Terrorism

Charity on Trial for Alleged Ties to Hamas

Opening statements are set to begin this week in the long-awaited and controversial trial of what once was the nation’s largest Islamic charity. Since it was shut down six years ago, the Holy Land Foundation for Relief and Development stands accused of supplying resources the terrorist group Hamas. Charity officials,…

Jul 23, 2007 3:51 PM CDT

Court to Review Classified Gitmo Evidence

A federal appeals court has ordered the government to disclose classified evidence against Guantanamo detainees to the court and the lawyers who are defending them. The ruling on Friday by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit indicates the court intends to conduct full reviews of…

Jul 23, 2007 2:31 PM CDT

Suit by Afghanistan Detainee OK’d

A federal judge has refused to dismiss a petition for habeas corpus filed by a Yemeni detainee in Afghanistan. U.S. District Judge John Bates of Washington, D.C., said the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in an appeal by Guantanamo Bay detainees could determine the outcome in the Yemeni case. The ruling…

Jul 19, 2007 6:12 PM CDT

Sisters Head Lawyer-Led Pakistan Cause

In addition to Pakistan’s suspended top judge, two sisters, both attorneys and longtime political activists, are among the emerging leaders in a lawyer-led movement to promote judicial independence and a more democratic government. Government gadflies since the 1970s, Asma Jahangir and Hina Jilani have been audited, arrested and shot at.…

Jul 19, 2007 12:04 AM CDT

Pearl’s Widow Sues Major Pakistan Bank

The widow of a Wall Street Journal reporter abducted and murdered in Pakistan by terrorists in 2002 has sued his alleged killers, al-Qaida, and Pakistan’s biggest bank in federal court in New York. In a complaint filed today, Mariane Pearl, a French citizen, and her husband’s estate contend that Habib…

Jul 18, 2007 10:21 PM CDT

Suit: Legal Fees Draining Fund

A suit by Sept. 11 rescue workers claims a $1 billion insurance fund set up to compensate them is being drained by overhead and attorney fees. The fund has spent $74 million on legal bills and the costs of operation, paying only $45,000 to a worker who was injured by…

Jul 18, 2007 8:17 PM CDT

12 Dead at Pakistan Lawyers’ Rally

A suicide bomb blast today at a Pakistan rally for lawyers supporting the country’s embattled chief justice has killed at least 12 people. Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammed Chaudhry was not injured; the bomb went off near the podium where he was to speak in Islamabad, the country’s capital, but while…

Jul 17, 2007 9:07 PM CDT

Suicidal Detainee Transferred

A Guantanamo Bay detainee who tried to kill himself nearly two dozen times is one of 16 men who have been transferred from the military facility to Saudi Arabia. Troubled detainee Jumah al-Dossari looked gaunt when he arrived in Riyadh yesterday, his brother told the Washington Post. “When I looked…

Jul 17, 2007 3:30 PM CDT

Gitmo Lawyer: U.S. Agents Seized Notes

A Canadian attorney representing an accused enemy combatant held at the Guantanamo Bay military prison says he was harassed and had his legal notes reviewed on Saturday by U.S. authorities. On his way home after meeting with his client, Omar Khadr, 20, Dennis Edney was singled out by U.S. customs…

Jul 17, 2007 12:56 AM CDT

Padilla Prosecution to Rest

Prosecutors are expected to rest their case today against Jose Padilla and two co-defendants accused of aiding terrorist groups. Their biggest challenge is proving the most serious charge—that the defendants conspired to murder, kidnap and maim people abroad, the Miami Herald reports. Prosecutors introduced an application to an al-Qaida training…

Jul 13, 2007 3:55 PM CDT

UK Considers Citizen Travel Restrictions

Concerned about possible terrorism-related visits abroad by immigrants and British citizens, U.K. officials are considering imposing a ban on travel to certain countries by convicted criminals. In the wake of ongoing terrorist incidents, including recent failed attempts by a group comprised largely of immigrant physicians to blow up fuel-laden cars…

Jul 12, 2007 7:32 PM CDT

21 Months for Hamas Lie

A federal judge has sentenced a suburban Chicago grocer to 21 months in prison for lying about his ties to Hamas. Muhammad Salah also received a $25,000 fine, 100 hours of community service and three years of probation, the New York Times reports. Salah had been acquitted of a more…

Jul 12, 2007 4:04 PM CDT

Al-Qaida Regains Strength

Updated: A classified report concludes that al-Qaida has regrouped along the Afghan-Pakistan border, with operating capabilities unmatched since the Sept. 11 attacks. The Washington Post and the Associated Press learned of the report, entitled ”Al-Qaida Better Positioned to Strike the West.” Its release coincides with statements by Homeland Security Secretary…

Jul 12, 2007 2:42 PM CDT

UK Bomb Plotters Sentenced

Four men convicted in an unsuccessful attempt to bomb the London mass transit system were sentenced today to life in prison. Judge Adrian Fulford said the attacks were part of an “al-Qaida-controlled sequence of events,” the Washington Post reports. The failed plot came just two weeks after four suicide bombers…

Jul 11, 2007 3:59 PM CDT

Career Attorney Targets DOJ in Editorial

A 25-year career attorney with the U.S. Department of Justice has caused a stir by critiquing in scathing terms his employer and the administration of President George W. Bush in a recent newspaper editorial. “In the course of its tenure since the Sept. 11 attacks, the Bush administration has turned…

Jul 11, 2007 1:00 AM CDT