Donna
04-06-03, 16:51
[B]2 Arabs Convicted and 2 Cleared of Terrorist Plot Against the U.S.
By DANNY HAKIM
DETROIT, June 3 — Two Arab immigrants were convicted in federal court here today in a terrorist plot against American airports, military bases and landmarks like Disneyland. Two other defendants were acquitted of terrorism charges.
The verdicts, reached after nine weeks in the courtroom and nearly seven days of deliberations, came in what was the government's first major terrorism trial since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.
Although mixed, the results were hailed by federal prosecutors, including Attorney General John Ashcroft, as a victory in the war on terror.
"Today's convictions send a clear message," Mr. Ashcroft said. "The Department of Justice will work diligently to detect, disrupt and dismantle the activities of terrorist cells in the United States and abroad."
But defense lawyers said the acquittals raised questions about whether the four men really formed the "sleeper operational combat cell" that the government described. William Swor, one of the defense lawyers, said the government's case was deficient. But Mr. Swor said closing arguments by prosecutors, who invoked something akin to civic duty in asking jurors to convict the defendants, helped overcome that.
"I'm sure they were afraid of letting everyone go on everything," Mr. Swor said of the jury. "There's certainly no evidence."
Abdel-Ilah Elmardoudi, 37, and Karim Koubriti, 24, both Moroccans, were convicted of providing material support or resources to terrorists and conspiracy to engage in fraud and misuse of visas, permits and other documents. Mr. Elmardoudi could receive up to 20 years in jail and also faces federal charges in Minneapolis related to the theft of telephone card numbers in the airport there. Mr. Koubriti faces 10 years in jail.
Ahmed Hannan, 34, a Moroccan, was found guilty of one count of conspiracy involving document fraud, while Farouk Ali-Haimoud, 22, an Algerian, was acquitted of all charges.
Some of the defendants wept as the verdicts were read — with bitterness or relief, depending on their personal outcome. Mr. Ali-Haimoud wept profusely, as did his mother, the only family member present.
Shortly after the verdicts, Judge Gerald E. Rosen of Federal District Court signed an order for the release of Mr. Ali-Haimoud, who had been held for more than a year.
Mr. Hannan, convicted of a fraudulent document conspiracy charge, faces up to five years in jail, prosecutors said. Appeals are expected in all three convictions.
Three of the jurors agreed to speak to reporters in court after the trial but did not identify themselves. One juror, when asked if the continuing campaign against terrorism affected deliberations, said, "Not at all."
"We totally separated 9/11, the war on terrorism, from what we were doing," she said. "We were focused on what we had in front of us."
Prosecutors said the four men made up a secretive group that spoke in code, cased airports in Detroit and Chicago for security lapses and considered obtaining Stinger missiles to shoot down commercial airplanes, among other plans.
Defense lawyers derided the deal that the government struck with its main witness, Youssef Hmimssa, a 32-year-old Moroccan who had been an associate of the men. In the deal, Mr. Hmimssa received 46 months in prison for 10 unrelated felonies committed in three states; he could have faced up to 81 years.
"Some of the things he said we believed, and some of the things he said we didn't believe," the juror said. She said that for Mr. Ali-Haimoud, "we didn't feel there was enough evidence against him to convict him."
The case began just six days after the Sept. 11 attacks, when federal agents raided an apartment in Dearborn, a suburb of Detroit that has the nation's most concentrated Arab- American community.
The apartment had once been occupied by an Arab immigrant on the government's terror watch list. Instead of finding the man they were looking for, agents found three of the defendants, but not Mr. Elmardoudi, who lived in Chicago. The three men, who had all been employed at Detroit Metropolitan Airport, were found with a cache of forged passports and identification papers, and more than 100 audiotapes advocating extremist views or holy war.
Agents also found a day planner with crude sketches that prosecution witnesses said included an outline of an American air base in Turkey used to patrol Iraq's no-fly zone, as well as a sketch of a military hospital in Jordan. And they found what looked like a tourist's videotape that prosecutors contended was pointedly interspersed with video of a few prominent sites meant as potential targets, including Disneyland, the MGM Grand in Las Vegas and The New York Times building.
Prosecutors called Mr. Elmardoudi the leader. He was carrying $83,000 when he was caught last November in North Carolina. The government said that he received wire transfers from men overseas whom he referred to as "the brothers," and that when he spoke to the three other defendants he sometimes used a code involving members of the 1986 Moroccan national soccer team; each represented credit or phone card numbers.
Defense lawyers said much of the evidence never clearly tied any of the defendants to anything terror-related. They argued that the videotape was what it appeared to be, a tourist video, and presented evidence to show that the day planner had once belonged to a mentally ill man who claimed to be a general.
"Is it about winning cases or about protecting the American people?" Richard Helfrick, a lawyer for Mr. Koubriti, said in his closing argument. "We want the government to make sure they prosecute real terrorists."
James Thomas, the lawyer for Mr. Hannan, said the defendants had not rejected the authority of the courts, unlike other prominent terror defendants in the past.
"These guys were not that way," Mr. Thomas said. "They subjected themselves to the power of the court, conducted themselves well and worked with their lawyers."
Other terror cases have been more high profile, though the Detroit case is the first to result in a courtroom trial. Zacarias Moussaoui is still awaiting trial as a conspirator in the Sept. 11 attacks. The so-called shoe bomber, Richard Reid, was sentenced to life in prison in January after pleading guilty to trying to set off an explosive in his shoe on a trans-Atlantic flight. Six Yemeni men in the Buffalo suburb of Lackawanna have also pleaded guilty to terror charges; the men were said to be part of a terror cell. Some of the men trained at a camp run by Al Qaeda and even met with Osama bin Laden. The government last month accused a seventh man of being part of the cell.
This case did not arouse the emotion that other recent events have among Arab-Americans — the Iraq war sparked ebullient celebrations from Iraqi-Americans and protests from other Arab-Americans. In fact, on many days, four rows of benches in the courtroom were largely empty except for a few journalists.
Haaris Ahmad, the executive director of the Michigan branch of the Council on American Islamic Relations said some people felt intimidated to visit federal court.[B]
Ach ja.
Klagen we hier wel eens over 'het noemen vannationaliteit in berichtgeving', in de VS doen ze dat anders.
'2 Arabs convicted and 2 cleared'. Ze hebben ook geen terroristen veroordeeld, of onschuldigen vrijgesproken, maar 'Arab immigrants'.
By DANNY HAKIM
DETROIT, June 3 — Two Arab immigrants were convicted in federal court here today in a terrorist plot against American airports, military bases and landmarks like Disneyland. Two other defendants were acquitted of terrorism charges.
The verdicts, reached after nine weeks in the courtroom and nearly seven days of deliberations, came in what was the government's first major terrorism trial since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.
Although mixed, the results were hailed by federal prosecutors, including Attorney General John Ashcroft, as a victory in the war on terror.
"Today's convictions send a clear message," Mr. Ashcroft said. "The Department of Justice will work diligently to detect, disrupt and dismantle the activities of terrorist cells in the United States and abroad."
But defense lawyers said the acquittals raised questions about whether the four men really formed the "sleeper operational combat cell" that the government described. William Swor, one of the defense lawyers, said the government's case was deficient. But Mr. Swor said closing arguments by prosecutors, who invoked something akin to civic duty in asking jurors to convict the defendants, helped overcome that.
"I'm sure they were afraid of letting everyone go on everything," Mr. Swor said of the jury. "There's certainly no evidence."
Abdel-Ilah Elmardoudi, 37, and Karim Koubriti, 24, both Moroccans, were convicted of providing material support or resources to terrorists and conspiracy to engage in fraud and misuse of visas, permits and other documents. Mr. Elmardoudi could receive up to 20 years in jail and also faces federal charges in Minneapolis related to the theft of telephone card numbers in the airport there. Mr. Koubriti faces 10 years in jail.
Ahmed Hannan, 34, a Moroccan, was found guilty of one count of conspiracy involving document fraud, while Farouk Ali-Haimoud, 22, an Algerian, was acquitted of all charges.
Some of the defendants wept as the verdicts were read — with bitterness or relief, depending on their personal outcome. Mr. Ali-Haimoud wept profusely, as did his mother, the only family member present.
Shortly after the verdicts, Judge Gerald E. Rosen of Federal District Court signed an order for the release of Mr. Ali-Haimoud, who had been held for more than a year.
Mr. Hannan, convicted of a fraudulent document conspiracy charge, faces up to five years in jail, prosecutors said. Appeals are expected in all three convictions.
Three of the jurors agreed to speak to reporters in court after the trial but did not identify themselves. One juror, when asked if the continuing campaign against terrorism affected deliberations, said, "Not at all."
"We totally separated 9/11, the war on terrorism, from what we were doing," she said. "We were focused on what we had in front of us."
Prosecutors said the four men made up a secretive group that spoke in code, cased airports in Detroit and Chicago for security lapses and considered obtaining Stinger missiles to shoot down commercial airplanes, among other plans.
Defense lawyers derided the deal that the government struck with its main witness, Youssef Hmimssa, a 32-year-old Moroccan who had been an associate of the men. In the deal, Mr. Hmimssa received 46 months in prison for 10 unrelated felonies committed in three states; he could have faced up to 81 years.
"Some of the things he said we believed, and some of the things he said we didn't believe," the juror said. She said that for Mr. Ali-Haimoud, "we didn't feel there was enough evidence against him to convict him."
The case began just six days after the Sept. 11 attacks, when federal agents raided an apartment in Dearborn, a suburb of Detroit that has the nation's most concentrated Arab- American community.
The apartment had once been occupied by an Arab immigrant on the government's terror watch list. Instead of finding the man they were looking for, agents found three of the defendants, but not Mr. Elmardoudi, who lived in Chicago. The three men, who had all been employed at Detroit Metropolitan Airport, were found with a cache of forged passports and identification papers, and more than 100 audiotapes advocating extremist views or holy war.
Agents also found a day planner with crude sketches that prosecution witnesses said included an outline of an American air base in Turkey used to patrol Iraq's no-fly zone, as well as a sketch of a military hospital in Jordan. And they found what looked like a tourist's videotape that prosecutors contended was pointedly interspersed with video of a few prominent sites meant as potential targets, including Disneyland, the MGM Grand in Las Vegas and The New York Times building.
Prosecutors called Mr. Elmardoudi the leader. He was carrying $83,000 when he was caught last November in North Carolina. The government said that he received wire transfers from men overseas whom he referred to as "the brothers," and that when he spoke to the three other defendants he sometimes used a code involving members of the 1986 Moroccan national soccer team; each represented credit or phone card numbers.
Defense lawyers said much of the evidence never clearly tied any of the defendants to anything terror-related. They argued that the videotape was what it appeared to be, a tourist video, and presented evidence to show that the day planner had once belonged to a mentally ill man who claimed to be a general.
"Is it about winning cases or about protecting the American people?" Richard Helfrick, a lawyer for Mr. Koubriti, said in his closing argument. "We want the government to make sure they prosecute real terrorists."
James Thomas, the lawyer for Mr. Hannan, said the defendants had not rejected the authority of the courts, unlike other prominent terror defendants in the past.
"These guys were not that way," Mr. Thomas said. "They subjected themselves to the power of the court, conducted themselves well and worked with their lawyers."
Other terror cases have been more high profile, though the Detroit case is the first to result in a courtroom trial. Zacarias Moussaoui is still awaiting trial as a conspirator in the Sept. 11 attacks. The so-called shoe bomber, Richard Reid, was sentenced to life in prison in January after pleading guilty to trying to set off an explosive in his shoe on a trans-Atlantic flight. Six Yemeni men in the Buffalo suburb of Lackawanna have also pleaded guilty to terror charges; the men were said to be part of a terror cell. Some of the men trained at a camp run by Al Qaeda and even met with Osama bin Laden. The government last month accused a seventh man of being part of the cell.
This case did not arouse the emotion that other recent events have among Arab-Americans — the Iraq war sparked ebullient celebrations from Iraqi-Americans and protests from other Arab-Americans. In fact, on many days, four rows of benches in the courtroom were largely empty except for a few journalists.
Haaris Ahmad, the executive director of the Michigan branch of the Council on American Islamic Relations said some people felt intimidated to visit federal court.[B]
Ach ja.
Klagen we hier wel eens over 'het noemen vannationaliteit in berichtgeving', in de VS doen ze dat anders.
'2 Arabs convicted and 2 cleared'. Ze hebben ook geen terroristen veroordeeld, of onschuldigen vrijgesproken, maar 'Arab immigrants'.