Attorney General John D. Ashcroft told the Senate Judiciary Committee in March 2003 that Moayad had "boasted jihad was his field and trumpeted his involvement in providing money, recruits and supplies to al Qaeda, Hamas and other terrorist groups."
Alanssi said he played an important role in the success of that sting operation by persuading Moayad to travel from Yemen to Frankfurt, where the undercover investigation was carried out. Moayad allegedly boasted -- while U.S. and German agents taped the encounter -- of sending money and recruits to al Qaeda.
Officers surround Mohamed Alanssi after the fire he set was extinguished. He was burned over 30 percent of his body.
(Kevin Lamarque -- Reuters)
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The following are handwritten notes sent Monday from Mohamed Alanssi, 52, to a Washington Post reporter and an agent in the FBI's New York office. In the notes, Alanssi threatens to set himself on fire in a suicide attempt because of what he described as unfair treatment by the FBI. (Documents are in PDF format)
• Letter to FBI
• Letter to Post Reporter
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In a Jan. 5, 2003, affidavit supporting Moayad's arrest warrant, Fuller said that he had been working with an informant since November 2001. He described him as a Yemeni citizen who had provided reliable information and who had "contributed, in part, to the arrests of 20 individuals and the seizure of over $1 million."
Alanssi's identity was leaked, along with details of his role, and the case was the subject of a Washington Post story in 2003 and accounts in the Yemeni press. As a result, Alanssi said, his family had been harassed and threatened in Yemen, where Moayad, 55, is a prominent leader in Islamist circles.
A short, stocky man, Alanssi said that he was in the United States on a visitor's visa seeking business opportunities when the 2001 terrorist attacks took place. He said that he worked for the U.S. Embassy in Yemen in the mid-1970s and that he was angered by the attacks because he likes Americans.
He also saw an opportunity, he said, to pursue his dream of making it in business in this country.
In recent interviews with The Post, Alanssi, who has six children, sometimes was visibly upset, once breaking down in sobs.
In the letter faxed to The Post, Alanssi wrote: "I would like to tell all American People that I love them and I am proud to be a good friend for all American People, and I am asking them: Do you think what FBI did to me is it FARE or UNFAIR."
The incident rattled police officers and passersby outside the White House, where Pennsylvania Avenue was reopened to pedestrians recently. John and Beverly Beers, both 48, had just arrived from DeLand, Fla., and were out for a walk.
"I heard someone screaming," Beverly Beers said. "I saw flames, really quick, because they put them out. And then he was laying on the ground. . . . I just figured it was a person trying to get attention."
Staff writers David Cho, Maureen Fan and Susan Schmidt contributed to this report.
