Albany Terror Evidence May Be Flawed

[emad]

Wednesday August 18, 2004 1:00 PM
By MICHAEL VIRTANEN

Associated Press Writer

Guardian snip:

ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) - A key piece of evidence used to arrest and detain a mosque leader accused of supporting terrorism has come into question, with federal prosecutors acknowledging that a note found in a terrorist camp may have been mistranslated.

Yassin Muhiddin Aref is charged with aiding a government informant in a sting operation involving a fake plot to buy a shoulder-fired missile to assassinate a Pakistani diplomat.

The translation discrepancy stems from a notebook that the FBI said was found in a terrorist camp in northern Iraq last summer. The indictment said an Arabic entry referred to Aref as a ``commander'' and listed his former address and phone number in Albany.

However, FBI translators now have a copy of the original entry and disagree with the Defense Department, saying the Kurdish phrase actually means ``brother,'' prosecutors told the judge in a letter.

More:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/uslatest/story/0,1282,-4431012,00.html

[GregW]

1. I had it independently translated ...

... and it means 'fallguy' or 'distraction'.

[Aidoneus]

2. Yeah, no shit..

:eyes:

[NeoConsSuck]

3. Dupe..

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=102&topic_id=757735