Coder Charged in Terror Probe ( software contractor with Intel )

[MORTARDUDE]

http://www.wired.com/news/conflict/0,2100,58659,00.html

Coder Charged in Terror Probe

By Wired News Report Page 1 of 1

03:18 PM Apr. 28, 2003 PT

U.S. officials on Monday charged Maher "Mike" Hawash, an Arab-American who had been detained since March, with conspiracy to help a suspected cell of people accused of aiding al Qaeda and Taliban forces.

Maher Mofeid Hawash, 39, of Hillsboro, Oregon, was charged in a criminal complaint with conspiracy to levy war against the United States, conspiracy to provide material support to al Qaeda and conspiracy to contribute services to al Qaeda and the Taliban.

Hawash, a software contractor with Intel, had been held since March 20, sparking an outcry from supporters who protested the high level of secrecy surrounding legal proceedings against him.

The Justice Department said in a statement that Hawash was believed to be involved in the same activities as the "Portland Six" -- a group indicted in the fall of 2002 and accused by Attorney General John Ashcroft of being part of a "suspected terrorist cell."

Hawash was charged with the same violations as Jeffrey Leon Battle, Patrice Lumumba Ford, Ahmed Abrahim Bilal, Muhammad Ibrahim Bilal, Habis Abdullah Al Saoub and October Martinique Lewis. All six previously charged defendants had lived in Portland, Oregon.

Five of the six are in custody. Al Saoub is still at large and is believed to be outside the United States.

The complaint said U.S. officials identified Hawash based on evidence seized at the time of the other arrests and from evidence gained through follow-up investigations.

According to the criminal complaint, filed in U.S. District Court in Portland, Hawash decided after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on the United States to travel to Afghanistan to join forces with Taliban and al Qaeda troops fighting there. The United States, which blames Osama bin Laden's al Qaeda terror network for masterminding the strikes that killed more than 3,000, launched the attack in Afghanistan to uproot the country's Islamic fundamentalist Taliban government.

Hawash is accused of traveling with the other defendants to China in an attempt to enter Afghanistan and fight against U.S. forces. Hawash returned to the United States in November 2001 after failing to enter Afghanistan.

The complaint says Hawash claimed his travel to China was related to his personal software business.

Hawash was initially detained as a material witness in a secret grand jury investigation. The material witness designation allowed Hawash to be held indefinitely without being charged. According to an investigation by the Washington Post, at least 44 others have been held in secret as material witnesses by authorities in terrorism-related investigations. The American Civil Liberties Union has condemned the government's detention of the individuals.

Friends of Hawash, led by former Intel executive Steven McGeady, continue to campaign for his release.

According to the campaign website, Free Mike Hawash, the evidence against Hawash is weak.

"The evidence presented in the complaint is, in our opinion, weak, and amounts to guilt by association," says a statement on the site. "The government had a weak case when he was originally detained ? and has no stronger a case now.

"We will continue to stand by Mike," the statement continues. "We believe in his innocence, and believe that he will ultimately be cleared of all charges."