PART 2 OF 2: Man behind 1973 N.Y. bomb plot to be released Feb. 19

[crayers]

PART 2 of 2

1. Freedom looms for convicted terrorist - Terrorism- msnbc.com
Associated Press / MSNBC
Freedom looms for convicted terrorist man behind 1973 N.Y. bomb plot to be released Feb. 19

A bomb signature
FBI agent Mike Finnegan didn't know any of this when he arrived at work one day in 1988 to find the entire case file — many volumes and thousands of pages — sitting on his desk with a note that said: "Find Him" — find Al-Jawary.

It took Finnegan a year to review the entire file. He followed every lead and re-interviewed witnesses. Nothing.

Finnegan also looked at other terrorism cases involving bombs. There was one in particular that drew his attention: TWA Flight 841 crashed Sept. 8, 1974, in the Ionian Sea near Greece after an explosive device detonated.

Seventy-nine passengers and nine crew members were killed. Among them were 17 Americans on the flight that originated in Tel Aviv and was headed ultimately for John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York.

Thirteen days earlier, the same flight had landed in Rome. When a ramp agent opened the rear cargo compartment, smoke was found coming from a suitcase. The suitcase and contents were sent to an FBI laboratory in the U.S., which concluded it was a bomb.

The National Transportation Safety Board said the suitcase was "an attempt at the same form of sabotage" that downed the flight over the Ionian Sea.
Neither attack was ever solved. The suitcase was later destroyed.
Finnegan thought Al-Jawary had been behind the suitcase bomb. It employed an e-cell, according to the FBI. At that time, he was told, the use of an e-cell was a bomb signature.

"It had a very distinct timing device," said Finnegan, who retired in 2004. "It was almost like a foregone conclusion. This was my guy. I desperately wanted to resurrect that case."

But it wasn't Finnegan's call to pursue the 1974 attack. Street agents don't make those decisions. He had to focus on the New York investigation.

In the fall of 1990, Finnegan learned Al-Jawary was residing on Cyprus — a center of terrorism — as the PLO's "cultural attache" under the name of Khaled Mohammed El-Jassem.

Finnegan finally had Al-Jawary in his sights, but then he was gone: In December, Al-Jawary escaped to Iraq, after he figured out the FBI was on to him. Finnegan was furious.

Then, some luck. In January 1991, Al-Jawary left Iraq to attend a funeral in Tunis for his good friend, Abu Iyad, the leader of Black September and Arafat deputy.

But Al-Jawary's travel plans were derailed as he was passing through Rome. He was detained after Finnegan alerted Italian authorities. Months later, Finnegan was able to bring Al-Jawary back to the U.S.

Since his arrest, Al-Jawary has asserted he wasn't in New York when the bombs were planted. The FBI had the wrong guy. The Mossad had framed him. He's not from Mosul, Iraq.

He's Khaled Mohammed El-Jassem, father of five and devoted husband, born in Palestine in 1947. He's a victim of Israeli aggression and bombs, which killed his brother and an infant son.

Al-Jawary claims in court filings that he grew up in refugee camps in Jordan and later moved to Beirut and then Cyprus.

A Brooklyn jury didn't buy any of this and convicted him in about three hours.
Credit for good behavior

Judge Jack B. Weinstein sentenced Al-Jawary to 30 years in prison in April 1993. In a written opinion issued after the trial, Weinstein said Al-Jawary was a serious threat.

"It is highly likely that were this defendant released he would continue his dangerous terrorist activities," the judge said.

Al-Jawary's appeals foundered.
But those countless hours behind bars are almost over. Freedom looms for this gaunt and graying terrorist who was transferred recently to a federal detention center in Manhattan.

Al-Jawary is scheduled to be released Feb. 19 after completing only about half his term, which includes time served prior to his sentencing and credit for good behavior, according to the federal Bureau of Prisons.

Once he is released, Al-Jawary will be handed over to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and held until his deportation.

It remains unclear where he'll go, largely because Al-Jawary's true identity remains in question — even to this day.

Those who helped put Al-Jawary behind bars believe he'll pick up where he left off.

"What is he going to do when he gets out?" McTigue said. "He'll be deported and received as a hero and go right back into his terrorist activities."

Note: You old federal hacks will recognize Al-Jawary. He hates Israel as much as Israel hates him. How long do you think he will last after he is deported? He is going to have a big target on his chest and two on his forehead! Israel does not forget..........