Team Infidel
Forum Spin Doctor
Baltimore Sun
January 20, 2008 Ex-sailor denies disclosing classified data about ships; prosecutors claim use of code
By Associated Press
NEW HAVEN, Conn. -- Federal prosecutors acknowledge that they don't have direct proof that a former Navy sailor leaked details of ship movements. Instead, they hope his coded speech and obsession with security will persuade a jury to convict him of helping terrorists target U.S. citizens.
Attorneys for Hassan Abu-Jihaad say the government's case is weak, echoing civil liberties groups and attorneys who have made similar accusations in some high-profile terrorism cases that have fizzled recently.
In October, the government's biggest terror-financing case since Sept. 11 ended in a mistrial. That case, which involved former leaders of a Muslim charity in Texas, followed two other terror-financing trials in Chicago and Florida that also ended without major convictions.
"I think the government has taken a risk with borderline cases and tried to make them into something they're not," said Michael Greenberger, director of the Center for Health and Homeland Security at the University of Maryland.
Abu-Jihaad, 31, of Phoenix is facing trial next month. He has pleaded not guilty to charges he provided material support to terrorists with intent to kill U.S. citizens and disclosed classified information relating to national defense. He has been held without bail since his arrest in March.
Authorities allege that Abu-Jihaad leaked a document describing the location and vulnerabilities of a Navy battle group to suspected terrorism supporters in London.
Prosecutors say they have e-mail messages that Abu-Jihaad exchanged with the group in which he praised Osama bin Laden and the people who attacked the destroyer USS Cole in 2000.
They do not have any e-mail showing he sent the so-called battle group document. Instead, they're asking a federal judge to let them introduce what they say are coded references to terrorism plots that he allegedly made to associates.
In court documents filed last week, prosecutors cite Abu-Jihaad's "obsession with operation security," his use of codes and his suspicion of government surveillance to "explain why there is no forensic footprint that directly links the defendant" to the leaked document.
Authorities said Abu-Jihaad spoke of "hot meals" and "cold meals" in conversations with associates to refer to intelligence that would be useful in striking American military targets.
"I ain't been working ah, in, in, in the field of making meals and or, you know, in a, in a long time," Abu-Jihaad said in one call last year that was cited by prosecutors. "I've been out of that for, ah, over ah, quatro years, you know."
Authorities say that statement is an admission that he provided such intelligence four years earlier while he was still in the Navy. Abu-Jihaad's attorneys argued that the statements "relate to an entirely different matter" and should not be admitted.
In 2004, when British computer specialist Babar Ahmad was arrested on terrorism charges, investigators discovered information from the battle group documents among his files.
Abu-Jihaad exchanged e-mail with Ahmad while on active duty on the USS Benfold, a guided-missile destroyer, in 2000 and 2001, an FBI affidavit says.
Abu-Jihaad, who received an honorable discharge from the Navy in 2002, faces up to 25 years in prison if convicted.
January 20, 2008 Ex-sailor denies disclosing classified data about ships; prosecutors claim use of code
By Associated Press
NEW HAVEN, Conn. -- Federal prosecutors acknowledge that they don't have direct proof that a former Navy sailor leaked details of ship movements. Instead, they hope his coded speech and obsession with security will persuade a jury to convict him of helping terrorists target U.S. citizens.
Attorneys for Hassan Abu-Jihaad say the government's case is weak, echoing civil liberties groups and attorneys who have made similar accusations in some high-profile terrorism cases that have fizzled recently.
In October, the government's biggest terror-financing case since Sept. 11 ended in a mistrial. That case, which involved former leaders of a Muslim charity in Texas, followed two other terror-financing trials in Chicago and Florida that also ended without major convictions.
"I think the government has taken a risk with borderline cases and tried to make them into something they're not," said Michael Greenberger, director of the Center for Health and Homeland Security at the University of Maryland.
Abu-Jihaad, 31, of Phoenix is facing trial next month. He has pleaded not guilty to charges he provided material support to terrorists with intent to kill U.S. citizens and disclosed classified information relating to national defense. He has been held without bail since his arrest in March.
Authorities allege that Abu-Jihaad leaked a document describing the location and vulnerabilities of a Navy battle group to suspected terrorism supporters in London.
Prosecutors say they have e-mail messages that Abu-Jihaad exchanged with the group in which he praised Osama bin Laden and the people who attacked the destroyer USS Cole in 2000.
They do not have any e-mail showing he sent the so-called battle group document. Instead, they're asking a federal judge to let them introduce what they say are coded references to terrorism plots that he allegedly made to associates.
In court documents filed last week, prosecutors cite Abu-Jihaad's "obsession with operation security," his use of codes and his suspicion of government surveillance to "explain why there is no forensic footprint that directly links the defendant" to the leaked document.
Authorities said Abu-Jihaad spoke of "hot meals" and "cold meals" in conversations with associates to refer to intelligence that would be useful in striking American military targets.
"I ain't been working ah, in, in, in the field of making meals and or, you know, in a, in a long time," Abu-Jihaad said in one call last year that was cited by prosecutors. "I've been out of that for, ah, over ah, quatro years, you know."
Authorities say that statement is an admission that he provided such intelligence four years earlier while he was still in the Navy. Abu-Jihaad's attorneys argued that the statements "relate to an entirely different matter" and should not be admitted.
In 2004, when British computer specialist Babar Ahmad was arrested on terrorism charges, investigators discovered information from the battle group documents among his files.
Abu-Jihaad exchanged e-mail with Ahmad while on active duty on the USS Benfold, a guided-missile destroyer, in 2000 and 2001, an FBI affidavit says.
Abu-Jihaad, who received an honorable discharge from the Navy in 2002, faces up to 25 years in prison if convicted.