Yemeni man gets 45 years in NY terror sting case

[darrels joy]

By Christine Kearney
NEW YORK (Reuters) - A Yemeni man arrested after an FBI sting operation in Germany in 2003 was sentenced to 45 years in prison and fined $750,000 on Thursday for conspiring to support and fund al Qaeda and Hamas.

Mohammed Mohsen Yahya Zayed, 32, was convicted by a federal jury on March 10 of conspiring to provide material support and resources to al Qaeda and to Hamas.

At a hearing in federal court in Brooklyn, Zayed was given a 15-year sentence and a $250,000 fine for each of three counts. His sentences are to be served consecutively.

His colleague Sheikh Mohammed Ali Hassan al-Moayad, 56, was sentenced in July to 75 years and fined $1.25 million in the same case. For each of five counts, al-Moayad received 15-year sentences, each to be served consecutively.

Prosecutor Kelly Moore said during the five-week trial that al-Moayad had ties to al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden and had bragged about having "taught him about Islamic law."

The sheikh was arrested in Germany in 2003 after telling a federal agent posing as an American businessman he would help him funnel money to militants, prosecutors said. The sheikh and Zayed, who prosecutors said worked in tandem, were later extradited to the United States.

The case was closely watched in Yemen, where both men belong to the Islamic opposition Islah party, whose members have denounced their arrests and said the pair had no connection to al Qaeda.

PLEA FOR LENIENCY

"I have never supported in any one day or time any terrorist organization whether it be moral support or financial support," Zayed told the court on Thursday as he pleaded for leniency. "I am swearing by God, I do not believe in terrorism. I do not believe in causing trouble or damage to anyone."

Four days of videotaped meetings between the defendants and FBI undercover agents in a Frankfurt hotel in January 2003 formed the crux of the government's case. In one meeting they were recorded promising more than $2 million to Hamas, the Palestinian militant group sworn to Israel's destruction.

Prosecutors argued that the pair were involved in a long-running effort to funnel cash to the groups.


Defense lawyers countered that in Yemen it was not illegal to support Hamas and that the men were entrapped in a situation manipulated by the U.S. government after the September 11 attacks.

Moore said at sentencing, "These tapes clearly show this defendant was an active participant, he was al-Moayad's confidant."

Judge Sterling Johnson said as he handed down the sentence, "Everyone all over the world should condemn terrorists and terrorist organizations."

But defense lawyer Jonathan Marks called the sentence ridiculous and insisted Zayed was "a minimal player who was really a victim of a cunning informant who set him up in a sting operation."

That informant, Mohamed Alanssi, set himself on fire outside the White House in November in an apparent suicide bid after saying he was mistreated by the FBI.

The defense likened the sting operation and the case it spawned to a bad television show.

The sheikh's lawyer argued that his client only listened to the pitches from the undercover officers, who promised money for the sheikh's legitimate charities and for medical treatment for his severe diabetes if he supported Hamas and al Qaeda.

Yemen, the ancestral home of bin Laden, has cooperated with the U.S. effort against al Qaeda and is trying to rid itself of its image as a haven for Muslim militants.