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Citing ties to terrorists, magistrate denies bond for man

ALEXANDRIA, Virginia (CNN) -- Citing "close ties to terrorists," a federal magistrate Thursday ordered Indonesian native Agus Budiman held without bond.

Budiman is charged with helping a man named Mohamed Belfas fraudulently obtain Virginia identification papers. Government officials say Belfas, who is being sought by authorities, is a member of al Qaeda, Osama bin Laden's terrorist organization.

FBI agent Jesus Gomez gave the only testimony in the detention hearing, telling the court that Budiman was an acquaintance of Mohamed Atta and Marwan al-Shehhi, two of the suspected hijackers in the September 11 terror attacks.

Budiman's attorney, Mark Thrash, called the government's case "smoke and mirrors" and said the prosecution was asking the court to "extrapolate and infer, inference after inference."

Magistrate Theresa Buchanan disagreed.

"This appears to be a fairly routine case, but I cannot ignore the events of September 11th and that he had close ties to terrorists. I find him a danger to the community and a threat to flee, and I order him detained."

Throughout the proceedings Budiman sat impassively in his green prison jumpsuit. He showed no emotion when the judge made her ruling.

Prosecutors alleged through court documents that Belfas and Budiman knew each other in Hamburg, Germany and travelled to the United States together. Budiman's attorney acknowledges that his client received help from Belfas in obtaining an apartment in Hamburg.

The lawyer contends that Budiman was trying to return the favor by helping Belfas obtain fraudulent documentation that he had requested in Virginia.

The attorney claimed Budiman barely knew Atta, though he said Budiman once helped Atta move from an apartment in Hamburg. Thrash said he had no information on whether Budiman knew al-Shehhi.

As to his relationship with the so-called 20th hijacker in the September attack, Ramzi Binal-Shibh, the lawyer said Budiman had seen him on more than one occasion but they had never spoken. Binal-Shibh of Yemen is being sought by authorities.