Muslim Activist Admits Receiving Funds From Libya

ALEXANDRIA, Va. â€”  A prominent American Muslim activist pleaded guilty Friday to illegally receiving money from Libya and agreed to cooperate in an investigation into an alleged Libyan plot to kill Saudi Arabia’s crown prince.

Abdurahman M. Alamoudi, a naturalized U.S. citizen from Eritrea, had acted as a liaison between the Islamic community and the Bush and Clinton administrations.

Judge Claude M. Hilton approved Alamoudi’s plea agreement with prosecutors at a brief hearing in federal court here. Alamoudi faced life imprisonment, but because he agreed to cooperate, he faces a maximum sentence of 23 years.

Court documents made public Friday offered the first official confirmation that U.S. authorities took seriously a disclosure by Alamoudi that Libyan leader Moammar Kadafi planned to destabilize the Saudi government by assassinating the de facto ruler, Crown Prince Abdullah.

Senior U.S. officials said they could not offer much comment on the investigation, citing already complicated relations with Tripoli and Riyadh.

Last year, the Bush administration said it had helped pressure Kadafi into agreeing to dismantle Libya’s chemical, biological and nuclear weapons programs.

Kadafi has been trying to negotiate Libya’s way off U.S. economic blacklists by promising to become an ally in the U.S.-led counter-terrorism effort.

As those negotiations were underway late last year, Alamoudi told government investigators that Kadafi was secretly engaged in a plot to assassinate Abdullah, apparently in or around the prince’s house near Mecca, Islam’s holiest city.

Any evidence linking Libya, particularly Kadafi, to such a plot could undermine diplomatic efforts with Tripoli, U.S. officials said.

In February, the Bush administration lifted sanctions prohibiting Americans from traveling to Libya or doing business there. U.S. officials had been moving toward taking Libya off the list of state sponsors of terrorism. Those efforts have been put on hold while authorities investigate the alleged assassination plot.

Adam Ereli, deputy State Department spokesman, said Libya had formally renounced terrorism and provided helpful intelligence about ongoing plots.

“However, there remain outstanding concerns, of which this is one,� Ereli said.

“And as long as those concerns are not fully addressed, there’s a limit to how far our relationship can go,� he said.

Alamoudi, 52, made no comment in court Friday. His account, detailed in the court documents, has been corroborated by a senior Libyan intelligence official implicated in the alleged plot, who has been in Saudi custody, authorities said.

Alamoudi and the Libyan official have described how they attended meetings in which Kadafi ordered the assassination, according to court documents.

Libyan officials have denied that such a plot existed.

Alamoudi told authorities that he was recruited by Libyan officials because of his long-standing ties to the Saudi opposition.

He said Kadafi became intent on killing Abdullah after the two leaders traded insults at an Arab conference in Dubai, the court documents state.

Alamoudi said he recruited at least two London-based Saudi dissidents to help carry out the plot against the prince and introduced them to Libyan intelligence officials.

He said he also facilitated the transfer of hundreds of thousands of dollars in cash from the Libyans to the would-be assassins.

Alamoudi’s lawyer, Stanley Cohen, said his client had voluntarily told U.S. authorities about the plot when he was arrested last fall on charges of trying to bring undisclosed cash into the United States.

Alamoudi “is extraordinarily remorseful for what he has done,� Cohen said outside court Friday.

“He certainly wants to convey to the Muslim community a great sense of sorrow ... and to the Saudi government, the most sincere and deepest apologies,� Cohen said.

Court documents say Alamoudi made at least 10 trips to Libya in recent years to participate in meetings with government officials and met with Libyan officials in London, who gave him at least $340,000 in cash.

Alamoudi’s arrest outraged U.S. Muslim activists, who said he was a victim of an anti-Muslim backlash.

As founder and leader of several prominent groups, including the American Muslim Council, he met with senior Clinton and Bush administration officials to discuss their efforts to win the support of the Islamic community.

Alamoudi pleaded guilty to three criminal counts, including attempting to smuggle the $340,000 into the United States. He also was convicted of tax violations and of lying on immigration forms.

Alamoudi is required to forfeit all proceeds from his illegal dealings with Libya, which total at least $910,000, authorities said. He is required to cooperate fully “in any and all investigations.�

Paul McNulty, the U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, described Alamoudi’s conviction as a milestone in the Bush administration’s counter-terrorism campaign, saying it could provide authorities with insight into terrorist financing methods here and throughout the Middle East.

“Alamoudi was a major player in the financial support of terrorism,� McNulty said in a statement.