Terror suspect the talk of jihadist community

Sami Osmakac, the Pinellas Park man accused of plotting terror attacks against targets in Tampa, is apparently well-known to the online jihadist community, which is asking for support and prayers for Osmakac and dismayed that fellow Muslims helped turn him over to authorities.

What that means about Osmakac's role as a jihadist is open to interpretation, saw law enforcement and intelligence officials who watch the site.

"Please make dua [supplication] for this brother who has been falsely accused by the kuffar ," a man calling himself Abu Mustafa al-Amriki (Abu Mustafa the American) posted on al-Qaida's English-language website. "He was always helpful and his lectures were very beneficial to me. May ALLAH protect him and hasten his release…Ameen!!!!"

A woman calling herself NiqabNadia expressed concern over the local Muslim community's assistance in investigating Osmakac, 25. Osmakac was taken into custody after an FBI sting operation in which he tried to buy explosives, at least 10 grenades, Uzis and an AK-47, and was threatening destruction of targets around Tampa Bay, authorities said. The Kosovo native was charged with attempted use of a weapon of mass destruction.

"Muslims don't snitch on Muslim brothers and sisters," the woman wrote. "And I hope the "confidential sources" who hired this brother to spy on him and report to the kuffar was not a "Muslim."

The website – known as Ansar al-Mujahideen - has raised national security concerns in the recent past.

In July, a Pennsylvania man was indicted for making threats against U.S. citizens via the Ansar Al-Mujahideen website.

According to the indictment, the Ansar al-Mujahideen forum "is a popular, internationally-known, Islamic extremist web forum used by its members to translate, promote, and distribute jihadist propaganda, as well as a means to communicate with other like-minded extremists."

None of the recent messages regarding Osmakac obtained by the Tribune, all posted after his arrest, make any threats. Nor does Osmakac in two Youtube videos he made – "Muslim Message to The Jews & Christians" and "Paradise or Hell What Are We Living For" _ that were posted on the site by others.

The website is part of al-Qaida's "attempt to continue their PR operations, to demonstrate they are still effective in one way or another," said Michael Balboni, a former Department of Homeland Security official and former New York State deputy secretary for Public Safety who keeps abreast of jihadist threats as managing partner for Bluewater International, a global financial firm.

Balboni, who was in Tampa Wednesday to get security-related briefings for the upcoming 2012 Republican National Convention for his clients, said postings about an individual on a website like Ansar Al-Mujahideen would fall into a law enforcement "link analysis" about an individual.

"Any idiot can post a comment," said Balboni. "They can be insane. They could be drunk."

Still, the fact those on the site seem to know Osmakac, at least through his videos, is "one more indicator, one more factor in terms of assessing" the level of threat posed by Osmakac, he said.

Another factor investigators consider when determining the threat level posed by a suspect is travel, said Balboni.

A senior Kosovo official told the Associated Press that Osmakac met with radical Islamists during visits to his native Kosovo.

Though still in the early phases of the investigation, the arrest of Osmakac is troubling on another level, Balboni said.

This is the second time in recent months that investigators say they have found a link between jihadist activities and Tampa.

Last month, prosecutors in New York said a Tampa used car dealer received more than $3 million from people and financial organizations associated with Hezbollah as part of a "massive" international money laundering scheme that funded the Lebanon-based terrorist organization.