'Lackawanna Six' Member Says Al Qaeda Ran Afghanistan Camp Linked to Padilla

MIAMI – A member of the "Lackawanna Six" terrorist group testified Friday that he prepared for jihad at an Al Qaeda training camp that prosecutors said was previously attended by terror suspect Jose Padilla.

Yahya Goba, a 30-year-old Yemeni-American convicted of terrorism support charges, said in federal court that he filled out a "mujahedeen data form" identical to the one allegedly completed by Padilla for the remote al-Farooq camp outside Kandahar, Afghanistan.

Padilla, held for 3 1/2 years as an enemy combatant, is being tried with two co-defendants on charges of supporting Al Qaeda and other Islamic extremists.

While at the camp in summer 2001, Goba said, he learned about war tactics, plastic explosives and weapons such as AK-47s, rocket-propelled grenades and handguns. After the six-week course, Goba said he was told to provide his U.S. address and contact information and to destroy his passport to hide his travel movements, which he did by putting it in a washing machine.

Goba said he and several associates from Lackawanna, N.Y., went to the camps to get ready for a possible mission related to jihad, or holy war.

"If anytime called upon to perform jihad, I had the proper training," said Goba.

Prosecutors say Goba's testimony is critical because it describes what went on at the al-Farooq camp, which the government claims Padilla attended in summer 2000. It also links the defendants to the Al Qaeda terrorist group, even if indirectly.

"Is it possible to just show up at one of the camps?" asked prosecutor Brian Frazier.

"No," Goba replied.

"You had someone to help you — someone known and trusted by Al Qaeda," Frazier continued.

"Yes," Goba said.

Goba has pleaded guilty along with five other Lackawanna-area men to terrorism support charges. He said it was clear that Al Qaeda ran the training camp. A guesthouse where recruits were brought featured copies of a book by Usama bin Laden, he said, and speeches were given by Al Qaeda leaders.

On the "mujahedeen" form, Goba said he hid his U.S. citizenship by describing himself as a Yemeni because he was told "it wouldn't be safe to put down that I was from America." All the recruits, he said, used aliases rather than real names.

"I was told not to reveal my true identity," Goba said.

Prosecutors say Padilla's form is under the nickname Abu Abdallah Al Muhajir.

Goba has testified in two other federal terror-related trials, in Idaho and New York, and acknowledged Friday that he hopes to cut some time off his 10-year prison sentence through this cooperation.

But lawyers for Padilla and co-defendants Adham Amin Hassoun and Kifah Wael Jayyousi objected strenuously to his Miami appearance. They argued that Goba's testimony shouldn't be allowed because he has little or no connection with them.

"What Goba did is not relevant to anything in this case. Period," said Jayyousi lawyer William Swor.

Prosecutor Brian Frazier, however, said testimony shows "the intent of the person filling out this (Al Qaeda) form" and that without Goba, the government's "knees are going to be cut out from under us" in terms of proving their case.

U.S. District Judge Marcia Cooke allowed Goba to testify, although not about how he was recruited, and she specifically told jurors not to infer that Padilla or his co-defendants were somehow involved with Goba. Cooke also refused to let jurors see a video of new recruits including Goba with bin Laden at the camp.

Padilla, a 36-year-old U.S. citizen and former Chicago gang member, was arrested in May 2002 at O'Hare International Airport on suspicion that he plotted to detonate a radioactive "dirty bomb" in a U.S. city, but those charges are not part of the Miami case.

He was added to the existing Miami case in November 2005 during a legal battle over the president's wartime detention powers. All three defendants face life in prison if convicted.