BERLIN -- As head of the Islamic Affairs Department at the Saudi Embassy
here, Muhammad Jaber Fakihi was responsible for explaining Saudi religious
views and assisting Muslims in need. These were some of his activities after
arriving in June 2000:

He frequented a Berlin mosque favored by Islamic extremists and attended on
occasion by members of the now-notorious Hamburg cell that helped mount the
Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, German investigators said. Mr. Fakihi, now 32
years old, channeled more than $1 million to the mosque, where Muslim
clerics have preached intolerance of non-Muslims, the investigators said.

According to a letter reviewed by The Wall Street Journal, Mr. Fakihi told
his superiors in Saudi Arabia that his ultimate goal was to turn Berlin into
an Islamic proselytizing center for Eastern Europe. And German officials
said they believe he met earlier this year with a Tunisian man under
investigation here for possessing bomb-making materials and a handbook for
brewing poisons.

Mr. Fakihi's tenure in Berlin shows one way the puritanical version of Islam
espoused by Saudi religious and government leaders can be spread. Behind the
suave princes who decry terrorism and present a reassuring face to the West,
men such as Mr. Fakihi -- Saudi government officials, employees of Saudi
charities and others -- disseminate a view of Islam that derides
"nonbelievers" and disparages the U.S. and Western culture.

Saudi government spokesmen deny the country encourages intolerance. But for
years, the oil-rich kingdom has funded religious schools, seminars and
charities that spread fundamentalist Islam in the Middle East, South Asia
and Europe. American and European officials have said that this kind of
Islamic belief has helped foster hatred toward the West and in some extreme
cases, such as the al Qaeda organization, bloody acts of terrorism.

Muhammad Jaber Fakihi

Age: 32

Former title: Head of Islamic Affairs Department for Saudi Embassy in Berlin

Tenure in position: June 2000 to March 2003

Education: Studied Islamic law at King Saud University in Riyadh

Mr. Fakihi hasn't been accused of involvement with terrorism. He returned to
Saudi Arabia in March, after the discovery of his business card last year
among the possessions of a man convicted in Germany of aiding the Sept. 11
hijackers. Mr. Fakihi couldn't be reached for comment in Saudi Arabia.

The Saudi Embassy in Berlin didn't respond to requests for comment. Calls to
the Saudi government in Riyadh were returned by an American public relations
consultant in Washington. The consultant, who asked not to be identified by
name or described as a Saudi spokesman, said Mr. Fakihi's activities in
Berlin had been audited and found to be proper. "He did nothing wrong," the
consultant said.

The consultant said the premise that Mr. Fakihi personified Saudi efforts to
spread an intolerant faith "is dead wrong." He added: "Please do not confuse
the acts of a few individuals, with the beliefs and deeds of the entire
Saudi people. When you paint Saudi Arabia with a broad brush, you can't say
its people are anti-American or anti-Western."

Mr. Fakihi arrived in Berlin in June 2000, after studying Islamic law at the
King Saud University in Riyadh. A slim man with a bushy beard, he helped
Muslims in Germany make the sacred pilgrimage to Islam's holy sites in Mecca
and Medina. He also supplied Muslims here with German translations of the
Quran and other religious literature.

Muslim friends of Mr. Fakihi in Germany, most of whom spoke on the condition
of anonymity, said that he spoke neither German nor English. He led a
relatively insular existence because he resisted fraternizing with
non-Muslims -- and even with most other Muslims in Germany, whom he
considered too spiritually lax. Most of Germany's 3.5 million Muslims are
Turks who follow a version of Islam more moderate than that espoused by
observant Saudis.

Cultural Attache

Mr. Fakihi's post at the Saudi Embassy was the equivalent of a cultural
attache. But his friends said he wouldn't attend concerts, plays or movies,
primarily because he feared any exposure to music, which some orthodox
Muslims avoid. He adhered to a fundamentalist strain of the religion
promoted by Saudi Arabia and often referred to as Wahhabism. The name
alludes to Muhammad ibn 'Abd al-Wahhab, the leader of a puritan Islamic
revival in the 18th century. Mr. Fakihi's strict fidelity to Wahhabism
prevented him from entering a car if the radio was playing because of the
chance that music might come on, his friends said.

Not all of his views were consistent, however. His friends said that Mr.
Fakihi vociferously urged them to boycott American goods, as a symbol of
resistance to a culture he viewed as corrupt and decadent. Still, the
diplomat couldn't shake his strong affection for Coca-Cola, which he drank
every day, his friends said, despite their jokes about the contradiction.

Mr. Fakihi's wife, Maryam, is a school teacher, a profession in short supply
in Saudi Arabia, so the government had her remain behind in their home
country, with the couple's daughter. The diplomat was lonely, his friends
said, and he found solace in an Arab restaurant called Salsabil. The place
was known for its authentic home cooking and for not serving alcohol, which
observant Muslims avoid. Every day, Mr. Fakihi ordered lamb stew with rice,
a favorite dish his mother had made, the restaurant's owner, Houssam
Nahouli, said.

Mr. Nahouli and some of his employees were members of Berlin's Al-Nur
Mosque, which became Mr. Fakihi's favorite place of worship, too, his
friends said. The small mosque is located in a district known for its mix of

immigrants and counterculture German youth. Most of Al-Nur's worshipers are
from Arab countries, and it stands out from predominantly Turkish mosques in
that it hews to a more orthodox form of Islam, according to German
government investigators.

By the late 1990s, the mosque hosted preachers who justified violence in the
name of defending Islam, the investigators said. Mohamed Atta, thought to be
the lead Sept. 11 hijacker, and other members of the Hamburg cell visited
the mosque during this period, the investigators said.

In addition, documents containing the mosque's address were seized by
Pakistani investigators who searched the belongings of men alleged to have
received military training in 2001 at al Qaeda camps in Afghanistan. German
prosecutors submitted copies of the documents to a court in Hamburg during
the trial of Mounir el-Motassadeq, a Moroccan convicted in February of
aiding the Sept. 11 hijackers.

Mr. Fakihi had big plans for Al-Nur. Shortly after arriving in Berlin in
June 2000, he wrote a letter to the Saudi Minister of Islamic Affairs in
Riyadh, Saleh bin Abdulaziz Al-Ashaikh, proposing to turn the mosque into a
center for Islamic missionary activity aimed at "ethnic European"
populations in Eastern Europe. The Journal reviewed a copy of the letter in
Arabic and had it translated. Mr. Fakihi, who envisioned moving his office
to the mosque, proposed that Al-Nur carry the word of Islam to Poland, the
Czech Republic and Hungary, the last of "which once belonged to the Islamic
Caliphate under Ottoman Empire rule."

The letter cautioned about the need to prepare for times of "conflict"
between Muslims and unspecified "others," although the context implied that
he wasn't referring to violent conflict. The letter recommended purchasing
real estate to house an enlarged Islamic center in Berlin, noting that
"property ownership is more secure, and offers greater guarantees should it
come to a conflict between Muslims and the others."

It couldn't be determined what response Mr. Fakihi received to his letter.

The Washington-based consultant to the Saudi government said the diplomat's
aid to the mosque was modest. An audit of the accounts at the Saudi Embassy
in Berlin revealed that Mr. Fakihi distributed a total of less than $5,000
in government money during his entire tenure in Berlin, the consultant said.
"His job was to provide copies of the Quran, prayer rugs, and to support the
celebration of Islamic festivals," the consultant added. "He wasn't in a
position to provide funding for a mosque."

But German investigators said Mr. Fakihi arranged for Saudi
government-backed charities to fund the expansion of Al-Nur. The main
example is the Riyadh-based Al-Haramain Foundation, which investigators said
donated $1.2 million to help the mosque. The investigators said
land-purchase records show that in December 2000, the mosque used the money
to buy a four-story factory complex on a quiet side street, across from a
two-story figure of a Marlboro Man rotating on the roof of a cigarette
factory. Previously a shabby backyard prayer hall, the larger Al-Nur was
outfitted with prayer rugs, classrooms, kitchens, shops and an Internet
server, all of which a mosque official proudly pointed out during a visit.

Freezing Assets

In March 2002, the U.S. Treasury ordered the freezing of assets of the
Al-Haramain branches in Bosnia and Somalia. In June, the Saudi government
said that its own investigation of the foundation had revealed that these
branches "supported terrorist activities and terrorist organizations," such
as al Qaeda. The Saudis said that the Riyadh branch of the foundation, which
is backed by the Saudi government, hadn't been involved in any wrongdoing.

In May, the Saudi and American governments demanded that Al-Haramain shut
down its operations in 10 countries, including Pakistan, Indonesia and
Croatia. The Al-Haramain headquarters in Riyadh didn't respond to requests
for comment. The Saudi government consultant in Washington said his client
had no comment on any dealings Mr. Fakihi may have had with Islamic
charities.

When imagining a missionary center catering to Eastern Europeans, Mr.
Fakihi's model was the Islamic Cultural Center and the Central Mosque in
London's Regents Park, according to a Saudi friend who discussed the matter
with him. The London complex is run by Ahmad Al-Dubayan, Mr. Fakihi's
predecessor as Saudi cultural attache in Berlin.

Mr. Dubayan said his operation provides guidance for Britain's Muslim
community on issues such as marriage and divorce. The mosque, he said, is
not a Saudi government institution. It has representatives from 23 countries
serving on its supervisory board, he said. "I don't represent Saudi Arabia,"
Mr. Dubayan said. But the London mosque and Mr. Dubayan have close ties to
Saudi-government-backed charities, such as the Muslim World League,
according to the league's Web site.

Mr. Dubayan left the Saudi Embassy in Berlin three years ago. But a senior
German intelligence official said he remained a Saudi diplomat until early
this year. It was only then that Mr. Dubayan returned his diplomatic
accreditation, the German official said.

During Mr. Fakihi's more than two years in Berlin, Mr. Dubayan served as his
mentor and met regularly with the younger man, according to a Saudi friend
of Mr. Fakihi's familiar with the relationship. In fact, the expansion of
the Al-Nur mosque was a project conceived by Mr. Dubayan, the friend said.
Mr. Dubayan arranged for this friend to assist Mr. Fakihi in writing the
Al-Nur proposal and other important letters.

Mr. Dubayan didn't respond to requests for comment on his relationship with
Mr. Fakihi.

The Al-Nur project stalled after Sept. 11, 2001. During a German government
investigation of Islamic extremism, Mr. Fakihi's business card turned up
among the possessions of Mr. Motassadeq, the man convicted of aiding the
Sept. 11 hijackers. Investigators said they believe Mr. Fakihi met Mr.
Motassadeq at the Al-Nur mosque or the Salsabil restaurant. But the
investigators said they don't think Mr. Fakihi assisted the hijackers. "We
never took notice of Mr. Fakihi until the card was found," a senior German
intelligence official said. The Saudi Embassy said last November that it had
had no contact with Mr. Motassadeq.

By December, the German government's suspicion of Mr. Fakihi was
unmistakable. Visitors to his Berlin home said they had to walk past police
guards, and investigators sometimes watched him from an unmarked car as he
ate in his favorite restaurant. Friends who joined him for these meals said
he told them that the Germans were "conducting a terrorism investigation."

On March 20, German police tailing a 32-year-old Tunisian, Ihsan Garnoaui,
saw their quarry in a car with diplomatic license plates, investigators
said. Mr. Garnoaui is under investigation for possessing bomb-making
materials and a handbook for making poisons. German investigators said they
believe Mr. Fakihi was driving the car with diplomatic plates. The
investigators said they believe the pair also had first met at the Al-Nur
mosque or the Salsabil restaurant.

The Tunisian was arrested on March 20, within minutes of leaving the car. He
is in pretrial detention. A senior German investigator said Mr. Garnoaui had
visited the Saudi Embassy in Berlin earlier that day to apply for a visa.
Mr. Garnoaui couldn't be reached for comment.

The imam, or prayer leader, of the Al-Nur mosque, Salem El Rafei, was
arrested on the evening of March 20. German federal police searched his home
and the mosque, according to the imam's lawyer, Matthias Zieger. Mr. Zieger
said his client is innocent of any wrongdoing but is under investigation for
membership in a terrorist group and for supporting a terrorist group. The
cleric was released after being held overnight. Mr. Zieger said he has no
knowledge of Mr. Fakihi, the Al-Haramain Foundation or activities at the
mosque.

Two days after the arrests, on March 22, the German Foreign Ministry,
following a recommendation from the country's domestic-intelligence service,
told the Saudi Embassy that Mr. Fakihi's diplomatic accreditation would be
withdrawn unless he left the country, according to a senior German official.

That same day, Mr. Dubayan flew in from London and met Mr. Fakihi at
Berlin's Intercontinental Hotel, one of Mr. Fakihi's friends said. Mr.
Dubayan didn't respond to requests for comment about this meeting. The next
day, Mr. Fakihi took a flight to Riyadh.

The Saudi government consultant in Washington said Mr. Fakihi was never
formally asked to leave Germany and that Germany has never informed Saudi
Arabia about any investigation of Mr. Fakihi. The Saudi consultant said Mr.
Fakihi was questioned by Saudi officials upon his return to Riyadh and was
cleared of any wrongdoing. The German Foreign Ministry declined to comment.

Reunited with his wife and child in Riyadh, Mr. Fakihi has telephoned at
least twice to Berlin to say that he is doing fine, his friends said. He has
told friends he isn't under investigation at home. Allegations that he
inappropriately channeled money to the Al-Nur mosque are "nonsense," he has
told these friends.

(C) 2003 Wall Street Journal