FBI, Joint Terrorism agents search home in Hillsboro
By Mark Larabee and Les Zaitz for the Oregonian.

A software designer was being held Thursday as a material witness in a terrorism investigation after FBI agents searched his Hillsboro home and his office at Intel.

According to neighbors and co-workers, Maher Mofeid Hawash, 38, was the target of Thursday's searches by the FBI's Joint Terrorism Task Force.

Hawash was booked into the Multnomah County Detention Center on Thursday afternoon and put on a "material witness hold" at the request of the U.S. Marshal's Service, a sheriff's department spokesman said. A material witness designation allows the government to hold someone in order to compel testimony.

The FBI issued a short statement Thursday morning saying that in an "ongoing investigation," the Joint Terrorism Task Force had executed four federal search warrants in the Hillsboro area and that the Hillsboro Police Department assisted in the searches.

Prosecutors and investigators refused to say who the target of their search was or what they were looking for. The federal search warrants filed in the case are sealed, meaning the information in them is secret. Asked whether anyone was taken into custody as a result of the searches, officials said they could not answer the question because of a court order.

Hawash's neighbors on Northeast Aurora Drive said they saw several FBI agents arrive about 7 a.m. Thursday. They said the agents were there about four hours, removed several boxes from Hawash's house and canvassed surrounding homes asking fairly routine questions about Hawash and his activities.

Two women who asked not to be identified said they've known Hawash and his wife, Lisa, for four years and consider them friends. They said the couple have three children and are good neighbors who socialize regularly at neighborhood functions, such as barbecues. The women said they never noticed anything out of the ordinary.

An Intel engineer contacted by The Oregonian said agents came to the company's Hillsboro offices looking for Hawash on Thursday morning. He said he did not know why the agents were there.

Here is the full text of the article in case the link goes bad:

http://www.oregonlive.com/search/index.ssf?/base/news/104825159914540.xml?oregonian?lcps

FBI, Joint Terrorism agents search home in Hillsboro

03/21/03
MARK LARABEE

and LES ZAITZ
From Our Advertiser

A software designer was being held Thursday as a material witness in a terrorism investigation after FBI agents searched his Hillsboro home and his office at Intel.

According to neighbors and co-workers, Maher Mofeid Hawash, 38, was the target of Thursday's searches by the FBI's Joint Terrorism Task Force.

Hawash was booked into the Multnomah County Detention Center on Thursday afternoon and put on a "material witness hold" at the request of the U.S. Marshal's Service, a sheriff's department spokesman said. A material witness designation allows the government to hold someone in order to compel testimony.

The FBI issued a short statement Thursday morning saying that in an "ongoing investigation," the Joint Terrorism Task Force had executed four federal search warrants in the Hillsboro area and that the Hillsboro Police Department assisted in the searches.

Prosecutors and investigators refused to say who the target of their search was or what they were looking for. The federal search warrants filed in the case are sealed, meaning the information in them is secret. Asked whether anyone was taken into custody as a result of the searches, officials said they could not answer the question because of a court order.

Hawash's neighbors on Northeast Aurora Drive said they saw several FBI agents arrive about 7 a.m. Thursday. They said the agents were there about four hours, removed several boxes from Hawash's house and canvassed surrounding homes asking fairly routine questions about Hawash and his activities.

Two women who asked not to be identified said they've known Hawash and his wife, Lisa, for four years and consider them friends. They said the couple have three children and are good neighbors who socialize regularly at neighborhood functions, such as barbecues. The women said they never noticed anything out of the ordinary.

An Intel engineer contacted by The Oregonian said agents came to the company's Hillsboro offices looking for Hawash on Thursday morning. He said he did not know why the agents were there.

Hawash, who also goes by the name "Mike," could not be reached for comment. Messages left at his home and office went unanswered.

According to a short biography on the Addison-Wesley Web site, Hawash has been a multimedia software engineer at Intel for the past five years, focusing on video technologies. The bio states that he is a graduate of the University of Texas at Arlington, is a lead engineer on the MMX technology software team at Intel and has co-authored a book on the software.

Bill MacKenzie, an Intel spokesman, said Hawash is not an Intel "blue badge," or full-time, employee. When asked Thursday morning if the FBI had searched Intel, MacKenzie declined to say, then referred all questions to the Joint Terrorism Task Force.

Unconnected to the investigation of Hawash are his donations three years ago to an Islamic charity now under FBI scrutiny. Last year, the U.S. Treasury Department shut down Illinois-based Global Relief Foundation, saying some money was used to support terrorist activities. One of Global Relief's founders, Rabih Haddad, is in federal custody in Michigan, fighting deportation after a judge ruled he was an associate of terrorists.

Attached to Global Relief Foundation's federal tax return for the year 2000 is a list of about 120 donations of $5,000 or more, including two from Hawash. The first was a $5,165 donation from "Mike & Lisa Hawash" listing their Hillsboro address. The second was a $5,050 donation by "Maher Hawash" listing the same address. The dates of the donations weren't listed.

The donors included individuals, Islamic charities across the country and mosques. Masjed As-Saber, the Islamic Center of Portland, was the eighth-largest donor that year to Global Relief Foundation, giving $38,935, the records show.

The Oregonian interviewed Hawash by phone last November about his donations to the Global Relief Foundation. He said he made the donations after someone from Global Relief came to town to make a presentation at either the Bilal Mosque or Islamic Center of Portland. He said he couldn't recall the name of the GRF speaker.

"The organization is legit," he said. "We believed that they are doing good work. It's a well-known organization."

He said at the time that no investigators had questioned him about the foundation. Ted Sickinger of The Oregonian staff contributed to this report