| Submit your comments on this article | |
| Arabia | |
| Emirates court convicts American on terror charges | |
| 2009-10-12 | |
| Using sweeping security codes passed after the Sept. 11 attacks, the United Arab Emirates' highest court convicted an American citizen Monday on terrorism-related charges amid claims that torture was used to extract his confession. The four-month trial of Naji Hamdan also was carried out without making public details of the accusations -- showing the tight lid on information over security matters in a nation that promotes itself as the West's foothold in the Gulf. Anti-terrorism laws in the Emirates, passed in the aftermath of the 2001 U.S. terrorist attacks, have been often expanded to muzzle political dissent and have drawn sharp criticism from international rights groups. The court sentenced Hamdan, an American of Lebanese origin, to 18 months in prison after facing three terrorism-related charges, including having ties an al-Qaida group in Iraq. But Hamdan -- who denied the allegations -- should be freed soon because the sentence takes into account the time he spent in custody since his arrest here last year. Once he serves his time, Hamdan is to be deported from the country. Hamdan said he was not politically active after he moved with his family back to the Middle East in 2006 after living in the United States for almost 20 years. He was an active member of the Islamic community in the Los Angeles area, where he ran a successful auto parts business. He said the FBI began questioning him about whether he had terrorist ties in 1999. He was never charged with any crime in the United States.
| |
| Posted by:ed |
| #1 WMF > CERN ARREST: FRENCH FEAR AL QAEDA -LINKED CERN SCIENTIST [AQ-In-Islamic-Mahgreb/North Africa]WAS CONSPIRING TO LAUNCH NUCLEAR TERROR STRIKES AGZ BRITAIN AND OTHER NATIONS ALIGNED WID THE USA. |
| Posted by: JosephMendiola 2009-10-12 20:50 |