News

10/05/02 %%byline%%By JULIE SULLIVAN

Terror suspect Patrice Lumumba Ford was a standout by any standard.

A 1989 Lincoln High School graduate, Ford's pursuit and command of Mandarin Chinese carried him to work for the Portland mayor's office and into one of the most prestigious language programs in the world.

Now, the son of a former Black Panther from Portland is charged with conspiring with five others to move money and arms through China and other Asian locations to fight the United States.

Ford, 31, was arrested Friday in Portland. So were Jeffrey Leon Battle, 32, and his ex-wife, October Martinique Lewis, 25. Muhammad Ibrahim Bilal, 24, was taken into custody in Dearborn, Mich.

His brother, Ahmed Ibrahim Bilal, 22, remained at large, as did Habis Abdulla al Saoub, 36.

Officials said all are linked to a suspected terrorist cell in Portland.

Before his arrest Friday, Ford was best known for his quiet helpfulness and his success as one of few African Americans specializing in Chinese studies.

After graduating from Portland State University in East Asian studies four years ago, he went on to complete a year-long program at the highly competitive and prestigious Johns Hopkins Nanjing Center for Chinese and American Studies in China.

Calls to the Ford family, including to his father, Kent Ford, 59, were not returned Friday.

But those who knew him in Portland schools and in the Muslim community were stunned.

"I am dumbfounded," said Linda Walton of the Institute for Asian Studies at Portland State. "I consider him a real role model."

Ford graduated from Lincoln under the name Patrick L. Ford, according to student records from Portland Public Schools. District spokesman Lew Frederick -- a former television reporter who covered news stories involving Black Panther Kent Ford decades ago -- described the son as exceptionally bright.

The younger Ford made a strong impression on many adults he encountered, said Frederick, who had not talked to either Ford in five years.

"I was very disturbed by it, shocked," Frederick said of the arrests.

City officials said Patrice Lumumba Ford was an international relations intern in the office of Portland Mayor Vera Katz for three months in 1998 and in September 1999, leaving of his own accord both times.

In 2001, he sent messages to multiple members of the mayor's staff that they interpreted as threatening enough to forward to the police in August of that year.

Sam Adams, Katz's chief of staff, said the FBI asked the office not to disclose details. Andrew Haruyama, the mayor's international relations director during Ford's internships, also declined to comment.

Nevertheless, City Hall sources said Ford was quiet and well-liked during his brief tenures at the office, where he was one of about 20 interns.

Katz said Friday that Ford was not a particularly memorable guy.

"He was quiet, very professional," she said.

Ford completed his Johns Hopkins work in 1999, according to the university's international studies program, and contracted to teach physical education at the Islamic School of The Muslim Educational Trust in Tigard in the 2000-2001 school year.

The school hired him because he had taught Chinese martial arts at various mosques in the Portland area, according to Wajdi Said, executive director of The Muslim Educational Trust.

Ford also operated a private shuttle service and was known in the community for his volunteer work resettling Muslim refugees.

The landlords at the Southwest Portland building where Ford was arrested Friday said he and his wife have lived there since April 2000 with a small child, and that the couple seemed kind. Karen Smith, the building's owner, said Ford was "very fussy" about who went into the apartment.

"Even for repairs, they had trouble getting in," she said.

Jeffrey Leon Battle Battle's early background is still obscure, but October Lewis, his now ex-wife, was born Oct. 31, 1976, in Vallejo, Calif.

Lewis' mother, Vivian Lewis, said the two met in Texas, and records indicate they had lived in Houston. They moved to Portland no later than the summer of 1998 and were married in Portland on Sept. 17, 1999.

Battle found work in Portland as a part-time security guard in 1998 and later formed his own company.

Scott Tighe, director of certifications and standards at the Oregon Department of Police Standards and Training, said his agency issued Battle a license August 11, 1998, to work as an unarmed security guard.

Battle had gone to work the day before for First Response, a Portland and Seattle firm with about 180 employees. David Foglio, the company president, said Battle quit about four months later.

Battle's file with the state regulator shows that he completed a required eight hours of basic training, mostly classroom work, and four hours of field-testing and assessment by a certified trainer when he went to work for First Response.

"He was a part-time person, and he left on good terms but nobody really remembers him," according to Foglio, who said Battle had passed a criminal background check and drug test.

On Sept. 7, 2000, he filed articles of incorporation for a private security company, As-Sabiqun Vanguard Security Corp., with the Oregon secretary of state. As-Sabiqun is an Arabic term that translates roughly as "people who strive for excellence in religious matters."

What As-Sabiqun did -- if it did anything -- is unclear. But it existed for a year. On Sept. 14, 2001, the Corporation Division notified Battle that he hadn't filed the required annual report for As-Sabiqun. Two months later the Division dissolved the company involuntarily, a routine step after a failure to file.

Five months after Lewis and Battle were married, they filed for divorce. Their court papers, filed in February 2000, described their petition as a "matter of urgency."

Battle was due to report for U.S. Army Reserve duty on Feb. 19, 2000. But, he said in the divorce papers, he had a 4-year-old son, and his wife was leaving, and he needed to be excused from duty so that he could take care of his son. He said he needed the dissolution to show his commanding officer.

The two waived the normal 90-day waiting period for a divorce, and it was granted March 15, 2000.

The 4-year-old boy was Battle's by another woman. Battle and Lewis had no children together.

Battle had been a member of the Army Reserve since the fall of 1999. Army Reserve recruiters assigned him to the 671st Engineer Company in Portland, a unit that specializes in bridge construction.

He reported to basic training at Fort Jackson, S.C., and spent about 10 weeks there before graduating in February 2000, said Maj. Gerard Healy of the U.S. Army Reserve Command in Atlanta.

Battle's next step would have been to take advanced individual training at Fort Lee, Va., before reporting to duty as a supply clerk at the Portland reserve unit.

"He never showed up" for the advanced training, Healy said. Nor did he report back to his reserve unit, said Lt. Col. Joyce Clarkson, public affairs spokeswoman for the 671st.

"We tried to make contact with him," Clarkson said. "Obviously, if we train a soldier, we want to keep him. But we were unable to get a hold of him." Consequently he was "administratively discharged" from the reserves.

October Martinique Lewis Vivian Lewis, reached Friday afternoon at her Florissant, Mo., home, said she had been unaware of her daughter's arrest until she received calls from the media. She said she longed to speak with her daughter.

When told of the allegations her daughter faces, she said, "I know she isn't involved in that."

"I know that my daughter stayed and took care of his son all the time," Vivian Lewis said, referring to Battle's son.

When told about money October Lewis allegedly wired to Battle, who federal officials said was headed to Afghanistan, her mother said, "Her husband was over there somewhere. She's not doing anything like that, that I know of."

She listened to the amounts of money her daughter is accused of transferring to Battle -- up to about $500 at a time -- and said, "What could they do with that money? Is that enough to do something?"

Ahmed Ibrahim Bilal Shahriar Ahmed, president o f Bilal mosque in Beaverton, said he was shocked by the arrests of Muhammad Ibrahim Bilal and Ahmed Ibrahim Bilal, who at one time attended the mosque with their wives and families. Ahmed said he hadn't seen the brothers in several months.

"They were a novelty because they were Americans who spoke Arabic very well," Ahmed said.

"I just hope and pray that this is just talk," he said. "If it's true, what this tells us is we ourselves need to keep our ears open. But we do keep our ears open, which is why this is really shocking."

Ahmed Bilal, 24, remained at large Friday as did al Saoub, another former Portland resident. Al Saoub, a Jordanian, had been a legal resident of the United States.

Muhammad Ibrahim Bilal Muhammad Bilal, 22, was arrested Friday in Dearborn, Mich., where he had spent the past few weeks with his sister, identified by her landlord as Isha Bilal, in a rental apartment in a three-story brick home.

Hassan Bazzi, a retired Ford Motor Co. worker who owns the house, said he didn't know Muhammad Bilal was staying there until police and other law enforcement officials arrived Friday -- in about 25 cars.

Isha Bilal's husband came to the door Friday evening, but said he and his wife didn't want to talk. He wouldn't identify himself fully.

"We have been through a very traumatic experience," he said.

Muhammad Bilal appeared before federal magistrate Paul Komives, who ordered him detained.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Barbara McQuade told the magistrate that Bilal was a flight risk because he had spent 16 of his 22 years outside the U.S., and that his passport showed travel to Hong Kong, China, and Indonesia.

She said Muhammad's parents and most of his siblings are in his native Saudi Arabia.

Les Zaitz, Shelby Oppel, Scott Learn, Clifton Chestnut, Harry Esteve, Henry Stern and Janie Har of The Oregonian staff contributed to this report. Staff researchers Lovelle Svart, Margie Gultry and Gail Hulden contributed to this report. Julie Sullivan: 503-221-8068; juliesullivan@news.oregonian.com

-- Anonymous, October 05, 2002