Over the strong objections of the government, a federal judge in Orange County agreed to grant bail Tuesday for the brother-in-law of Osama bin Laden's alleged security coordinator in a case that is stirring debate about the FBI's use of informants.
Ahmadullah Sais Niazi, a Tustin man of Afghan origin who earned his U.S. citizenship five years ago, would be electronically monitored and confined to his home if his family can guarantee $500,000 bail. If released, he would also be restricted from traveling outside Southern California and must surrender his passport and other travel documents.
U.S. Magistrate Arthur Nakazato said he considered not granting bail and that he was troubled by an FBI agent's testimony that Niazi considered Bin Laden "an angel," planned to blow up buildings and showed sympathy to at least one terrorist organization.
Yet, the judge said a person cannot choose his relatives and that Niazi had not tried to flee despite knowing he had been under investigation for at least a year.
Niazi, arrested at his suburban home last week, is scheduled to be arraigned next month on suspicion of perjury, naturalization fraud, misuse of a passport obtained by fraud and making a false statement to a federal agency. He is accused of lying during his citizenship process about using aliases and failing to disclose that his brother-in-law is allegedly a security coordinator for Bin Laden and that he took a trip to Pakistan to see his brother-in-law.
In court Tuesday, FBI Special Agent Thomas J. Ropel III acknowledged that Niazi and others at his mosque did come forward to turn in a convert who "was scary to them" because he repeatedly talked about jihad and other terrorist activities. But Ropel revealed that the convert was an informant and that the FBI believed Niazi may have realized this and filed the report to protect himself.
During conversations with the informant -- some of which were secretly recorded -- Niazi initiated discussions about jihad, obtaining weapons, blowing up buildings and sending money overseas to the Afghan mujahedin, according to Ropel. Niazi also taught the informant Arabic and was preparing to send the informant to terrorist training camps in Yemen or Pakistan, Ropel said.
Shakeel Syed, executive director of the Islamic Shura Council of Southern California, said he was not surprised to learn the convert was an informant, "but glad to hear it in a court of law."
