Prosecutors thwarted by terrorism unit, documents show

[Kadie]

Prosecutors thwarted by terrorism unit, documents show

By JOHN SOLOMON, Associated Press


Last Updated: August 8, 2004, 09:45:58 AM PDT


WASHINGTON (AP) - Prosecutors in the first major terror trial after Sept. 11 were hindered by superiors from presenting some of their most powerful evidence, including testimony from an al-Qaida leader and video footage showing Osama bin Laden's European operatives casing American landmarks, Justice Department memos show.

The department's terrorism unit "provided no help of any kind in this prosecution," the U.S. Attorney's office in Detroit wrote in one of the memos, which detail bitter divisions between front-line prosecutors and their superiors in Washington.

The Detroit case ended last summer with the convictions, hailed by the Bush administration, of three men who were accused of operating a sleeper terror cell that possessed plans for attacks around the world.

A fourth defendant was acquitted, however, and only two of the four men originally arrested were convicted of terrorism charges. Now the convictions are in jeopardy because of an internal investigation into allegations that defense lawyers were denied evidence that could have helped them.

more...
http://www.modbee.com/24hour/nation/story/1551963p-9118285c.html

[Dover]

1. There have been a litany of attempts by our government to prevent any

REAL investigation or conviction of terrorists related to 9/11. We've heard it before from witnesses within these intelligence agencies, like Sibel Edmonds and others. We've seen it in the whitewashing of reports and investigations. Excuses of incompetancy and bureaucratic bogs have been used at every turn to explain away what are clearly attempts to stall, obstruct and divert at the highest levels. This IS a conspiracy.......a CRIME and a COVERUP.

______

...The Spanish tapes show an al-Qaida operative panning the World Trade Center
and shooting the skyline that the eventual Sept. 11 hijackers used to fly
their planes into the towers. The operative even puts his arm around a
famous statute outside the towers as well as around the statue of a bull
near Wall Street.

Both tapes have extensive footage of Hollywood, Disneyland and Las Vegas
casinos. "Let's go to the hotel since we finished filming the casinos and we
made $100,000 tonight," the Spanish operative says on one of the tapes,
according to transcripts made by Spanish authorities.

Prosecutors were told by superiors they could not introduce the Spanish tape
unless they went through a lengthy bureaucratic process, known as the
Letters Rogatory, that establishes chain of custody for foreign evidence.

The process would take months to complete through diplomatic channels. With
just weeks before the trial and no willingness in Washington to delay the
trial, prosecutors abandoned the evidence, Convertino said. That meant the
Detroit tape was introduced at trial in isolation, with jurors given no
chance to see how closely it resembled a tape U.S. officials knew had
reached al-Qaida's leadership.


...Some disputes reached high into the Justice Department.

The FBI had identified three witnesses - a landlord, a Jordanian informant
and a prison inmate - who linked the Detroit cell members to the FBI's No.
27 listed al-Qaida figure, Nabil al-Marabh. The prosecutors wanted to charge
al-Marabh as a fifth defendant.

But Deputy Assistant Attorney General David Nahmias balked. "My
understanding is that the only connection between al-Marabh and your case
was an apparent misidentification by a landlord," Nahmias wrote.

A few months later, the government deported al-Marabh to freedom in his home
country of Syria.

[DeepModem Mom]

5. This is very curious stuff, and quite scary... nt

[truthspeaker]

2. kick

[merh]

3. This isn't surprising at all - - the admin doesn't want

any serious investigation into AQ - show trials - keep it simple, stupid!

[struggle4progress]

4. If we prosecute terrorists, how can the public continue to enjoy ...

... terror alerts?