Columnist Jeff German: Terrorism war suffers breakdown

Friday, May 2, 2003 | 11:16 a.m.

Las Vegas lawmen have not hidden their anger the past three weeks over being left out of the loop about a reported terrorist threat against this city that was uncovered by federal authorities in Detroit.

Sheriff Bill Young and others on the front lines in the war against terrorism here have said they were caught off guard when a government witness testified in Detroit last month that four suspected terrorists talked about wanting to "destroy" Las Vegas.

But this week, as federal prosecutors wound up their case against the four defendants, a Detroit FBI agent testified under oath that he traveled to Las Vegas in March to brief local authorities and casino operators about the threat.

Suddenly, we've got a standoff on our hands. Who's telling the truth -- investigators in Detroit or Las Vegas?

It turns out that the agent, Paul George, talked to members of the Joint Terrorism Task Force of Nevada, which includes FBI agents and police detectives who answer to Young, during his March visit. George even brought a copy of a homemade videotape of the MGM Grand that was seized from the defendants.

But just what George told the task force members remains in dispute.

George implied on the witness stand that he informed local officials about the Detroit witness, Youssef Hmimssa.

Local authorities, however, said George never brought up Hmimssa's allegations. And as of Thursday no casino executives, including those at the MGM, stepped forward to say they had met with the Detroit agent.

So either one side isn't being totally candid or both sides are stretching the truth to cover their backsides in a controversy that has gotten the attention of the Justice Department in Washington.

Though it's happened before, it's hard to imagine an FBI agent opening himself up to perjury charges. But it's also hard to imagine that, if George really disclosed some serious information to the terrorism task force, it didn't find its way back to Young before he publicly blasted federal authorities in Detroit.

Why would the sheriff leave himself open to that kind of potential embarrassment?

For the time being, the answers to such questions remain a mystery because a gag order over the trial in Detroit is preventing everyone from talking publicly about the case outside of the courtroom.

But the defense may try to exploit the dispute next week when it opens its case. There's talk that Young might be subpoenaed to testify, which would cause some fireworks.

Think about this scenario -- defense lawyers grilling the man responsible for Clark County's homeland security about the credibility of the government's case against suspected terrorists.

Whatever happens at the trial, the Justice Department needs to make an effort to sort out the truth afterwards. Cooperation between law enforcement agencies, you see, is one of the cornerstones of Attorney General John Ashcroft's war against terrorism.

Ashcroft can't afford to let this controversy linger very long.