Sahim Alwan is aYemeni-American who grew up in the suburbs ofBuffalo, New York. In 2002, he was arrested and charged as part of theWar on Terror together with the other members of the "Lackawanna Six", based on the fact the group of friends had attended anAfghan training camp together a year earlier.[1]
Like the others, although initially entering a plea of "not guilty", he eventually pleaded guilty to "providing material support or resources to a foreign terrorist organization". He was convicted and received a 9.5-year sentence.[2]
Described as the "clean-cut" son of asteelworker, Alwan was noted for always wearing a shirt and tie, every day of his adult life, and studiedcriminal justice at the localcommunity college.[1] During theGulf War, he and a group of friends were assaulted for their ethnicity outside a Lackawanna restaurant.[1]
In the late 1990s, while working forBlue Cross and Blue Shield Association, he cooperated with the FBI to help investigate a fraud case, and asked them about the possibility of working for them as a career.[1]
A "local success story", he maintained a stable marriage, had three children, and worked with theIroquois Job Corps Center to help employ indigent and troubled youth.[1]
At al-Farooq training camp he was discouraged by the fact they were training for offensive wars and wars against fellow Muslims, rather than in defence of Muslim populations.[1] He announced that he wanted to leave and return home. He met personally withOsama bin Laden, who wanted to convince him to stay and finish his training. Taher, Moseb and Galeb also decided to leave. They were all driven toQuetta, and rather than wait a day for the next plane, took a bus toKarachi so they could leave Pakistan immediately.[1]
Immediately following theSeptember 11th attacks, Alwan was interviewed as aman on the street by theBuffalo News as he left his mosque, to give his opinion on the attacks. He responded that Islam guaranteed hellfire to anyone who took part in a suicide mission.[1] He phoned agent Ed Needham at the FBI that night, to promise his full cooperation in the Muslim community if the FBI needed help.[1]
