NCH agents, Secret Service and Postal Inspectors were gathering information about the group's activity. (go to ISA overhead) This task force not only identified the principals of the organization, but wrote a chart which linked the stores and store owners to the Abu-Nidal terror network. Not only were they active in fraudulent coupon submission, but also hijacking trucks, sale of stolen food stamps, and stolen goods. Unfortunately, the task force was dismantled with few store owners prosecuted and the fraud activity continuing to flourish. Incidentally, three years after having been identified as being involved in coupon fraud, Zion Isa murdered his 17 year old daughter in his home, with the help of this wife. The reason for the murder was that the daughter was going to expose him to the authorities and he couldn't accept her assimilation into our American culture. Her murder was caught on hidden audio tape by the FBI. (go to the video tape)

Returning to New York, by 1989 through 1992, investigation had identified a network of coupon transactions that were linked in a similar fashion as the Bahour and Isa network. These were individuals with cultural ties to the Middle East. At the time, the player were more than just a fraudulent coupon group, but rather a network of money lenders, store owners and illegal banks and money wire rooms operating in the New York metropolitan area.

The primary force in this network was Radwan Ayoub, a Palestinian living in the U.S., who had established a network of stores in New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania which were later identified as having association with persons identified as terrorists of the World Trade Center bombing. Many of the stores that Ayoub enlisted were owned and controlled by middle eastern businessmen who were willing to participate in schemes which defrauded American businesses. Some of the stores were located in Brooklyn, New York others in Jersey City, New Jersey, underneath and next to the Mosque, where Sheik Rahman was identified.

Ayoub and associates would solicit store owners for their coupon submission business. Take a small mini-mart, which would normally submit $200-300 in coupons monthly, once Radwan Ayoub came on the scene, the submissions increased by the thousands. The store owners didn't see the coupons, they just got the checks. In many cases, they borrowed money, or agreed to leasing stores for a monthly fee by the Radwan network. They used coupons to pay the debt to these loan networks, sometimes requiring a usurious rate more than 49 percent interest per month.

At one particular location, 7912 Fifth Ave, Brooklyn, New York, initially identified as "Hamado Video", a storefront was observed that had no groceries only video rentals. This location was most interesting, because they weren't submitting many fraudulent coupons, but rather, the storefront was used as a meeting point for coupon submissions by Radwan Ayoub, and his co-conspirators. Both Radwan and Ibriham Abu-Musa, his coupon mailer, worked in a local livery private car service with another Hamada Video employee, Mahmud Abouhalima. In fact, Abouhalima resided in the upstairs portion of the building above Hamada Video and regularly conducted business in the store itself. Of course, Abouhalima is best known as the blind Sheik's driver who was a primary conspirator in the World Trade Center bombing and is serving 240 years in Federal penitentiary for his participation.

I'm disappointed to report that after more than five years of tracking, documenting and formulating a strategy for criminal prosecution in this New York scheme, I was unable to enlist the substantive aid of any law enforcement agency or prosecutor's office. I was told this was due to under staffing or lack of prosecutive appeal. This was in spite of the fact that during this period, hundreds of stores, businesses and individuals were identified. Had law enforcement successfully intervened, perhaps the tragedy of the World Trade Center bombing with its previous loss of life could have been averted.

Today, as I understand it, the fraud schemes continue, unabated, unchallenged, and facilitated by computers and the internet.

Senator KYL. Mr. Jacobson, thank you very much for shortening that testimony, but it is powerful testimony and it raises a lot of questions that we are going to have to pursue.

It is a pleasure to introduce our next witness, Omar Ashmawy, who is appearing in place of his father, Seif Ashmawy. He had originally been scheduled to testify at this hearing, but tragically, he was killed in a car accident last month. He had been a fervent voice of political and religious moderation in the Muslim community and will be missed.

I want to emphasize how much we appreciate your willingness to testify, Mr. Ashmawy, and we wish you and your mother the best as you both continue the important work of political moderation within your own community. And thank you for being with us today.

STATEMENT OF OMAR ASHMAWY

Mr. ASHMAWY. Thank you very much, Chairman.

My father was Seifeldin Ashmawy, a Sunni Muslim and an American citizen who migrated from Egypt to the United States in 1969. One month ago yesterday, he was killed in a car accident.

He made his life here in America. He was a scientist by profession, but a humanitarian and a scholar by nature. Over the quarter of a century he spent in the United States, he witnessed a dynamic change in the Muslim community: the emergence of an extremist movement that began to threaten the foundation of his faith. He felt obligated to do something about this danger.

He lectured, trying to reverse the ideologies of the Muslim extremist movement, fighting the misconception that the religion was one of violence and intolerance.

He organized a group of Muslims, intellectual Muslims, who believed in moderation and authentic Islam and called the organization the Peace Press Association. He published a monthly newspaper called The Voice of Peace that reflected their moderate views.

He never accepted any support from any country or political or religious organizations, placing great value on the independence of his views and that of the newspaper. On numerous occasions, he publicly denounced terrorism and extremism in any form, political or religious. He believed that their actions of terror were a departure from the ethnic and religious morals that he and the majority of Muslims believed in. For this, extremists threatened his life.

Within my father's own New Jersey community, he was involved in openly confronting Sheik Omar Abdel Rahman before the World Trade Center bombing, publicly debating the sheik and his followers. My father risked his life by taking the public stand that he did, and he faced the indescribable hardship of living under the threat of death. However, he believed strongly in his faith and in peace. He chose his path willingly to explain to Muslims and nonMuslims the authentic Islam, which loves and respects the life of every human being.

My father risked his life to defend and protect his country, the United States of America, and to defend his faith, Islam.

I must emphasize that Islam in spirit and in practice is a religion of inclusion, of peace, and of mercy. Its followers are taught

to be kind and tolerant to all people, regardless of race, color, ethnicity, or religion. Perhaps more than any other faith, Islam can be said to truly propound a universal philosophy,

In no way is Islam a religion of the sword, and in no way is it inherently anti-Western. It is a universal faith with believers on every continent and nearly every nation in the world. Therefore, those who promote Islam as a narrow religion of violence, bigotry, and hatred profoundly misrepresent the faith. The doctrines they espouse are wholly incompatible with the teachings of Islam.

Extremism by definition is a force contrary to freedom, liberty, and justice. They believe that they are justified in attempting to force their belief systems on others. Islamic extremism is no different. In their eyes, moderate Muslims who are disgusted by the blood and pain these extremists cause are labeled as renegades of Islam, nonbelievers, enemies of the faith.

They accused my father of this, and perhaps I, too, may be accused of being a traitor. Within this extreme movement, as with all types of extremism, there is only room for one set of thoughts, one opinion, and one vision. Extremism perhaps poses its greatest danger to the Muslim community. It is the threat to freedom and liberty of the community and, thus, to the very community itself. For what community can survive staunch intolerance and lack of free thought?

As an American and as a Muslim, I find this repugnant and disgusting.

It is essential that any focus on Islamic extremism take into account the larger context of Muslim moderates. Otherwise, further alienation of American Muslims will result, reinforcing an unfortunate belief that America is only interested in weakening Islam.

Mr. Chairman, Senator Feinstein, my father devoted his life to the moderate Muslim voice, only to discover that few in the media or the Government were concerned about how extremism affected Islam's majority, moderate Muslims. They seem to forget that the extremists are but a small, albeit a loud, minority among a vast sea of moderates who believe in the authentic teachings of Islam. I urge you not to forget this fact.

If it is security and peace that we are searching for, then the moderate voice of Islam must be allowed to speak. It is in that voice, the voice of my father, the voice with which I speak to you today, that we will find it.

Thank you.

[The prepared statement of Mr. Ashmawy follows:]

PREPARED STATEMENT OF OMAR ASHMAWY

I. INTRODUCTION

My father, Seifeldin Ashmawy, was a Sunni Muslim and an American citizen who migrated from Egypt to the United States in 1969. Just over one month ago, he was unexpectedly killed in a fatal car accident.

He made his life here in America-he got married and had a son. He was a scientist by profession, but a humanitarian and a scholar by nature. Over the quarter of a century that he spent in the United States, he witnessed a dynamic change in the Muslim community-the emergence of an extremist movement that began to threaten the foundation of his faith. He felt obligated as a Muslim, and as a person, to do something about this danger.

He studied Islam and other religions extensively and began giving lectures in synagogues, churches and universities about Islam-trying to reverse the ideologies of