'Va. jihad' trial may focus on free speech

ALEXANDRIA, Va. (AP) - A federal judge Monday indicated First Amendment issues may play a significant role in the government's case against an Islamic scholar accused of exhorting followers to fight U.S. troops in Afghanistan.

Ali al-Timimi, 41, denies he is guilty, U.S. District Judge Leonie Brinkema told prospective panelists, while summarizing the prosecution's case against the defendant.

"He says that he only counseled the young men at issue to leave the United States and (migrate) to an Islamic country where they could practice their religion freely," she told a pool of 110 people who filled out long questionnaires.

The government's case against al-Timini, a U.S. citizen born in Washington, D.C., is closely linked to its earlier prosecution of 11 men who were allegedly part of a "Virginia jihad network" - a group of men who played paintball games in 2000 and 2001 in the woods of northern Virginia as a means of training for holy war around the globe.

Nine men were convicted and received prison sentences ranging from three years to life. Several who struck plea bargains are expected to testify against al-Timimi.

According to prosecutors, al-Timimi served as a spiritual leader to several members of the Virginia group - and turned its focus against the United States.

Previously, the defendant's lawyers, Edward MacMahon and Alan Yamamoto, tried to suppress several pieces of government evidence on free-speech grounds - including an e-mail al-Timimi sent after the fatal Columbia space shuttle disaster, praising it as a "good omen" of the downfall of Western supremacy.

Brinkema ruled, however, it was relevant to show al-Timimi's hostility to America; he is charged with inducing others to levy war against the United States.

Al-Timimi studied under a prominent Saudi cleric who was once close to Osama bin Laden and most recently has been serving as an intermediary between Saudi militants and the government there.

Thanks for the ping a_d.

Past info on Ali Al-Timimi:

...According to court records, Ali Al-Timimi, 40, of Fairfax, a primary lecturer at the Dar al Arqam Islamic Center in Falls Church, also known as the Center for Islamic Information and Education, said the Feb. 1, 2003, disintegration of the Columbia as it entered the Earth's atmospere brought welcome adversity to the United States.

"This morning, the world heard news about the crash of the space shuttle," Mr. Al-Timimi said, according to a six-count indictment handed up in U.S. District Court in Alexandria. "There is no doubt that Muslims were overjoyed because of the adversity that befell their greatest enemy.

"Upon hearing the news, my heart felt certain good omens that I liked to spread to my brothers," Mr. Al-Timimi said....

http://www.jihadwatch.org/archives/003429.php

Interesting article here:

SNIP...Cross-examined by the defense, Hasan told of meeting Islamist leader Ali Al-Timimi in Fairfax, Va., four days after 9/11. Al-Timimi urged him and others to "fight jihad ... I had taken the step after Ali Al-Timimi talked to me about jihad."

http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/tribune-review/middleeastreports/hiel/s_195466.html

http://www.frontpagemag.com/Articles/ReadArticle.asp?ID=12226

"The Australian Mufti Calls for Jihad" (snip) Sounds like they are all reading from the same script, here's one from my own backyard...

Anti-American and Anti-Western Sentiment

This is not the first time that Sheikh Al-Hilali expressed anti-American or anti-European sentiment. In a speech in March 2003, he likened "Bush Jr." to the son of Genghis Khan, calling him "the most ignorant president to lead the White House."(5) Sheikh Al-Hilali also declared that President Bush, Australian Prime Minister John Howard, and British Prime Minister Tony Blair are the "axis of evil."(6)

Sheikh Al-Hilali said on another occasion: "The media all over the world are controlled by Zionist fingers, particularly the Western media, and that includes Australia, in which the media are under Zionist hegemony. But in Australia, which unlike the West and the U.S. is multicultural, the media are less racist in their enmity to Muslims and Islam. This is evidenced by the fact that we won the last media battle in Australia and succeeded in forcing the Australian people to treat us with respect. We have not suffered from persecution or disrespect to the same extent that Islamic communities in Western countries and in America have suffered."(7)

However, Al-Hilali believes that "the Zionist Western attack on Islam" has become the best means of its propagation: "The Muslims are like a cotton [cushion] that the upholsterer's stick only makes bigger. When the cotton is worn out and can no longer be sat upon, the upholsterer comes along and attacks it ferociously with his stick. These blows clean the cotton, cause it to swell, expand, and grow.

"Thus are the Muslims. The stick of the Western media prompted the spread of Islam, and stimulated the Westerners to hasten to acquaint themselves with it...

"The Western media attacks Islam day and night. But they are unable to hide the sun at midday. The events of September 11th in the U.S. caused a revolutionary change in the military and defensive balance of power in the world, and all the world must reexamine their considerations in light of these developments...."(8)

Support for Hizbullah, Hamas, and Islamic Jihad

In one interview, Sheikh Al-Hilali accused the U.S. of terrorism and expressed support for martyrdom/suicide attacks: "There is no doubt that the U.S. is dealing with wholesale marketing of terrorism. The U.S. is the biggest agent for terrorism in the world, and Israel perpetrates terrorism, with funding and military and diplomatic support from the U.S.

"We are proud of the Islamic resistance in Palestine, Lebanon, Kashmir, and everywhere in the world that seeks to achieve its legitimate rights in accordance with the international resolutions, the human rights conventions, and the U.N. resolutions...

"We are also proud of the Islamic resistance that liberated southern Lebanon, led by Hizbullah, the legitimate Lebanese national movement, that forced the Israeli occupation army to withdraw from southern Lebanon, dragging trails of disappointment and shame behind it.

"We are also proud of what Hamas and the Islamic Jihad are both doing in the occupied territories. We support the resistance and support, with all our might, the martyrdom operations carried out by the Palestinian liberation movements, operations that are a legitimate act against the cruel occupation, according to all international norms and conventions.

"Also, whoever carries out a martyrdom [operation] is a pure Shahid and one of the men of Paradise. Moreover, he stands at the head of the Shahids."(9)

The Dangers of a Permissive Australia

In another interview, Sheikh Al-Hilali discussed Muslim life in Australia: "The dangers threatening the Muslim community emanate from the law that prohibits the family's guardianship over its sons from the moment they reach the age of 16. The father has no authority over his son or his daughter, and if you try to intervene in your son's private life, he brings in the police. The moment your son reaches 16, he takes his freedom and becomes independent.

"More dangerous yet are the sex education classes in the schools. In the West, the society is divided, generally speaking, into different parts in accordance with how interesting they are. First comes caring for dogs and cats. In second place is the woman, and in third place is the child, and in fourth place is the male. Australia is one of the Western societies, and it has recently enacted laws enacted allowing men to marry men and women to marry women. The church officially registers them... These are the dangers of freedom and permissiveness.

"Many Muslim families feel that their families are being threatened, and very quickly they set out on a journey back to their countries of origin." (10)

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