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Has any other administration done such a wonderful job of shooting itself in the foot on a regular basis, especially when it pertains to what remains there only hope of being re-elected? Amazing.....
Key Evidence in Doubt in U.S. Mosque Case -Paper
Wed Aug 18, 2:48 AM ET Add Top Stories - Reuters to My Yahoo!
NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. prosecutors acknowledged on Tuesday possible flaws in a key piece of evidence in their case against two leaders of an Albany, New York, mosque accused of supporting terrorism, The New York Times said on Wednesday.
The mosque leaders, Yassin Aref, 34, and Mohammed Hossain, 49, were arrested after a sting operation in which authorities said they agreed to help an FBI (news - web sites) informant launder money to buy a shoulder-fired missile, as part of a plan to assassinate Munir Akram, Pakistan's ambassador to the United Nations (news - web sites).
Both men pleaded not guilty on Aug. 10 and were ordered held without bail. If convicted, Aref and Hossain might each face at least 20 years in prison. Aref, a Kurdish refugee from Iraq (news - web sites), might also face deportation.
As detailed by the newspaper, the error concerns a possible incorrect translation with ominous implications for Aref.
Prosecutors said the Defense Department gave them information that a notebook with Aref's name and address was found in what they called a terrorist training camp in the western Iraq desert, near Syria.
They said a word on one page, written in Arabic, referred to Aref as "commander." In fact, the word was Kurdish, and could be translated as "brother," according to prosecutors.
Reviewing the page for the newspaper, Nijyar Shemdin, the U.S. representative for the Kurdistan Regional Government in Washington, said he did not see how a translation would have come up with the word "commander." He also said Aref was referred to with the common honorific "kak," which could mean brother or mister.
Aref's lawyer, Terence Kindlon, told the newspaper the error is emblematic of deeper problems in the government's case, and that his client would seek a new bail hearing. "It looks to be a two-bit frame-up," he said. "I suspect that there is something political driving this."
A Defense Department spokesman said the department would not discuss continuing investigations, the newspaper said.
Key Evidence in Doubt in U.S. Mosque Case -Paper
Wed Aug 18, 2:48 AM ET Add Top Stories - Reuters to My Yahoo!
NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. prosecutors acknowledged on Tuesday possible flaws in a key piece of evidence in their case against two leaders of an Albany, New York, mosque accused of supporting terrorism, The New York Times said on Wednesday.
The mosque leaders, Yassin Aref, 34, and Mohammed Hossain, 49, were arrested after a sting operation in which authorities said they agreed to help an FBI (news - web sites) informant launder money to buy a shoulder-fired missile, as part of a plan to assassinate Munir Akram, Pakistan's ambassador to the United Nations (news - web sites).
Both men pleaded not guilty on Aug. 10 and were ordered held without bail. If convicted, Aref and Hossain might each face at least 20 years in prison. Aref, a Kurdish refugee from Iraq (news - web sites), might also face deportation.
As detailed by the newspaper, the error concerns a possible incorrect translation with ominous implications for Aref.
Prosecutors said the Defense Department gave them information that a notebook with Aref's name and address was found in what they called a terrorist training camp in the western Iraq desert, near Syria.
They said a word on one page, written in Arabic, referred to Aref as "commander." In fact, the word was Kurdish, and could be translated as "brother," according to prosecutors.
Reviewing the page for the newspaper, Nijyar Shemdin, the U.S. representative for the Kurdistan Regional Government in Washington, said he did not see how a translation would have come up with the word "commander." He also said Aref was referred to with the common honorific "kak," which could mean brother or mister.
Aref's lawyer, Terence Kindlon, told the newspaper the error is emblematic of deeper problems in the government's case, and that his client would seek a new bail hearing. "It looks to be a two-bit frame-up," he said. "I suspect that there is something political driving this."
A Defense Department spokesman said the department would not discuss continuing investigations, the newspaper said.