December 19, 2001

A Bradley University student of Middle Eastern descent has been held at the Peoria County Jail at least since Saturday for questioning by federal authorities investigating terrorism.

Sources have told the Journal Star that Ali S. Al-Marri, 36, of West Peoria has not been charged with any state crimes. Al-Marri, a citizen of Qatar, has been detained for questioning by the U.S. Marshals and possibly the FBI, sources said.

Federal authorities in central Illinois - the U.S. Attorney's Office, the marshal's service and the FBI - refused to comment about the case and have kept local law-enforcement agencies out of the loop of inquiry. Reporters' calls to the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service in Chicago were not returned.

However, Abu Usamah At-Thahabi, the imam (or spiritual leader) of the Peoria Islamic Center, where Al-Marri and his family prays, told the Journal Star that Al-Marri was being held on a subpoena issued by a grand jury connected to the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. At-Thahabi did not comment further.

The Peoria County Sheriff's Department has been expecting Al-Marri to be transferred to either Chicago or New York, sources say. However, he remained at the Peoria County Jail on Wednesday.

Abdellatif Mohamed, president of the Islamic Center, said the embassies of Qatar and Saudi Arabia have hired attorneys to represent Al-Marri. Journal Star calls to the embassies of those countries went unreturned Wednesday.

Mohamed said he did not know the names of Al-Marri's lawyers, who have not revealed much about Al-Marri's detention. Further, he said he knows nothing about Al-Marri that would grab the attention of the federal government.

"We know him to be a loving person," Mohamed said. "He loves his family. He brings his family to the (Islamic) center."

In 1991, Al-Marri graduated from Bradley University with a business degree. He returned to Qatar, where he spent most of the past decade, acquaintances says. A Web page for a company called MGE lists an Ali Al Marri as an employee with its computer support systems in Doha, Qatar.

Al-Marri returned to Bradley this fall to pursue a master's degree in computer science. He brought with him his wife and five children, the youngest of whom is 6 years old. They share a modest apartment in West Peoria near Lower Bradley Park.

Nick Fady, Al-Matarri's landlord, and others at the complex said they know little about the family. The said the quiet clan isn't seen outside its apartment much.

Unlike Al-Marri, his wife and children do not speak or write English, and she does not drive a car. Mohamed, the Islamic Center president, said Al-Marri never spoke of being employed.

Since his detention, Mohamed and other members of the center have been helping the family by buying groceries, paying bills and taking a sick child to the doctor.

"We are trying to comfort the lady," Mohamed said.

Anas Al-Khatib, a Bradley graduate student, told the Journal Star that he met Al-Marri at the Islamic center several months ago. Though he does not know the family well, he said Al-Marri called his wife from jail, asking for her to bring him the Koran, the Islamic holy book.

Because she does not drive, one of the members of the center dropped off a copy at the county jail.

"He is a peaceful man," Al-Khatib said. I don't know why he was arrested."

Peoria-area authorities report no major legal run-ins with Al-Marri.

On Sept. 14, Peoria police arrested Al-Marri for driving on a suspended license, stemming from a 1990 drunk-driving case. Officers served Al-Marri a 10-year-old bench warrant issued after he failed to appear in court for the DUI count.

Both cases were settled in Peoria County Circuit Court in November, when Al-Marri was sentenced to one year of court supervision and a $500 fine. According to court records, he paid the fine Dec. 4.

He also was issued several traffic tickets in 1990 and 1991. Further information about those citations was unavailable.

Recently, the U.S Attorney's Office for the Central District of Illinois, based in Springfield, questioned 15 to 20 central Illinois residents - including three in Peoria - who originated from counties suspected to support or foster terrorism.

None of those questioned was a suspected terrorist, and none was detained or arrested. The interviews were part of the U.S. Justice Department's probe in which 5,000 men in America on student, business or tourist visas have been asked to talk to the FBI.

Copley News Service correspondents Angela Green, Michael Miller, Ed Dillon and Andy Kravetz contributed to this story.