Free Republic

A man prosecutors portrayed as one of Al Qaeda’s early leaders was convicted Thursday of conspiracy in the deadly bombings of two U.S. embassies in Africa following a trial that showcased the terror group’s early days. An anonymous jury returned a verdict in Khaled al-Fawwaz’s case after 2½ days of deliberating. The month-long trial unfolded in a heavily fortified courthouse where federal guards stood outside with machine guns and spectators had to pass through a special metal detector outside the courtroom. Al-Fawwaz stood expressionless as the verdict was read, pursing his lips briefly. He could face life in prison. Prosecutors...

http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5gkIBVaTTnTDT_lg8TWBbbawpW0cQ “Terror suspects lose extradition case in Britain” (AFP) – 5 days ago SNIPPET: “LONDON — Two alleged leading conspirators of Osama bin Laden on Friday lost their latest battle to escape extradition from Britain over the 1998 US embassy bombings in east Africa. Khalid al Fawwaz, a 46-year-old Saudi businessman, and Adel Abdel Bary, an Egyptian, are wanted by the United States over their alleged role in the attacks in Kenya and Tanzania that killed 224 people.” SNIPPET: “Al Fawwaz was living with his wife and three children in London before his arrest on a New York court indictment...

'Radical Muslim cleric Abu Hamza can be extradited to the US after Europe's human rights judges rejected his request for an appeal, officials have said. Hamza wanted to fight a European Court of Human Rights ruling that extradition would not breach his human rights. But his request was rejected by a panel of judges, a spokesman for the court said. The unanimous judgment said there would be no human rights breach either as a result of likely detention in ADX Florence "supermax" prison in Colorado, or the length of possible sentences on conviction. The decision means Hamza, who was jailed...

July 14, 2005 JS-2632 Treasury Designates MIRA for Support to Al Qaida ******In 2003, MIRA and Faqih received approximately $1 million in funding through Abdulrahman Alamoudi. According to information available to the U.S. Government, the September 2003 arrest of Alamoudi was a severe blow to al Qaida, as Alamoudi had a close relationship with al Qaida and had raised money for al Qaida in the United States. In a 2004 plea agreement, Alamoudi admitted to his role in an assassination plot targeting the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia and is currently serving a 23 year sentence.******

The attacks on US targets culminating in the September 11 suicide hijackings were only a fraction of the onslaught planned by Osama bin Laden and al-Qaida, it emerged yesterday. Over the past three years, US intelligence detected plots against US embassies in 14 countries, mostly in Asia and Africa, and there were over 600 more "credible threats" of attacks. Some were thwarted by arrests or stepped up security. Others appear to have been suspended or may still be pending. The global extent of al-Qaida's terrorist ambitions is revealed in a new book by Peter Bergen, CNN's terrorism analyst, who interviewed ...

JEDDAH, Saudi Arabia, (AFP) - Seven people who took part in demonstrations last month in Saudi Arabia have been sentenced to jail terms, a newspaper reported. The defendants will serve between one and three months in prison and were "ordered to sign an agreement that they would never again engage in the same offense," Arab News reported. Five defendants were jailed for a month, while two other defendants -- a Saudi and Sudanese national -- received two and three month prison terms. The Saudi national will also be lashed 60 times "for not confessing nor acknowledging that he had done...

UNITED NATIONS (AP) - The United States, Britain and Saudi Arabia asked the U.N. Security Council on Tuesday to impose sanctions on British-based Saudi dissident Saad al-Faqih for allegedly providing financial and material support to al-Qaida and Osama bin Laden. The United States and Saudi Arabia also asked the council to impose sanctions on Saudi businessman Adel Abdul Jalil Batterjee, who was instrumental in founding the Benevolence International Foundation, an Islamic charity that the United States has previously deemed a global terrorist group. Council diplomats said the two names were circulated among the 15 Security Council members on Tuesday. If...

January 2, 2003, 9:20 a.m. “Axis of Evil” Indicted Hamas leader linked to al Qaeda activist in Midwest. By Evan Kohlmann s the result of an extensive, decade-long federal investigation, former U.S. resident Musa Abu Marzook, also the acknowledged "political bureau" chief of the Palestinian Hamas terrorist organization since 1991, has been indicted along with several other Palestinian Americans for repeated and deliberate violations of U.S. export regulations and the material-support provisions of the 1996 Anti-Terrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act (AEDPA). While living as a U.S. resident during the mid-1990s, Abu Marzook also had a series of disturbing connections...