Terrorism informant sentenced to five years probation

[DoYouEverWonder]

April 18, 2005

A troubled Yemeni immigrant who once set himself on fire outside the White House was given 5 years probation Monday for bank fraud after federal prosecutors extolled his work as an informant in a major terrorism case.

In an indication that the informant, Mohamed Alanssi, is continuing to do work for federal investigators, the FBI asked that he be allowed to travel overseas for the agency from time to time. Judge Jack B. Weinstein agreed with that request but cautioned that Alanssi had to stay out of trouble.

Alanssi, 52, had been the key informant in the recent case against cleric Mohammed Ali Hassan al-Moayad and his aide Mohammed Mohsen Yahya Zayed. Both defendants, who are also from Yemen, were convicted in March of conspiring to provide material support, including financing, to Hamas and al-Qaida.

Al-Moayad, who has been a major religious figure in Yemen, was also convicted of actually providing support to Hamas. Alanssi, who arrived in the United States in August 2000 on a tourist visa, testified at the trial that he felt it was his duty after the Sept. 11 attacks to cooperate with U.S. officials against terrorism. Under the control of FBI agents, Alanssi traveled to Yemen, where he talked on numerous occasions with al-Moayad, whom he first met in 1995.

http://www.nynewsday.com/news/local/manhattan/nyc-terror0419,0,570507.story?coll=nyc-moreny-headlines