He gravitated deduces andy williams real salt lake to the salt lake states Al-Tawheed mosque, on the edge of San Francisco's gritty Tenderloin neighborhood, across the street from a sex shop. At the mosque, Ouassif sold Moroccan clothing for extra income, worshiped and talked often with friends. In the post-Sept. 11 environment, some conversations were starkly critical of U. S policy, he conceded. But Ouassif said he never advocated violence and believes that those who commit terror against nonbelievers are "distorting Islam. "His ordeal began Sept 26, 2005, after a visit to his wife in Morocco. Three hours into his Paris-to-San Francisco flight, the plane turned back.

An Air France spokesman confirmed that the flight was diverted "at the request of the U. S beckerman real salt lake . authorities. "Ouassif was questioned in France and then put on a plane to Casablanca Moroccan agents took over, warning him that U. S mls soccer teams . officials had the dirt on Ouassif and his friends. "I pleaded with them in the name of God not to take any action without proof," he said. For more than five weeks, Ouassif said, he was told to wait while a Moroccan intelligence agent promised to resolve the U. S Embassy's concerns mls soccer schedule . When they finally met again, Ouassif recounted, the agent asked him to attend the mosque near his family home in Casablanca and spy on some prominent Islamists. And then he told him that was just the start. "We also need your help in America," Ouassif recalled the agent saying. Ouassif wanted none of it. Without reporting to U. S major league soccer teams . Embassy authorities in Casablanca, as authorities had ordered him to do, Ouassif booked a flight to Montreal He hoped to escape notice by crossing the border by bus But he didn't. At the U. S. Customs and Border Protection facility in Champlain, N. real salt lake tickets Y. , on Nov. 23, 2005, Ouassif said he underwent questioning, his right hand cuffed for a time to a small metal chair He had not reported to the U. S.

Embassy in Morocco, he told the female agent who questioned him, because he was innocent and afraid he might lose his green card. She asked about his visits to Morocco, religious beliefs and views on jihad. When she finished, an FBI agent, identified by his business card as Michael Lonergan, told Ouassif that under normal circumstances he would be detained but that a San Francisco FBI agent named "Dan" had just intervened chivas usa vs real salt lake Curling - curlingrocks . Ouassif could go home, if he agreed to call Dan when he got there. Lonergan printed Dan's number on his card. Reached at his two-man office in Plattsburgh, N. Y . , just south of Champlain, Lonergan said he could not comment. Customs and Border Protection officials revoked Ouassif's green card and instructed him to report to immigration authorities in San Francisco. *Informants have long been key to criminal investigations But they are usually used merely to turn up leads mls soccer . Agents then accumulate other evidence or follow through on their own, undercover. Terrorism cases, in contrast, are increasingly built solely on informants. Rand Corp terrorism expert Brian Jenkins said the reasons are varied mls major league soccer . The FBI lacks agents with language and ethnic backgrounds to infiltrate potential jihadist groups mls cup . Pressure has mounted to intervene before terrorist acts are carried out. And would-be terrorists now favor "local initiatives beneath the radar of international intelligence," he said, making investigation of homegrown groups much more critical. The recent arrests of seven Miami men who allegedly talked of blowing up Chicago's Sears Tower, for example, stemmed entirely from the work of an undercover FBI informant who posed as an Al Qaeda operative. Still, problems with informants in high-profile cases have underscored the perils. The informant, and star witness, in a botched Detroit terrorism prosecution allegedly told his cellmate that he had lied.

The case unraveled after an investigation revealed prosecutors had withheld that and other key information from the defense. Another informant in a high-profile New York terrorism case set himself ablaze in a personal protest against his handlers. And in the California prosecution of a Lodi father and son, the informant told tales of seeing top Al Qaeda officials in the Central Valley -- sightings discounted by terrorism experts as preposterous. Initially investigated as a suspect, that informant agreed to help in exchange for more than $200,000 -- payments that critics contend could lead informants to lie or entrap. Appealing to an innocent person's concern for potential violence is the best recruiting approach, experts and the FBI's Quy said. But, Jenkins said, "The most common, easiest way is to use leverage against someone who has actually committed a crime and then to say, 'Look, in exchange for X, we need your help. ' "One way to exert such leverage is through immigration violations clint mathis real salt lake . Even when the offense is minor, the consequences are almost always severe. "For many people, the stakes are whether they get to continue living in the country that is their home," said Georgetown University law professor David Cole, who has represented terrorism defendants major league soccer . "That is a huge hammer to hold over somebody's head. "*When he returned to San Francisco, Ouassif said he called the FBI agent, Dan Fliflet. For nearly four hours the next day, they walked and talked near a West Oakland train station soccer stadium . "He said, 'I know all about you and your friends at the AlTawheed mosque,' " Ouassif recounted mls team . " 'I also know you have jihadi beliefs -- holy war beliefs. ' "Ouassif denied it But Fliflet insisted he had a detailed report on Ouassif.

He proposed a long-term collaboration, Ouassif recalled, first in San Francisco and later in Sacramento Ouassif could cooperate david archuleta real salt lake . He would get his green card back and his wife would be allowed to come live with him Or he could refuse real salt alke . And then Fliflet would spearhead efforts to expel him. "America is like a bus," Ouassif said Fliflet told him mls cup tickets . "Either you board the bus or you leave Curling - wikipedia . "He gave Ouassif one week to think about it "We shook hands and he left," he said mls fire . "It was the most terrible moment I have ever experienced Real Salt Lake . "The questions tumbled out. "Is it going to harm people? Is it going to hurt me?" Then he swung the other way. "I thought, even if I have to go back and live with my family in Morocco, it's OK.