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Terror Suspect Surprised by Allegation
Tuesday, October 8, 2002
The Associated Press

"She was just doing what Battle asked her to do," Vivian Lewis said. "She thought he was going to Africa. He was telling her he was going all different places. Then one week, he called, and he told her he wanted to stay longer."

PORTLAND, Or. -- AP
The Portland woman accused of wiring money to help her ex-husband fight United States forces in Afghanistan told her mother from jail that she thought the man's trip abroad was a spiritual journey.

October Lewis, 25, who is scheduled to be arraigned today, is accused of wiring $2,130 overseas to Jeffrey Leon Battle, 32, in eight transmissions "with the knowledge that the money would be used to support his attempt to reach Afghanistan to fight with the Taliban and al-Qaida forces," the federal indictment charged.

She is one of six people who were indicted last week on charges they conspired to wage war against U.S. forces in Afghanistan and provided resources to al-Qaida. The indictment offers no proof that the men actually made it to Afghanistan.

"He told her he was going on a Muslim spiritual retreat," Vivian Lewis of Florissant, Mo., said in a telephone interview with The Oregonian on Sunday. Her daughter phoned her from jail this weekend, following her arrest Friday.

Lewis said she sent Battle money to cover his travel and living expenses and did not know he had any weapons. Although shaken by her circumstances, she sounded in good spirits and maintains her innocence, her mother said.
(More: TheWorldLink.com News Source)
2002 © The Associated Press.

Dan