http://www.miamiherald.com/457/story/112732.html
Terrorism trial puts al Qaeda at center stage Prosecutors will strive to keep jurors' minds focused on al Qaeda as they try Jose Padilla and two others on terrorism conspiracy charges in Miami federal court. BY JAY WEAVER Like savvy Hollywood directors, federal prosecutors opened the Jose Padilla terrorism trial in Miami with a grabber -- his alleged application to join al Qaeda. During the first week of testimony, they put an FBI agent, CIA officer and Secret Service fingerprint expert on the witness stand to say the five-page form in Arabic was the real thing. To top it off, they even called a convicted New York terrorist -- who has no involvement in the South Florida case -- to testify about his own al Qaeda application and training at the terrorist group's camp in Afghanistan. ''It's an organization that claims to defend Islam militarily,'' Yahya Goba, the convicted Yemeni American, told a dozen Miami-Dade County jurors. But now that prosecutors have raised the jury's expectations about Padilla's ties to al Qaeda, where do they go from here as the trial stretches across the summer? On Monday, prosecutors plan to begin disclosing numerous wiretapped phone calls between Padilla and his handlers in the United States that may reveal the magnitude of their alleged terrorism conspiracy over the past decade. Their challenge, however, isn't merely to show that Padilla and two other defendants plotted to support terrorists in ''violent jihad'' overseas. To obtain life sentences against the threesome, prosecutors must also prove that they conspired to ''murder, kidnap and maim'' people abroad in their holy war against the West. That will be tough to prove. There isn't a single act of violence cited in the Miami indictment that directly involves any of the defendants -- Padilla, 36, a former Broward County resident; Sunrise computer programmer Adham Amin Hassoun, 45; and Detroit school administrator Kifah Wael Jayyousi, 45. Instead, the indictment implies that the three men supported terrorists in conflicts largely involving oppressed Muslims seeking independence in Bosnia, Chechnya and Kosovo, among other hot spots in the 1990s. In some of those instances, the U.S. government was on the side of Muslims because they were being slaughtered in their homelands. The indictment also accuses Padilla of filling out his application to join al Qaeda in July 2000 and training at its camp that September. Yet exactly where, when and how he took up arms in the name of Islam is not spelled out. DEMANDING JURY Lawyer Kendall Coffey, a former U.S. attorney in Miami, said jurors seasoned on such TV crime shows as CSI: Miami are going to expect prosecutors to provide solid evidence of the three defendants' direct involvement in terrorist acts of murder, maiming and kidnapping. He said that securing a conviction on that conspiracy charge is going to center on Padilla's personal involvement in the illegal conduct of targeting Americans or their allies in conflicts overseas. ''To the extent there is an emphasis on atrocities in Chechnya and other foreign lands, that could be a mixed blessing for the prosecution,'' Coffey said. ``It underscores the heinous gravity of al Qaeda, but it also permits a defense strategy that takes the focus away from a mission targeting Americans.'' ''Even if he's a card-carrying member of al Qaeda, Padilla may never have gotten past the training camp,'' Coffey added. ``The defense will argue passionately that the evidence doesn't establish a plan to commit murder.'' EASIER TO PROVE Still, the government has the benefit of the federal conspiracy law. Prosecutors need only present evidence that the alleged terrorist network with roots in South Florida continued over a decade. Then, for conviction, they have to show that each defendant participated in at least one act to join the alleged terrorist plot. That will be an easier challenge as far as proving a conspiracy to provide ''material support,'' such as propaganda, money and soldiers for ''violent jihad.'' That carries a 15-year prison term. But a conspiracy to commit murder, which carries a life sentence, will be harder to nail down. In opening statements, defense lawyers argued that their clients were simply passionate about their Islamic faith. The lawyers said the defendants' work involving newsletters, charities and other causes was meant to help ''freedom fighters'' supporting Muslims who were being killed by the thousands as they sought to establish independent nations. Padilla's lawyers said he traveled abroad to study Islamic culture and to become an imam, a religious leader. They said he did not fill out an application to join al Qaeda or train with the group. Despite those assertions, it was plain to see that the government will be putting the notorious terrorist group on trial alongside the three defendants. Assistant U.S. Attorney Brian Frazier mentioned al Qaeda more than 90 times in his opening statement. At one point last week, a defense lawyer expressed exasperation over the government's strategy. ''All of Islam is on trial,'' Jayyousi's lawyer, William Swor, told the judge. ``This case cannot be the United States versus Islam.'' [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] -------------------------- Want to discuss this topic? Head on over to our discussion list, [EMAIL PROTECTED] -------------------------- Brooks Isoldi, editor [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.intellnet.org Post message: osint@yahoogroups.com Subscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] *** FAIR USE NOTICE. This message contains copyrighted material whose use has not been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. OSINT, as a part of The Intelligence Network, is making it available without profit to OSINT YahooGroups members who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information in their efforts to advance the understanding of intelligence and law enforcement organizations, their activities, methods, techniques, human rights, civil liberties, social justice and other intelligence related issues, for non-profit research and educational purposes only. We believe that this constitutes a 'fair use' of the copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the U.S. Copyright Law. If you wish to use this copyrighted material for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use,' you must obtain permission from the copyright owner. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/osint/ <*> Your email settings: Individual Email | Traditional <*> To change settings online go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/osint/join (Yahoo! ID required) <*> To change settings via email: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
