Wednesday, April 30, 2003 | 11:11 a.m.
STAFF AND WIRE REPORTS
DETROIT -- The leader of the FBI's Joint Terrorism Task Force in Detroit said he visited Las Vegas four weeks before the start of a trial of four men accused of acting as a sleeper terrorist cell to brief local law enforcement officials and casino operators about the case.
FBI Special Agent Paul George's testimony Tuesday in Detroit came during cross-examination by a defense attorney.
The attorney asked George whether he was aware that Southern Nevada law enforcement officials had expressed dismay about not being notified that a government witness would testify that one of the suspects talked of doing harm to sites in Las Vegas.
"I cannot speak to that concern," said George, who added that he did not understand how the information would not have gotten to law enforcement because he visited Nevada with the purpose of briefing them on the case.
The FBI has insisted that there was no credible threat to Las Vegas or Nevada.
In a prepared statement, the Joint Terrorism Task Force of Nevada said: "Law enforcement officials in Nevada are working jointly to ensure that all information received is shared in a timely manner. To reiterate our previous statement, at this time there is no information which would suggest an impending threat to Nevada. However, as always, the Joint Terrorism Task Force of Nevada, comprised of law enforcement members from local, state and federal agencies, is prepared to address any potential threat to our community."
Earlier during the trial this month, Sheriff Bill Young complained about not being told about a key government witness, Youssef Hmimssa, who testified that the defendants talked about targeting Las Vegas.
Hmimssa, who pleaded guilty to federal fraud charges before the start of the trial, testified that the defendants called Las Vegas "Satan City" and wanted to destroy it.
On Tuesday Young, who earlier had directed his anger at federal prosecutors in Detroit, had no comment about George's testimony.
Other local authorities including the U.S. attorney's office have previously said that they hadn't been told about Hmimssa's revelations before he took the stand. Young said that local FBI officials told him they also had not been briefed about Hmimssa prior to his testimony.
FBI spokesman Special Agent Daron Borst said that Justice Department guidelines prohibit comments on the Detroit case. There is a judicial gag order over the trial.
Alan Feldman, a spokesman for MGM MIRAGE, said that no one with the company's resort properties met with or were contacted by George.
Tim Donovan, president of the Las Vegas Security Chief's Association, which represents 90 hotels and resorts, said he had no comment about the Detroit case or George's testimony.
The trial of Ahmed Hannan, Karim Koubriti, Farouk Ali-Haimoud and Abdel-Ilah Elmardoudi is the first in the United States for a terror cell detected after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. The defendants are from Morocco except for Ali-Haimoud, who is Algerian. They are charged with conspiracy to support terrorists.
Prosecutors say documents seized in a raid on a Detroit apartment detailed plans to attack an American air base in Turkey and a hospital in Jordan. Agents also found a videotape that they say appears to case Disneyland in California and the MGM Grand and other major hotels and casinos in Las Vegas.
George, an FBI expert in trade craft -- the ways in which undercover and terrorist groups operate -- had testified that the video was put together to appear typical, but instead strategically depicted potential targets.
Defense lawyers say the tape, viewed in court Monday, is an innocuous travel video.
Attorney Robert Morgan, who represents Ali-Haimoud, asked George if clips on the video that depicted young women singing and dancing and young men jumping on a bed and having a pillow fight seemed "juvenile."
George said he saw the randomly interspersed clips as "potentially operational" and an effort to "fool the observer."
Defense attorneys also questioned George on Tuesday about why 20 to 30 hours of interviews with Hmimssa never were documented.
George cited FBI and Justice Department guidelines that do not require FBI reports on interviews of a potential witness, saying such meetings would be handled by the Justice Department.
Hmimssa alleges the defendants tried to recruit him. Defense lawyers say Hmimssa is a liar who is trying to save himself from harsher punishment.
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