Doubts About Buffalo

By Matthew Cooper and Elaine Shannon

When they raced to the microphones earlier this month to announce they had broken up an al-Qaeda cell in the U.S., federal officials were full of confidence. The case seemed just about perfect, from the fact that no shots were fired during the arrest to the cooperation from local Muslims. Indeed, FBI sources tell TIME that additional agents are being dispatched to Yemen to try to snap cuffs on Kamal Derwish and Jaber Elbaneh, two other members of the alleged cell and U.S.-born Yemenis thought to be hiding somewhere in their ancestral homeland. The agents, who will operate with Yemeni government permission, also hope to find more evidence against the "Buffalo Six." But there are questions about the strength of the government's case. When the six suspects were hauled into federal court last week, the prosecution's request that bail be denied was met with considerable skepticism. "I haven't heard of any act of violence or propensity of violence in the history of these individuals," said U.S. Magistrate H. Kenneth Schroeder Jr. In fact, the 1996 antiterrorism statute being used to prosecute the suspects can be an unwieldy sword. The law, enacted in the wake of the Oklahoma City bombing, prohibits providing "material support" to terrorist groups. But some acts, such as providing "safe houses," are expressly forbidden, while giving "medicine" is specifically allowed. Is visiting a training camp illegal in itself? What's more, defense lawyers said a rifle cited as evidence was owned by a suspect's father, and an audiocassette tape extolling jihad was about the Afghan mujahedin's fight against the Soviets. Like much of the legal chapter in the war on terrorism, this case will not be easy.