By ANDREW KRAMER, Associated Press Writer
PORTLAND, Ore. - A software engineer who unsuccessfully tried to enter Afghanistan to fight against U.S. troops pleaded guilty Wednesday to aiding the Taliban and agreed to testify against other suspects.
Maher "Mike" Hawash, one of the so-called "Portland Seven," will serve at least seven years in federal prison under a deal approved by U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft.
Hawash pleaded guilty to conspiring to provide services to the Taliban. Prosecutors agreed to drop charges of conspiring to levy war against the United States and conspiring to provide material support for terrorism.
"You and the others in the group were prepared to take up arms, and die as martyrs if necessary, to defend the Taliban. Is this true?" U.S. District Judge Robert E. Jones asked Hawash during the hearing.
"Yes, your honor," Hawash replied.
Hawash's attorney, Steven Houze, said his client had decided to cooperate fully with the government. Houze said Hawash had faced more than 20 years in prison if convicted on all three counts.
Hawash admitted buying camping supplies and other gear as part of a plan to join the Taliban as a foot soldier. He said he tried and failed to enter Afghanistan from western China in late fall 2001.
Hawash also admitted he gave money to other members of the group that had been provided by another, unnamed, individual.
In exchange for the reduced sentence, Hawash agreed to testify in federal court, before grand juries and before any potential military tribunals. He also agreed, if called upon, to cooperate with foreign governments to aid in their terrorism probes and to assist intelligence agencies.
He will be sentenced after he testifies against his former co-defendants, the U.S. Attorney's office said.
In March, federal agents seized Hawash, 38, from a parking lot outside Intel Corp., where he worked, and simultaneously searched his home. He was held as a material witness until charges were filed five weeks later. In what supporters called an abuse of civil rights, federal officials did not publicly confirm he was being held during those five weeks.
In a 41-page affidavit, the U.S. Attorney's Office accused Hawash, a naturalized U.S. citizen of Palestinian descent, of growing angry with the United States after the Sept. 11. 2001, attacks, then conspiring with co-defendants to join the fight in Afghanistan against U.S. troops.
Hawash accompanied the group as it tried and failed to enter Afghanistan, according to court documents. The Taliban was the militant Muslim organization that controlled most of Afghanistan until the American invasion following the terrorist attacks.
Five of the other six suspects in the case all have pleaded innocent — Jeffrey Battle; Battle's ex-wife, October Lewis; Patrice Lumumba Ford and brothers Ahmed and Muhammad Bilal. The sixth, Habis al Saoub, remains at large. They face various conspiracy, firearms and money laundering charges.
He was held as a material witness until charges were filed five weeks later.
I still have a problem with this position as taken by DoJ. As you found, the initial statements of his being held incommunicado were false, he should still have been brought before a court within a limited timeframe even though he was segregated from those charged and/or sentenced in the facility. Were he not a citizen, there'd be no problem; indeed if it can be shown that he took it under false pretenses then he should have it stripped and be deported after he completes his sentence as done to many Nazis in the past.
As you've remarked: Socialism is evil, even if its hidden in a Republican wrapper. It's also well buried in the Muslim cult, which is also starting to be recognized as anathema to our freedoms and prosperity.