Planned to go to Yemen with Mehanna before a call sent him home
By Milton J. Valencia
Source: The Boston Globe
They have seen videos of suicide bombings and read e-mails and Internet chats glorifying the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.
Jurors in the terrorism trial of Tarek Mehanna have endured 18 days of sometimes gruesome testimony in US District Court in Boston and heard testimony from FBI special agents who investigated the case and from young Muslims who once called Mehanna their friend.
All have indicated that Mehanna encouraged Muslims to defend themselves and protect their lands, even if that meant using violence against foreign soldiers. Prosecutors and defense lawyers differ over whether Mehanna went further than that to support jihad, or holy war.
This week, the jurors are expected to hear from a key witness, Kareem Abuzahra, a former friend who had planned to travel with Mehanna to Yemen in 2004. Both prosecutors and defense lawyers hope Abuzahra will portray what they believe to be the true picture of Mehanna, the US citizen from Sudbury accused of actively supporting Al Qaeda.
Legal analysts said Abuzahra’s testimony could be pivotal, as prosecutors hope to show that Mehanna not only agreed with Al Qaeda and promoted its ideology, but that he also took steps to support the organization’s cause by traveling to Yemen for terrorism training.
Defense lawyers contend that Mehanna was simply a budding scholar who was expressing his own beliefs, a right protected by the First Amendment no matter how controversial the material. He went to Yemen in search of schools, they say, and at no point worked with or at the direction of any terrorist organization.
Abuzahra’s testimony could show whether Mehanna took action to support Al Qaeda by promoting its ideology and seeking training, as prosecutors allege, or whether he was simply a voice on the Internet who was looking to further his studies.
“It’s all about inspiring people to act, and so when someone is inspired to act, that’s the threshold we’re looking for,’’ said James J. F. Forrest, a professor of terrorism and national security at the University of Massachusetts Lowell.
“They are trying to show the intent by the person’s actions and behaviors. . . . If you do something in the name of Al Qaeda, you’re demonstrating your commitment.’’
Mehanna, 29, faces life in prison if convicted of conspiring to support Al Qaeda, conspiring to kill in a foreign country, and lying to investigators about an associate and the trip to Yemen.
Prosecutors said Mehanna was a young radical who used his knowledge of Arabic to translate documents promoting Al Qaeda and its ideology and to distribute them to his local friends and on the Internet, answering the organization’s call to spread its message in the West.
Defense lawyers did not deny that he distributed controversial material, but said he was expressing his beliefs, such as opposition to the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. His beliefs, defense lawyers said, were grounded on the same principles that led Muslims more than two decades ago to expel Soviet Union forces from Afghanistan. Mehanna believed that all Muslims have an obligation to defend their brethren, the defense lawyers said.
Abuzahra’s testimony could show how far Mehanna was willing to go to further that cause, prosecutors said.
Abuzahra planned to go to Yemen with Mehanna and a third man, Ahmad Abousamra, to train in a paramilitary camp in 2004, prosecutors said. Abuzahra even bought their tickets, according to testimony in the trial.
Abuzahra returned to the United States after a layover in the United Arab Emirates because he received a phone call saying his father was sick. Mehanna and Abousamra allegedly went on in search of a camp, though they could not find one.
Testimony in the trial has often centered on Abousamra.
It was Abousamra who told witnesses Daniel Maldonado and Hassan Masood that he was traveling to Yemen to learn how to wage jihad, both men have testified, and they said Abousamra was their primary source of information about the trip.
It was also Abousamra who went on to Fallujah, Iraq, in search of training after the Yemen trip, according to testimony.
Abousamra had also traveled to Pakistan twice in search of training, according to testimony.
Multiple witnesses testified that they were under the understanding that Mehanna was seeking training in Yemen, though they acknowledged under cross examination that Mehanna had said little to them about the trip and its purpose.
Abousamra was also charged along with Mehanna, but fled to Syria after he was first questioned by the FBI five years ago. He remains at large.
Abuzahra and Mehanna’s friendship started to fray after the Yemen trip, according to testimony. Abuzahra eventually cooperated with authorities when he was questioned five years ago, and could testify as soon as today.
Milton J. Valencia can be reached at mvalencia@globe.com. Follow him on Twitter @miltonvalencia.
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