ON "60 MINUTES": BRYANT VI�AS, AMERICAN WHO JOINED AL QAEDA AND THEN PROVIDED CRUCIAL INFORMATION TO U.S. INTELLIGENCE, SPEAKS IN HIS FIRST TV INTERVIEW

Judge in Vi�as' Case Criticizes Justice Dept.'s "Irresponsible" Decision to Withhold Witness Protection from Vi�as

The lure of fighting for oppressed Muslims in the Middle East pitched in online videos drove troubled American Muslim convert Bryant Vi�as into the arms of al Qaeda in Afghanistan, where he spent seven months training with the terror group. In his first TV interview, Vi�as says he even supported an attack on a U.S. base there. But after he was caught in Pakistan and shipped back to the U.S., Vi�as provided key information about his experience that made U.S. officials request witness protection for him. But he was denied. His interview will be broadcast on 60 MINUTES Sunday, Feb. 24 (7:00-8:00 PM, ET/PT) on the CBS Television Network.

The training did not resemble the propaganda videos showing al-Qaeda cadres running and navigating obstacle courses in formation. "That's not how it was when I was there. We did basic Soviet weapons. AK-47, RPG-7, PK machine gun, different pistols," he tells Pelley. "They go a little bit into explosive theory, suicide bombing vests."

Vi�as spent eight years talking to the FBI while he was locked up and provided what former FBI acting director Andrew McCabe termed "incredibly valuable" information, including identities of terrorists and how he made his way from Long Island, N.Y., into al Qaeda. His lawyer, Steve Zissou, says Vi�as' information was used to target, capture and kill many of his former terrorist associates.

The judge in his case, Nicholas Garaufis, says Vi�as is in "grave danger," and that the FBI and prosecutors agreed and sought witness protection for Vi�as. Prosecutors described Vi�as as the "Single-most valuable cooperating witness... with respect to al Qaeda..." But that wasn't enough for the witness security program to grant him witness protection. The Justice Department Witness Security Program declined an interview, but provided this statement: "[The program] must take into account the risks associated with giving a person a new identity and placing them in a community that is unaware of the person's actual identity..."

The decision troubles Judge Garaufis. "They've had... at least 8,700 cooperators placed in witness protection and I know some of these cooperators... .I've had virtually the entire Bonanno organized crime family on my docket," he tells Pelley. "Murders and drug kingpins on my docket, so I'm not a newcomer to this process and I was shocked that they took such a cavalier irresponsible step as they did to deny Mr. Vi�as witness protection."

Vi�as says he came on television, further risking his life, "to let people know what went wrong."

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