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Posted by: kwflatbed

By Sean Webby
The San Jose Mercury News

SAN JOSE, Calif. — One brother slipped through jungle dragnets, battling army troops with spy planes circling overhead. The other lived quietly in San Jose, tapping away at a computer, Googling about faraway places and making a few visits to the bank.
One brother, Zulkifli Abdhir, 41, remains a wanted terrorist flush with aliases and a $5 million bounty for his leadership role in an Al-Qaida-affiliated terror group called Jemaah Islamiyah.
Jemaah Islamiyah is blamed for most of the major attacks in Indonesia, including the 2002 Bali nightclub bombing that killed more than 200 people.
Federal authorities swooped into Sunnyvale on Thursday morning, arresting Rahmat Abdhir, 43, a.k.a. "Sean Kasem," for allegedly helping his younger brother do some of his bloody work from here.
The elder Abdhir is charged with conspiracy to provide material support to terrorists, providing material to terrorists, contributing goods and services to a "specially designated global terrorist" (his brother), and false statements, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.
Using false names, Rahmat Abdhir allegedly sent his sibling about $10,000 for guns, coded e-mails helping him avoid capture, news stories of his bloody exploits and finally a care package filled with chocolate, a rifle scope and ammo, according to the indictment.
"With today's arrest and indictment, we have closed off a channel by which an American citizen was allegedly funding and supplying a fugitive designated terrorist with two-way radios and other materials for his operations overseas," said Assistant Attorney General for National Security Kenneth L. Wainstein in a statement. "As this case demonstrates, we will bring the full force of the law against anyone who uses the resources of our economy to support overseas terrorism."
If convicted, the San Jose man could face decades in federal prison.
Rahmat Abdhir's attorney could not be reached for comment.
A 40-page indictment filed by the U.S. Attorney's Office shows a portrait of brotherly love that went toward bullets and bombs.
They are two of 11 siblings of Malaysian descent, according to court documents. And they did most of their talking across the distance by coded e-mail using Malaysian language. They called guns "iron" and government agents "dogs." Bombs were called "prizes" or "presents."
And the younger Abdhir's group was allegedly setting them off in 2006 all around southern Philippines, with deadly results.
Meanwhile, "Sean" in San Jose was creating an electronic clip file of news stories from the United States, news stories that told of troop movements and U.S. spy planes. He was sending these by e-mail to his brother, the indictment alleges.
Soon his brother wanted more than news.
"If I had extra money, I would buy more 'iron' . . . because the occupants in the house in front of mine do not have any," he allegedly e-mailed his stateside brother in 2006.
Later that year, after more e-mails talking about the need for weapons, the San Jose Abdhir wire-transferred $5,500 from a Bank of America account to a Malaysian bank account that used their mother's name, according to the indictment.
He later allegedly sent 30 two-way radios.
In October, Zulkifli Abdhir sent an e-mail saying he needed money for a friend who needed "iron" (guns) for protection from "dogs" (government agents). His friend, the e-mail said, had "given away prizes" and was planning on giving away others, the indictment said.
He suggested his brother check out the news.
The next day powerful bombs exploded at a celebration in the Philippines, killing five and injuring 29.
Later, the two exchanged casual e-mails talking about how Zulkifli Abdhir was now a hunted terrorist with a bounty on his head. The San Jose brother e-mailed a news photograph of a Philippine military commander standing in front of a wanted poster for his brother.
And just last month, according to the indictment, "Sean" sent his brother a package that included a rifle scope, manuals for shooting assault rifles, Fruit of the Loom briefs and some bite-size Snickers candy bars.
The package, according to the indictment, had a San Jose return address.

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