Saudi Student Allegedly Gained Access To Radioactive Material

December 8, 2003
The Associated Press

COEUR D'ALENE, Idaho -- Newly filed court documents allege a University of Idaho graduate student, under investigation for suspected terrorism ties, obtained unauthorized access to a campus lab containing radioactive material.

Sami Omar Al-Hussayen, a Saudi national working on his computer science doctoral degree at the Moscow school, quietly moved his student office from the Computer Science Department into the school's engineering isotope lab, apparently without his adviser's knowledge, according to the documents.

Al-Hussayen, arrested in February at his Moscow home, is scheduled to stand trial Jan. 20 on charges of student visa fraud. He remains in custody without bond. His wife will voluntarily return to Saudi Arabia soon.

"The investigation of Sami Al-Hussayen has, from its outset, been focused on suspected material support to terrorism, particularly to Osama bin Laden's al-Qaida network," FBI agent Michael Gnecknow said in the court documents.

"I have yet to see any piece of evidence, when viewed as part of the totality of information developed, that would dissuade me from believing that Sami Al-Hussayen is supporting terrorism," Gnecknow said.

http://www.sltrib.com/2003/Dec/12082003/nation_w/118034.asp