Court orders Agus Budiman held without bail

Court orders Agus Budiman held without bail

Mathew Barakat, Associated Press

A U.S. federal magistrate ordered Agus Budiman held without bail
after an FBI agent testified Thursday that one of the Sept. 11
hijackers had used his Virginia address to gain entry into the
United States.

U.S. Magistrate Theresa Carroll Buchanan said she could not
ignore the "close ties" between Agus and the hijackers. Agus, 31,
is awaiting trial on document-fraud charges.

Those ties "lift these events out of the realm of the
ordinary," Buchanan said in denying bail. She also found probable
cause to forward the case to a grand jury.

FBI special agent Jesus Gomez linked Agus to three of the
hijackers, including suspected ringleader Mohammed Atta, and two
others believed to have close ties to the terrorists.

Agus' defense attorney, Mark Thrash, characterized the
government's case as "smoke and mirrors," saying Agus had only a
passing acquaintance with the hijackers through a Hamburg mosque.

He said there was no evidence that Agus had shared the
hijackers' views about the United States or known of their plot.

Gomez testified that hijacker Ziad Samir Jarrah used Agus'
name to get into the United States, and Ramsi Binalshibh, a
Muslim cleric from Hamburg, twice unsuccessfully tried to use
Agus' name to get into the country. The FBI says Binalshibh was
supposed to be the 20th hijacker on Sept. 11.

Thrash said the two men used Agus' address without his
permission and suggested that an acquaintance of Agus, Mohammed
Bin Nasser Belfas, may have given Agus' address to the men.

"If you were going to be around after Sept. 11, would you
voluntarily give your address out?" Thrash asked.

Agus, a driver for a food delivery service, is charged with
helping Belfas, a fellow Indonesian, fraudulently obtain a
Virginia driver's license. Belfas is believed by authorities to
be a U.S.-based contact for Osama bin Laden. Belfas' whereabouts
are unknown.

Prosecutor Steven Mellin acknowledged that the government
didn't know the details of Agus' relationships with the
hijackers. However, he called the connections "extensive.

"They're suspicious and they're troubling," he said.

More than 600 men from Arab and Muslim countries are in
custody for immigration violations and other non-terrorism
allegations, and authorities want to question 5,000 other Middle
Eastern men in connection with the investigation.

Investigators have been told to check their immigration status
and hold those with problems.

Attorney General John Ashcroft, the nation's top law
enforcement official, has enticed foreigners to come forward with
information about terrorists by offering them the prospect of
Amerizan citizenship, including a promise to ignore visa
problems.

"The people who have the courage to make the right choice
deserve to be welcomed as guests into our country and perhaps to
one day become fellow citizens," he said.

The citizenship-for-information program was the latest appeal
by the Justice Department to elicit help from the public in
tracking down terrorists. Hundreds of people from Middle Eastern
countries have been swept up in the terrorism investigation,
drawing complaints from civil rights and Muslim-American groups.

Ashcroft said foreigners who report to the FBI or U.S.
embassies overseas with information about terrorists will not be
questioned about their immigration status.

The new program could provide an incentive to get those in
custody to cooperate and to encourage those wanted for voluntary
questioning who have immigration problems.

"Some visitors may be hesitant to come forward with their
information because of their immigration status," Ashcroft said.

"They may rest assured that the United States welcomes any
reliable and useful information that they can provide. In return,
we will help them make America their home."

A program started after the 1993 World Trade Center attack
offers foreigners a special visa if they provide critical
information about criminal activities or terrorists that could
endanger their lives. The "S" visas are nicknamed "snitch visas."

As many as 250 such visas can be offered annually; last year
106 people and 122 of their family members received the visas.
There is no limit on the number of people who can apply for the
new program.