Respected Brothers & Sisters:
AA
Month Two, Week One:
The week was a very busy one for me. The Government continued introducing what it called evidence against me. The following events took place:

1. Monday 9:30 AM, 11/13/2006: The Government introduced Judith Miller as a witness against Mr. Salah. She testified that she was a friend of Itzhaq Rabin and the state of Israel for more than 25 years and attended two hours of Mr. Salah's interrogation in 1993 by ISA (Shabak). She was cross examined by Mr. Salah's Attorney Mr. Deutch and she confessed that the Shabak and the Rabin's office facilitated her visit. Simply, he portrayed her as a liar and an asset for MOSSAD. Also, my attorney Mr. Moffit crossed examined her for 7 minutes and had her say that she refused to testify despite the court order to stand up for her belief, never been punished for not testifying and she has been supportive of HAMAS charity work.

1:15 PM publishing some documents that were seized from my apartment in Oxford Mississippi in 1993 mainly Mr. Salah's indictment and the government tried to show that is an evidence to show conspiracy between me and Mr. Salah.

3:55 PM FBI case agent Mr. Benevitas was introduced by the Government as a witness in which he testified about the Search documents taken from my place in 1993.

2. Tuesday 11/14/06 9:15-10:00 AM, my CO-counsel Mr. Spielfogel cross examined him about the search document and the search conducted in my apartment as well as the search of my trash that was conducted by FBI. Also, he cross examined him about the surveillance of FBI in general, in which he admitted that FBI had bugs in my apartment, video camera at the entrance of my apartment and the FBI agents used to follow me every where at any time during 93-94. He denied any bugging or phone wiring since December 1994. Also, the CO-counsel for Mr. Salah cross examined him about various issues related to the case.

11:30 AM FBI agent Christine Awendbar testified about the authenticity of faxes intercepted from my fax machine. Mr. Moffit cross examined her but the Judge ruled in favor of the Government and accepted the faxes as evidence in the case. The government published some of the faxes.

1:40 PM FBI agent Ms. Julie Pritalie took the stand and testified about some of the faxes as well as about some search documents. She was cross examined by both Mr. Deutch and Mr. Spielfogel.

3. Wednesday 11/15/2006 9:15 AM, the publishing of documents and cross examination continued until 11:20 AM

11:25 AM, the government introduced Mr. Waleed Othan- a money exchanger who dealt with Mr. Salah before. He was cross examined by Ms. Erica Thompson-the new CO-Counsel for Mr. Salah to replace Mr. Bloom and Mr. Spielfogel. Mr. Othman admitted that there were no Palestinian Banks in west Bank and Gaza until after 1994 and he talked about the life of Palestinians under Israeli Occupation.

2:05 PM, FBI agent Mr. Thomas Morito testified about Mohammed Salah financial dealings and he followed the movement of money wired to Mr. Salah. He was cross examined by Ms. Thompson.

4:10 PM phone calls were played and the government introduced Mr. Robert Merinda FBI case agent for the case against the Holy Land Foundation to discuss Philadelphia meeting and the preparation for it.

Thursday 11/16/06 the philly meeting discussion continued....the participants, the sessions, the recommendations ... etc.

3:25PM the cross examination by Mr. Spielfogel started in which he stressed that it was a public meeting and exchange of ideas and no talk of violence or what so ever was discussed.

Friday 11/17, 9:00 Am the cross examination by Mr. Spielfogel and Ms. Thompson continued until 12:00 PM.

12-12:30 PM the Government published some phone calls.

Please keep us in your Duaa

Abdelhaleem Ashqar
Chicago
11/17/06

Also, see the articles below:


November 17, 2006
By Chris Hack Staff writer
An FBI agent and a defense attorney clashed Thursday in the trial of Mohammed Salah on whether a 1993 gathering of Muslim men was about improving the plight of Palestinians or torpedoing a Mideast peace agreement.

The meeting of about 20 Muslim leaders was held in a Philadelphia hotel in October 1993 when Salah was in an Israeli prison on charges that he delivered money to Hamas militants in the Occupied Territories.

Salah, of Bridgeview, is standing trial in Chicago on similar charges that he helped Hamas, which is viewed by the U.S. government as a terrorist group.

Salah's co-defendant in the case, former university professor Abdelhaleem Ashqar, of Virginia, was one of the organizers of the Philadelphia meeting. The two-day seminar, which was conducted under FBI audio and video surveillance, came in the wake of the late-summer signing of the Oslo Accords.

That agreement, signed by Yasser Arafat on behalf of Palestinians, called for an eventual end to Israeli occupation of the Gaza Strip and West Bank. The treaty's ultimate failure has been blamed by some on Hamas, which ratcheted up terrorist strikes against Israel to sabotage the cease-fire because it didn't conform with the group's goal of destroying the Jewish state.

Prosecutors contend Ashqar and other U.S.-based Hamas supporters met to a formulate a united local response to the peace agreement and take a stand against it.

"Their position was to derail the Oslo Accords," FBI anti-terrorism agent Robert Miranda testified Thursday.

Prosecutors played portions of the 20 hours of FBI audio surveillance of the Philadelphia meeting. In some segments, speakers worried a peaceful Palestine would dry up donations to Muslim charities, while others seemed to object to the accords on a more guttural level.

"We don't want children of our community, in Islamic and non-Islamic schools, one day surrendering to the issue of peace with Jews," alleged Hamas fundraiser Muin Shabib said.

But Ashqar defense attorney Keith Spielfogel noted the Oslo Accords didn't settle controversial issues about control of Jerusalem and the spreading Israeli settlements in Palestinian areas.

Spielfogel suggested Palestinian leaders in the U.S. and abroad simply were urging their people not to accept a treaty doomed to fail. He asked Miranda if he was a aware a significant number of Israeli lawmakers also had opposed the accords.

"I don't really know the Israeli position, I just focused on how the terrorist groups reacted," Miranda said. "I can say that Hamas played a pivotal role in ruining the chance for peace."

Also present at the Philadelphia meeting were leaders of the Muslim charity Holy Land Foundation, which was based in Texas but had an office in Palos Hills.

In 2001, the federal government shut down Holy Land, labeling it a Hamas fundraising front. Several leaders of the group since have been indicted in Texas and are awaiting trial.

Chris Hack may be reached at chack@dailysouthtown.com or (708) 633-5984.


Anti-terrorism agent testifies at Salah trial

November 18, 2006
By Chris Hack Staff writer
An FBI agent insisted Friday the fact violence wasn't discussed at a meeting of Muslim men 13 years ago doesn't mean they weren't supporting terrorism.

Anti-terrorism agent Robert Miranda testified in the trial of Mohammed Salah, a Bridgeview resident accused of serving as an operative of the militant Palestinian group Hamas.

Salah's co-defendant in the case, former university professor Abdelhaleem Ashqar, of Virginia, allegedly served as a communications link between Hamas leaders in the United States and abroad.

Ashqar was an organizer of an October 1993 meeting of about 20 men in Philadelphia that closely followed the signing of the Oslo Accords, a peace agreement between Israel and then-Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat that ultimately fell through. Prosecutors claim the men at the conference were U.S.-based Hamas representatives who gathered to plot the group's next move in the wake of the treaty, which didn't conform with the stated Hamas goal of destroying Israel.

"I think this was a conference about supporting Hamas and aligning the position of Hamas supporters in the U.S.," Miranda said. "This was a conference about supporting terrorism."

Salah was not at the meeting; he was in an Israeli prison at the time after his arrest for allegedly distributing money to Hamas military leaders in the Occupied Territories.

Miranda had testified Hamas played a significant role in the failure of the Oslo agreement by increasing terrorist attacks against Israel after it was signed. But under cross-examination, he acknowledged most of his information about the matter came from media accounts of the drawn-out conflict, and he hasn't read prominent studies that concluded Oslo was doomed to fail anyway.

"I'm not familiar with the Oslo Accords," Miranda said. "I'm a counter-terrorism guy."

Miranda also admitted violent action never was discussed at the conference; most of the talk centered around political ideology and what type of public stance their "movement" should adopt in the United States.

But he said the meeting, which was monitored by FBI audio and video surveillance, nevertheless was proof of Hamas support.

"Are you saying that you can't have a meeting in this country where you never talk about violence and you talk about ideas of a movement?" Ashqar defense attorney Keith Spielfogel said. "Are you saying you can't do that in this country?"

"I'm saying if you want to talk about a terrorist organization, you might have to eat your words later," Miranda replied. "Those ideas may be used as evidence against you."

"Ideas?" Spielfogel spat back. "The KKK can have a meeting in this country."

"And I hope to God we're listening," Miranda said of his FBI colleagues.

Chris Hack may be reached at
chack@dailysouthtown.com
or (708) 633-5984.