Translation slip-up at root of controversy over US-based imam facing terro

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http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/afp/20040818/ts_alt_afp/us_attacks_iraq_justice&cid=1506&ncid=1473

NEW YORK (AFP) - Authorities say a translation error may have slipped into the file of evidence against an imam at an Albany, New York mosque who is accused of supporting terrorism, legal officials said.


Lawyers for Yassin Muhiddin Aref have called for their client to be released, but prosecutors insist that the potential finding does not exonerate him.


A hearing has been scheduled for Tuesday in Albany, Aref's lawyer, Terence Kindlon, told AFP.


Aref, 34, was arrested at the beginning of the month along with Mohammed Mosharref Hossain, 49. Both were accused of agreeing to help a supposed terrorist -- who was actually a US government agent -- buy a shoulder-fired missile.


Among the evidence presented against Aref was a notebook US authorities say was found in a terrorist camp in northern Iraq (news - web sites) in summer 2003, which lists Aref's name and US address next to a Kurdish word written in Arabic -- initially translated as "commander" but actually meaning "brother."

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