Trial of Massachusetts man accused of aiding terrorism begins

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By Lauren Keiper

BOSTON | Thu Oct 27, 2011 5:54pm EDT

BOSTON (Reuters) - A Massachusetts man accused of supporting militants traveled to Yemen for terrorism training and translated Arabic messages to help further al Qaeda's cause, prosecutors said in Boston federal court on Thursday.

During opening statements in the jury trial of Tarek Mehanna, prosecutors said the defendant answered a call to action from Osama bin Laden to fight and kill American soldiers.

Mehanna, they said, translated videos and texts from Arabic to English from his "cushy bedroom" in the Boston suburbs and widely distributed al Qaeda's message of jihad over the internet.

Although he failed to obtain terrorism training during a 2004 trip to Yemen, prosecutors said he viewed himself as part of the media wing of al Qaeda and conspired with others to support the organization.

Mehanna, 29, of Sudbury, Massachusetts has been charged with "providing material support to terrorists" and other crimes, including conspiracy to kill in a foreign country and lying to law enforcement officers.

If convicted, he faces a possible sentence of life in prison on the most serious charge.

Prosecutors said Mehanna provided vital skills and services to al Qaeda, a known terrorist organization.

They said witnesses who will testify against him include Mehanna's friend Daniel Maldonado, a New Hampshire man now serving a 10-year sentence for getting al Qaeda military training.

The defense said Mehanna was an American citizen guilty of nothing more than trying to explore his Muslim background and Islam.

He studied Islamic law and on his own initiative translated classical texts from Arabic to English. He traveled to Yemen to visit schools where he one day hoped to continue his studies, defense attorneys said.

He also spoke openly and often about his belief that the United States military should not be in Iraq and even expressed admiration for Osama bin Laden's efforts to get foreign powers out of Muslim countries, the defense said.

"He didn't hide his beliefs, he wore them on his sleeve," said defense attorney J.W. Carney, Jr.

Mehanna was not hired, ordered, directed or paid by al Qaeda, Carney said.

He was born in Pennsylvania but grew up in Sudbury, a suburb west of Boston, and graduated with a doctorate from the Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences.

Prosecutors showed video clips with images of Osama bin Laden that Mehanna translated with English subtitles as part of their opening statement.

The defense displayed family photos of a younger Mehanna, a typical American kid playing baseball and sitting on Santa's lap.

Mehanna had been living at home with his parents when he was arrested in 2008. The trial was expected to continue for six or seven weeks.

(Editing by Barbara Goldberg and Greg McCune)

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Two accused killers break out of Florida prison

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By Barbara Liston

ORLANDO, Fla | Mon Oct 24, 2011 7:08pm EDT

ORLANDO, Fla (Reuters) - Two accused killers escaped through an air conditioning vent and used blankets to scale razor-wire-topped fences to break out of maximum security at a Florida prison before dawn on Monday, authorities said.

"When all the details come out, you probably won't believe (it)," Indian River Sheriff Deryl Loar said.

The two men had been cellmates for the past five days in the Indian River County Jail and were being held on murder charges for separate incidents.

"It was a very elaborate scheme. We also know that it was very detailed in the way they departed the premises," Loar said at a press conference.

Loar said the inmates made use of the jail's air conditioning system to get out of the jail building and used clothing or blankets to help scale multiple razor-wire-topped fences. Investigators believe the inmates had outside help and fled in a car, he said.

One of the escaped inmates, Rondell H. Reed, who turns 52 on Tuesday, has a history of shooting at police, according to sheriff's records. The other escapee, Leviticus Uriah Taylor, 25, was convicted of first-degree murder within the past month and was due to be sentenced on November 10, Loar said.

Loar said both are considered dangerous and likely have left the immediate Indian River area.

The inmates were discovered missing during a routine hourly head count just before dawn, officials said. During a search of the jail, their red jumpsuits were found in a service area.

According to sheriff's records, Taylor was convicted of a 2009 murder during a home burglary. Reed was awaiting trial in connection with the murder of his sister's boyfriend and theft of the victim's Corvette at an automotive shop.

(Editing by Colleen Jenkins and Greg McCune)

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Iranian Government Agents Accused of Plotting Attack

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WASHINGTON — The Obama administration on Tuesday accused agents of the Iranian government of being involved in a plan to assassinate the Saudi ambassador to the United States. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said the thwarted plot would further isolate Tehran.

Two people, including a member of Iran's special operations unit known as the Quds Force, were charged in New York federal court. Justice Department officials say they were working with a person they thought was an associate of a Mexican drug cartel to target the Saudi diplomat, Adel Al-Jubeir. But their contact was an informant for the Drug Enforcement Agency who told U.S. authorities about all their planning.

FBI Director Robert Mueller said many lives could have been lost in the plot to kill the ambassador with bombs in the U.S. But Preet Bharara, the U.S. attorney in Manhattan, said no explosives were actually placed and no one was in any danger because of the informant's cooperation with authorities.

Attorney General Eric Holder said the U.S. would hold Iran accountable. Clinton told The Associated Press the plot would further isolate Iran as the United States put those allegedly involved under sanctions.

Holder said the bomb plot was a flagrant violation of U.S. and international law.

[See a collection of political cartoons on Iran.]

"We will not let other countries use our soil as their battleground," Bharara said at a news conference in Washington with Holder and FBI Director Robert Mueller.

Alizreza Miryusefi, the press attache at Iran's mission to the United Nations, said Tuesday that the accusation was "totally baseless" and that a full statement would be issued shortly.

Manssor Arbabsiar, a 56-year-old U.S. citizen who also holds an Iranian passport, was charged along with Gholam Shakuri, who authorities said was a Quds Force member and is still at large in Iran. The complaint filed in federal court says Arbabsiar confessed that his cousin, Abdul Reza Shahlai, was a high-ranking member of the Quds Force who told him to hire someone in the narcotics business to target Al-Jubeir and that Shakuri was his cousin's deputy who helped provide funding for the plot.

Arbabsiar, Shakuri and Shahlai and two others were sanctioned Tuesday by the Treasury Department for their involvement in the alleged plot.

Justice Department officials say Arbabsiar approached the DEA informant in Mexico to ask about his knowledge of explosives for a plot to blow up the Saudi embassy in Washington. But through subsequent conversations in English, secretly recorded for U.S. authorities, Arbabsiar offered $1.5 million for the death of the ambassador, perhaps at a purported favorite restaurant of his despite the possibility of mass casualties.

Asked whether the plot was blessed by the top echelons of the Iranian government, Holder said the Justice Department was not making that accusation.

Arbabsiar did not know he was trying to hire a DEA informant to carry out the plot, prosecutors said. Posing as an associate of a Mexican drug cartel, the informant met with Arbabsiar several times in Mexico, authorities said. The price tag was $1.5 million and Arabsiar made a $100,000 down payment wired from an overseas account.

Arbabsiar was arrested Sept. 29 at New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport. He was scheduled to appear in federal court Tuesday. Prosecutors said he faces up to life in prison if convicted.

Prosecutors said Arbabsiar has confessed to his participation in the murder plot.

President Barack Obama was first briefed on the plot in June, said White House spokesman Tommy Vietor.

"The disruption of this plot is a significant achievement by our intelligence and law enforcement agencies, and the president is enormously grateful for their exceptional work in this instance and countless others," Vietor said.

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Tarnishing Gold: Official Accused of Attempting to Rig 2012 Olympic Boxing

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The BBC shed light on an investigation into the World Series Boxing (WSB) organization, alleging evidence of a secret deal to fix two of the boxing gold medals at the 2012 Olympics in London.
Whistleblowers inside the organization have accused Ivan Khodabakhsh, WSB chief operating officer, of promising Azerbaijani government officials two boxing gold medals at the Olympics in exchange for $9 million, the BBC reports.
(READ: Rio 2016: Is Brazil Going to be Ready for the Olympics?)
The International Amateur Boxing Association (AIBA), the governing body of the WSB, admits an Azeri national paid $9 million to four U.S. franchises on the WSB tour, but denies the existence of any such deal.
According to the BBC, an insider said WSB was in need of funding, and that Khodabakhsh "boasted to a few of us that there was no need to worry about World Series Boxing having the coin to pay its bills. As long as the Azeris got their medals, WSB would have the cash."
Khodabakhsh denied the accusation, and in a BBC Newsnight interview, said "no comment," but then added the allegation was "an absolute lie." The media outlet has agreed to hand over its evidence to the International Olympic Committee, as a part of an investigation into the incident.
After the program aired, AIBA issued a statement that said the money was a loan from "an Azerbaijani investor…made on a commercial basis and with a view to a commercial return for the investor." The report was released just days before the World Amateur Boxing Championships commence on Sept. 26 in Baku, Azerbaijan.

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Albanian citizen in New York, accused of supporting terror group would have been in Pakistan

By approach Edmund published September 09, 2011| FoxNews.com

An Albanian citizen who lived in Brooklyn, New York, was charged Friday with providing material support to terrorists in Pakistan who were engaged in military operations that killed American troops, according to a statement issued by the Ministry of Justice.

Agron Hasbajrami, 27, a US citizen legal, would have provided $1,000 to a person in Pakistan, with links to a terror group and said that it will provide as much money as possible.

Hasbajrami would then have to talk about the difficulties of fundraising. Muslims, said, growing apprehension "when they hear that it is for the jihad," according to the Federal detention order unsealed Friday.

He reportedly planned to Waziristan in the North, Pakistan, eventually die as a martyr and "marriage with girls in Paradise", which is identified as being the jihadist rhetoric which refers to die as a martyr while fighting the Jihad.

The authorities say the period relationship of December 2010 to February 2011. Hasbajrami sent more than $1,000 to the person and planned to meet in Pakistan, read the court documents. This person has heard would have Hasbajrami on how to access to the region by obtaining an Iranian Visa and travelling through the Turkey.

The Pakistani individual told Hasbajrami he leads Jihad in Afghanistan and helped provide travel for other fighters to participate in the conflict. Hasbajrami would have been continuing to provide funding for the group after learning he was engaged in military operations that killed US troops.

Earlier this month, a confidential source for the FBI informed Hasbajrami that he was a member of the Islamic Jihad Union, a known terror organization and that he could help his travels, according to court documents.

Hasbajrami would have informed the source that he would meet with his group of terror in Istanbul, but was arrested Tuesday last at Kennedy International Airport when he arrived to board a flight in Turkey. The authorities claim that he was carrying a tent, boots and cold gear. It was expected to be arraigned Friday.

He faces a prison 15 years of if convicted.

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