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U.S. Trial Begins For Algerian Accused In Plot
LOS ANGELES, March
13 (News Agencies) - The first phase of the trial of an Algerian accused of planning attacks in the United States during New Year 2000 celebrations began here Monday at a heavily guarded courthouse.
Ahmed Ressam, 33, has already pleaded not guilty to the nine charges, the most serious being his alleged involvement to commit "an act of terrorism transcending a national boundary."
Two potential jurors were excused Monday in the selection process as the clean-shaven defendant, dressed in a dark sweater, listened to proceedings with the help of an Arabic interpreter.
The Algerian national was arrested on December 14, 1999 in Port Angeles, Washington, some 100 kilometers (60 miles) northwest of Seattle, as he got off a ferry from Victoria, British Columbia.
Authorities said he appeared nervous, and upon searching his rented blue Chrysler, they found 50 kilograms (110 pounds) of explosives and time devices.
The trial was moved here from Seattle due to extensive pre-trial publicity there. But both Judge John Coughenour and the jury are from Washington state.
His trial - expected to last four to eight weeks - has drawn attention in both Canada and France. Security along the U.S.-Canadian border was beefed up after his arrest.
Little is known of the details of the case against Ressam.
He has been linked to the network of exiled Saudi millionaire Osama Bin Laden - something his lawyers deny - and the Islamic Group of Algeria.
Much of the prosecution's evidence has been sealed. But according to media reports, police believe he was part of an underground "sleeper cell" based in Montreal, where he lived for five years.
Officials never clearly revealed what the alleged objective of Ressam and four other people arrested in connection with the case was. Ressam's arrest led to the cancellation of Seattle's Millennium celebrations and the toning down of festivities in New York and the Los Angeles area.
Prosecutors say the thwarted attack would have been the greatest foreign threat to the United States since the 1993 attack on the World Trade Center in New York.
To prove that, prosecutors hope Judge Coughenour will allow the testimony of French Judge Jean-Louis Bruguiere, considered one of the world's authorities on attacks such as the one Ressam is accused of.
If the government proves the plot would have resulted in anyone's death, Ressam could face life in prison, said Lawrence Lincoln, U.S. attorney spokesman in Seattle.
Ressam's attorneys have asked Coughenour to limit prosecution efforts to link him with "Islamic terrorism". They are expected to argue that their client was an unwitting "mule" carrying someone else's deadly goods.
One of his alleged accomplices, Algerian Abdelmahid Dahoumane, was indicted in Seattle at the same time and remains a fugitive. Three others are in custody in New York.
One, Abdel Ghani Meskini, 33, plead guilty to eight charges, including giving material support, and said he had helped Ressam enter the United States from Canada.
Meskini is cooperating with prosecutors and may be called to testify.
Besides his trial here, Ressam is also being tried in absentia in Paris in a trial that began February 7th against 24 people accused of belonging to bin Laden's network.
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