2nd Chicago man tied to terror plot
Man taken into custody at O'Hare was allegedly to meet with people linked to terrorist organizations

Pakistan By Hal Dardick and Jeff Coen



October 27, 2009


The FBI this month arrested a second Chicago man allegedly involved in an international terrorist plot with Western European targets, the Tribune has learned.

The man was taken into custody Oct. 3 before he boarded a flight at O'Hare International Airport to Philadelphia, the first stop on a trip to Pakistan, where he planned to meet people with known ties to terrorist organizations that have carried out fatal attacks that resulted in the deaths of U.S. citizens, a source said. He has not been charged.

After that arrest, dozens of FBI agents from the Joint Terrorism Task Force and the Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement on Oct. 18 raided a Grundy County meat-processing plant that specializes in Islamic foods.

The owner of the plant, Tahawar Hussain Rana, also of Chicago, was arrested at his North Side home the same day as the raid on First World Management Services in Kinsman, northwest of Dwight. Agents seized records from the plant, as well as a related North Side business also raided the same day, said the source, who is familiar with the investigation.

Rana financially supported the man involved in the terrorist plot, as well as the man's family, the source said. The man was on Rana's payroll but did little if any legitimate work, the source said.

U.S. Bureau of Prisons records show that Rana is incarcerated in the Metropolitan Correctional Center, a federal jail in downtown Chicago. There are no public court records indicating he has been charged with criminal wrongdoing.

The FBI confirmed the raid at the Kinsman plant but little else at the time, while the U.S. attorney's office in Chicago has declined to comment.

No one answered the door Monday at the Rana residence in the 6000 block of North Campbell Avenue, a street made up mostly of bungalows. Neighbors said the family was quiet and kept to itself. One man living nearby who asked not to be identified said he had not seen the family since FBI vehicles showed up at the home on the day of the raid.

hdardick@tribune.com

jcoen@tribune.com

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/chi- ... 5535.story