Neal Augenstein, wtop.com
WASHINGTON – The scenarios are similar, the results apparently life-saving.
Last week’s arrest of Amine el-Khalifi is the most recent in a string of stings by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, in which a would-be terrorist was identified, monitored, and provided with an inert weapon by undercover agents and informants.
Contacted by WTOP, the FBI would not address whether it is recruiting members of the American-Muslim community to act in undercover roles, but the bureau has been public about its outreach efforts, after the Sept. 11, 2001 terror attacks.
“The FBI has also reached out to the American-Muslim community, just like they reach out to all Americans, to look at career choices in the FBI,” says Rizwan Jaka, president of the All Dulles Area Muslim Society.
“They’ve had tables providing brochures about careers in the FBI at the ADAMS Center mosque during Ramadan,” Jaka says. “Muslim FBI agents have come to speak to the Muslim community.”
Law enforcement sources have acknowledged having undercover agents familiar with a target’s language and culture can help the investigation.
“Undercover operations are just one of many tools that law enforcement may use to neutralize a potential terror threat,” says Lindsay Godwin of the FBI’s Washington Field Office.
While not discussing operational tactics, the bureau’s outreach efforts have been public.
“The FBI understands the importance of having strong relationships with all communities,” says Godwin.
“We gain a better understanding of their perspectives on radicalization and recruitment and are able to enlist their support in deterring recruitment and the spread of radicalization messages,” she says.
Jaka says actively working on the relationship helps partially soothe concerns in the American-Muslim community of targeting solely on the basis of religion.
“Law enforcement understands ‘This is a Muslim, and then this is a criminal, a terrorist,'” Jaka says.
“You want to be able to distinguish between religiosity and criminal behavior,” he says.
The bureau agrees, Godwin says.
“The FBI does not investigate individuals absent specific information that they are committing crimes or pose a threat to national security,” she says. “Our internal guidelines expressly prohibit this conduct as well as such tactics to recruit informants.”
Related story:
Follow Neal and WTOP on Twitter.
(Copyright 2012 by WTOP. All Rights Reserved.)
