DAR AL HARB - U.S.A.: PADILLA & CO-DEFENDENTS WERE ONLY HELPING TO DEFEND MOSLEMS

Attorneys: Padilla, co-defendants merely aiding embattled Muslims
by Jay Weaver

MIAMI - Defense attorneys for a trio of men charged with backing Islamic extremism overseas are trying to recast an FBI agent's testimony in a Miami terror trial by stressing the defendants were merely providing humanitarian aid for persecuted Muslims.

On Monday, a lawyer for former school administrator Kifah Wael Jayyousi challenged the FBI agent's description of government-recorded phone conversations, which include references to both jihad and relief for Muslims in Bosnia, Chechnya and other countries.

''It's clear from Dr. Jayyousi's state of mind that he was concerned about getting relief to the (Chechens) in Russia,'' said defense lawyer William Swor, citing one FBI-intercepted phone call in March 1995.

''He made such statements,'' FBI Special Agent John T. Kavanaugh, Jr. acknowledged under cross examination.

Kavanaugh has been on the witness stand for the past two weeks in the terror trial against Jayyousi, Adham Amin Hassoun and Jose Padilla, asserting the three Muslim men used code words such as ''tourism'' for ''jihad'' to conceal their true militant mission.

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Pertinent Links:

1) Attorneys: Padilla, co-defendants merely aiding embattled Muslims