6925 4A6MSAT1 1 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 1 SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF NEW YORK 2 -------------------------------------x 2 UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, 3 3 v. S1 02 Cr. 395 (JGK) 4 4 AHMED ABDEL SATTAR, a/k/a "Abu Omar," 5 a/k/a "Dr. Ahmed," LYNNE STEWART, 5 and MOHAMMED YOUSRY, 6 6 Defendants. 7 -------------------------------------x 7 8 October 6, 2004 8 9:30 a.m. 9 9 10 10 Before: 11 HON. JOHN G. KOELTL 11 12 District Judge 12 13 13 APPEARANCES 14 14 DAVID N. KELLEY 15 United States Attorney for the 15 Southern District of New York 16 ROBIN BAKER 16 CHRISTOPHER MORVILLO 17 ANTHONY BARKOW 17 ANDREW DEMBER 18 Assistant United States Attorneys 18 19 KENNETH A. PAUL 19 BARRY M. FALLICK 20 Attorneys for Defendant Sattar 20 21 MICHAEL TIGAR 21 JILL R. SHELLOW-LAVINE 22 Attorneys for Defendant Stewart 22 23 DAVID STERN 23 DAVID A. RUHNKE 24 Attorneys for Defendant Yousry 25 SOUTHERN DISTRICT REPORTERS, P.C. (212) 805-0300 6926 4A6MSAT1 1 (Trial resumed) 2 THE COURT: Mr. Fallick? 3 MR. FALLICK: Mr. Paul is interviewing a witness. He 4 will be here later. 5 THE COURT: That's fine. Is that okay to begin 6 without him? 7 MR. FALLICK: We are ready. 8 THE COURT: One of my law clerks passed Ms. Stewart 9 coming out of the Court yesterday, and that's fine. 10 Government Exhibit 2312-43, which I have reviewed, I 11 previously allowed the first three paragraphs of the article 12 with the instruction that "the article is not received for the 13 truth of any of the statements of the article." This was when 14 the article was offered as a free-standing article, Government 15 Exhibit 549 without the argument that it was also found in the 16 search of Mr. Yousry's home. I found that the first three 17 paragraphs were "relevant to show the dissemination of 18 Mr. Sattar's statement as well as the knowledge, intent, and 19 state of mind of Mr. Sattar and Mr. Al-Sirri. Given the 20 evidence of how the article was produced and the limiting 21 instruction that it is not received for the truth of any of the 22 matters asserted in the article, the relevance of the article 23 is not outweighed by any danger of unfair prejudice." 24 Transcript, 6120. 25 In response to the arguments by the parties I have SOUTHERN DISTRICT REPORTERS, P.C. (212) 805-0300 6927 4A6MSAT1 1 reconsidered all of the correspondence on the admissibility of 2 exhibit now marked as Government Exhibit 2312-43, an article 3 found in the search of Mr. Yousry's home. It is now plain to 4 me that only the fourth and fifth paragraphs should be redacted 5 and that the sixth paragraph should be included. For all of 6 the reasons the first three paragraphs were admissible not for 7 the truth. The sixth paragraph is admissible also not for the 8 truth of the matters asserted. It was plainly part of the 9 statement developed by Mr. Sattar and Mr. Al-Sirri and 10 distributed to the press. See Government Exhibit 1221X at 11 pages 11-13. 12 The comparison of that paragraph of the Al-Hayat 13 article to the transcripts shows how that paragraph was 14 developed by Mr. Sattar and Mr. Al-Sirri. That dissemination 15 is relevant indeed. In describing the article originally, the 16 Court described the article as citing "a statement by 17 Mr. Sattar and includes a claim that prison authorities 18 withheld insulin." Transcript at 6119. 19 In redacting the article initially, the Court redacted 20 the paragraph with that claim. And after review of the 21 article, the correspondence, and the transcripts, that 22 redaction was not warranted. 23 It is also clear that the sixth paragraph is 24 admissible for the knowledge, intent, and state of mind of 25 Mr. Yousry. There did not appear to be any objections to the SOUTHERN DISTRICT REPORTERS, P.C. (212) 805-0300 6928 4A6MSAT1 1 redaction of the fourth and fifth paragraphs of the article and 2 those remain redacted. The Court has also reconsidered all of 3 Ms. Stewart's objections and for the reasons already explained, 4 they are rejected. 5 Ms. Stewart raises a new Bruton objection, but there 6 is no Bruton problem. The article is not offered for the truth 7 of the matters asserted in the article. And there is no basis 8 to believe that the jury will not be able to follow that 9 instruction. See United States v. Deutsch, 451 F.2d 98, 116 10 (2d Cir. 1972). Simpson v. Donnelly, 00 Civ. 3284, 2003 WL 11 660832 (S.D.N.Y. February 27, 2003). 12 Moreover, this is not the type of statement covered by 13 Bruton. It is supported by the fact that in arguing against 14 its admission initially, Ms. Stewart argued that the article is 15 "irrelevant to Ms. Stewart's case." Letter of Michael Tigar 16 dated September 12, 2004, at 3. 17 Therefore, Government Exhibit 2312-43 will be 18 admitted, except that the fourth and fifth paragraphs will be 19 redacted. And the article will be admitted with the 20 instruction "this article is not admitted for the truth of any 21 of the matters asserted in the article." 22 Are we ready to call in the jury? 23 MR. MORVILLO: The government is ready, your Honor. 24 THE COURT: The jury wants some time to complete 25 filling out their meal requests. There is a pause. It will be SOUTHERN DISTRICT REPORTERS, P.C. (212) 805-0300 6929 4A6MSAT1 1 about five or ten minutes. If there are other matters. 2 MS. BAKER: One logistical matter to apprise everyone 3 of so defense counsel, if they wanted, could look back at their 4 exhibit lists or transcripts to verify what I am going to say. 5 At some point today, we are going to offer into evidence 6 Government Exhibits 525, 534, 540, 542, and the corresponding T 7 exhibit or translation of each of those. Each of those is a 8 news article that your Honor ruled on September 22, 2004 would 9 be admissible or is admissible with a not for the truth 10 instruction. Three of the four of those -- 11 THE COURT: Hold on. Okay. 12 MS. BAKER: Three of the four of those, that is 525, 13 534, and 540, are identical to articles found in the search of 14 Mr. Yousry's residence. I can provide those exhibit numbers 15 now if anyone would like. Mr. Morvillo had provided them 16 yesterday. And so those three, 525, 534, and 540, are not 17 going to be presented to the jury under those exhibit numbers. 18 Instead, they are going to be presented to the jury under the 19 Yousry search exhibit numbers. But because we did have 20 translator testimony about them earlier in the trial and the 21 Court ruled them admissible, we are going to offer all of them. 22 But of that series, the only one that's going to be actually 23 presented to the jury is 542 and 542T, because that is not 24 duplicated or identical to a Yousry search exhibit. 25 THE COURT: 542 is not duplicative. SOUTHERN DISTRICT REPORTERS, P.C. (212) 805-0300 6930 4A6MSAT1 1 MS. BAKER: Correct. 2 THE COURT: Any of the defendants want to be heard? 3 The free-standing Government Exhibit 542, the 4 government said that it was offered only with respect to Counts 5 2 and 3. 6 MS. BAKER: Correct, your Honor. The defense 7 requested that instruction and the government agreed that that 8 instruction could be given. 9 THE COURT: If that's offered, my instruction to the 10 jury will be, the article will be admitted -- it is not 11 received for the truth of any of the matters asserted in the 12 article and it is offered only with respect to Counts 2 and 3. 13 The jury is still not done. 14 Anything else? See you later. 15 (Recess) 16 THE COURT: Let's call in the jury. 17 MR. BARKOW: Your Honor, I think Mr. Fallick may have 18 stepped out and Mr. Morvillo. 19 THE COURT: No problem. 20 Everyone is here. I will call in the jury. Except 21 Mr. Paul, who is excused. 22 (Jury present) 23 THE COURT: Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. It is 24 good to see you all. 25 Mr. Dember. SOUTHERN DISTRICT REPORTERS, P.C. (212) 805-0300 6931 4A6MSAT1 1 Mr. Barkow. 2 MR. BARKOW: Your Honor, at this point the government 3 requests permission to continue the publication of Government 4 Exhibit 2201AT which is in evidence. Yesterday I left off near 5 the bottom of page 8. 6 THE COURT: All right. 7 MR. BARKOW: Government Exhibit 2201AT. 8 Staying away from the spotlight. 9 Your name was not prominent in the Islamist's arena 10 when you arrived in Britain. However, your name was mentioned 11 quite frequently after the document on halting "the violence" 12 was released. Was this a desire on your part to come under the 13 spotlight? I am one who believes that public appearances 14 undermine actions. There might be interests that require 15 resorting to the media. But the presence of some Islamists 16 abroad created a big halo that was not commensurate with their 17 true size. The measure of freedom present in western capitals 18 aided this as well; also, the chance to communicate made easy 19 by technology. Slogans and fiery press releases have turned 20 some fundamentalists into stars in Europe's visual and written 21 media. Thank God I am not one of those wooing the media with 22 fireworks and hot air balloons. Any oppositionist's real 23 status is measured by his status inside his own country and not 24 in the country he sought refuge in to escape persecution. I am 25 not an individual without roots that extend to my country. A SOUTHERN DISTRICT REPORTERS, P.C. (212) 805-0300 6932 4A6MSAT1 1 man is judged by his brothers. I pray to God almighty to be 2 among those who carry this call across the length and breadth 3 of Egypt. 4 In contrary to what you say, my name did not start to 5 circulate suddenly. It is generally the responsibility of the 6 media and public opinion. I do not hope that God finds me 7 better than what people think of me. As to what you call the 8 "document," it is a legal and academic study in which I sought 9 God's rule on the state of things. As I wrote in the foreword, 10 it does not express the ideas of any groups or represents a 11 deviation or a break away from anyone. Killing civilians was 12 not part of The Islamic Group's policy, (not in his personal 13 view). Such actions must be assessed within the context of the 14 overall view of the situation, its pressures, and abnormal 15 conditions. Some actions and deeds must be viewed from this 16 perspective. The crime itself has to be assessed by the way it 17 is viewed and the motives, reasons, and the prevailing 18 conditions when it occurred as well as the circumstances that 19 prompted some to carry out such actions. 20 All my writings advocate the denunciation of violence, 21 but not in the sense you mean or is meant by one who believes 22 that the nation cannot regain its freedom and be master of its 23 will without force. 24 Rifa'i Taha, the official in charge of "The Islamic 25 Group's military wing and member of its consultative council SOUTHERN DISTRICT REPORTERS, P.C. (212) 805-0300 6933 4A6MSAT1 1 (he was accused of the Luxor incident which claimed the lives 2 of 58 tourists in November 1997) has a different view on the 3 conclusion you reached in your legal study about the 4 prohibition on killing civilians. What are the common points 5 between you and Rifa'i on this important point? 6 I agree with Rifa'i Taha in principle because he 7 disagrees with what is established by religious scholars; that 8 women, children and the innocent who do not practice any form 9 of war are legally immune and should not be harmed. But he 10 differs with us in classifying those who are immune, meaning, 11 in the matter of tourism, the contract according to which 12 non-Muslims enter our country is invalid because it is not made 13 by an Islamic party or by one acting according to Muslims' 14 creed. Second, in Rifa'i's view, many of these tourists carry 15 out unacceptable activities, like spying, spreading corruption, 16 and other things. But in practice, Rifa'i is bound only by The 17 Islamic Group's philosophy on this issue. 18 Relationship with al-Zawahiri. 19 Your name has been mentioned as the leading candidate 20 to succeed Omar Abdel Rahman as "the Islamic Group's mufti. Is 21 Ayman al-Zawahiri among the candidates for this post. 22 It is not right for me to deny or confirm that Ayman 23 al-Zawahiri is a candidate for such a post, firstly, because he 24 does not belong to the Islamic Group about which I am asked and 25 around whose initiative to halt violence we are talking. There SOUTHERN DISTRICT REPORTERS, P.C. (212) 805-0300 6934 4A6MSAT1 1 is a difference between the two groups over some legal matters 2 and on the some of the policies adopted. The talk about 3 Al-Muqri's nomination to succeed Sheikh Omar Abdel Rahman is 4 not based on a correct assessment because Omar Abdel Rahman is 5 someone substantial. A comparison between him and me is not 6 fair. It is like comparing a small pebble to a high mountain. 7 In addition, the group has its scholars. Ask 8 al-Azhar's Sheikh, Dr. Tantawi, about them. He got to know 9 their students very well when they debated him when he was 10 appointed Egypt's mufti. Some of them [the group's scholars] 11 are enough to study and determine urgent and important legal 12 matters for the group. As to your question about who will 13 succeed the Sheikh, it is your duty to know the nature of 14 advancement in Islam. Man, no matter where he is, advances 15 through his work. Omar Abdel Rahman advanced through his 16 knowledge and contributions before he was promoted by the 17 group. This reminds me of what the emir of believers, 'Umar 18 Bin-al-Khattab said when God bestowed his grace on Khalid 19 Bin-al-Walid, who was dismissed by Umar. "Khalid has shown his 20 mettle. God has mercy on the soul of Abu-Bakr because he had 21 better knowledge of the men than I did," meaning he [Abu-Bakr] 22 did not dismiss Khalid. 23 Some believe that succeeding Omar Abdel Rahman would 24 be a gain or a legacy. However, it is a big responsibility and 25 a burden. You know how much Omar Abdel Rahman has suffered and SOUTHERN DISTRICT REPORTERS, P.C. (212) 805-0300 6935 4A6MSAT1 1 continues to suffer to this moment in the U.S. prisons. Each 2 era has its men. The Islamic movement is rich with its men. 3 It is the nation that will choose the next successor in the 4 Islamic Group. Only those who are disinterested and who meet 5 the requirements will be nominated. Let me tell you that the 6 group's next mufti will not be appointed or imposed on the 7 people. 8 MR. MORVILLO: Your Honor, at this time the government 9 would offer into evidence and request permission to publish to 10 the jury Government Exhibit 2415-7 and Government Exhibit 11 2415-7T. 12 THE COURT: Government Exhibits 2415-7 and 2415-7T are 13 admitted in evidence. 14 (Government's Exhibits 2415-7 and 2415-7T received in 15 evidence). 16 THE COURT: Ladies and gentlemen, this is a newspaper 17 article and a translation of the article. These exhibits are 18 offered only against Mr. Yousry. They are not offered or 19 received for the truth of any of the matters asserted in the 20 exhibits. They are received solely for Mr. Yousry's intent, 21 knowledge, and state of mind. 22 MR. MORVILLO: May we publish 2415-7 to the jury, your 23 Honor? 24 THE COURT: Yup. 25 MR. MORVILLO: May we publish and may I read to the SOUTHERN DISTRICT REPORTERS, P.C. (212) 805-0300 6936 4A6MSAT1 1 jury Government Exhibit 2415-7T? 2 THE COURT: Yes. 3 MR. MORVILLO: Al-Hayat in Arabic September 8, 1999. 4 Translator No. 7. Report by Mohammed Salah from Cairo. 5 "Egypt, Islamic Group's military wing leader and three others 6 killed." 7 One year and a half since the struggle with the 8 fundamentalists came to a halt, the Egyptian security forces 9 yesterday killed four members of the Islamic Group's military 10 wing in al-Amraniyah area in Al-Jizah governante. Among those 11 killed was prominent leader Farid Salim Kidwani, regarded by 12 the authorities as the current leader of the Islamic Group's 13 military wing. Yesterday's incident was the first 14 confrontation between the two sides since the beginning of this 15 year. 16 The interior ministry issued a statement saying that 17 the security elements received reports that the four 18 fundamentalists were hiding in al-Amraniyah. It added that the 19 police besieged them and called on them through loud speakers 20 to surrender but they opened fire, which compelled the security 21 forces to fire back. A battle ensued for around half an hour 22 and ended with the death of the four. The statement added that 23 the police found inside their hideout a quantity of weapons and 24 ammunition; in addition to organizational papers, Islamic Group 25 pamphlets and newspapers containing reports and comments on the SOUTHERN DISTRICT REPORTERS, P.C. (212) 805-0300 6937 4A6MSAT1 1 Islamic Group's activities. It noted that the security forces 2 confirmed the identity of Kidwani and two others, Sa'd 3 Nur-al-Din Ibrahim Abd-al-Jalil and Kasban Sayyid Mahfuz. 4 Observers consider Kidwani's death the biggest blow to 5 the Islamic Group since the killing of the military wing's 6 former leader Tal'at Yasin Hammam in April 1994 in a battle 7 with the police in the Hada'iq al-Qubbah (east of the capital). 8 The Islamic Group's lawyer in Egypt, Muntasir 9 al-Zayyat, expressed his regret for the incident and said that 10 the four were probably forced to defend themselves the moment 11 their hideout was raided. 12 He told al-Hayat: "All I know is that all Islamic 13 Group members are complying with the decision to halt 14 operations, and this is proved by the fact that not a single 15 incident has taken place since the decision was taken." 16 The Islamic Group announced last March a total halt to 17 its military operations in response to an initiative launched 18 in July 1997 by its historic leaders. But the Islamic Group's 19 operations practically stopped after the Luxor massacre in 20 November 1997, when it caused negative reactions and a strong 21 chain reaction inside the Islamic Group itself. 22 Al-Zayyat expressed his fear that yesterday's incident 23 would cast its shadow on the climate of calmness that has 24 prevailed in Egypt during this last period of time. 25 Reports circulated in 1996 said that Kidwani was SOUTHERN DISTRICT REPORTERS, P.C. (212) 805-0300 6938 4A6MSAT1 1 killed in a clash with the police in an upper Egypt city and 2 that his body was handed over to his family for burial. But 3 the police confirmed later that he was still alive after 4 escaping from the aforementioned site of battle. His cousin 5 was killed in another battle with the police in the summer of 6 1997. 7 According to the interior ministry's statement, 8 Kidwani was born in 1966 in al-Minya governante, had a 9 bachelor's degree in commerce, and was accused of perpetrating 10 24 terrorist incidents. Sa'd Nur-al-Din Ibrahim "Abd-al-Jalil 11 was born in 1963 and accused of planning and perpetrating three 12 terrorist incidents; and Kasban Mahfuz was born in 1977, worked 13 as a tinsmith, and accused of planning and perpetrating 11 14 terrorist incidents. The statement added that the security 15 forces were continuing their efforts to identify the fourth 16 dead man. 17 MR. BARKOW: Your Honor, at this point the government 18 requests permission to publish to the jury what is in evidence 19 as Government Exhibit 2204, 2204A, and 2204AL from the Sattar 20 computer and offers into evidence Government Exhibit 2204AT. 21 THE COURT: All of those exhibits except 2204AT are 22 already in evidence. 23 MR. BARKOW: Yes, your Honor. 24 THE COURT: Government Exhibit 2204AT received in 25 evidence. SOUTHERN DISTRICT REPORTERS, P.C. (212) 805-0300 6939 4A6MSAT1 1 (Government's Exhibit 2204AT received in evidence) 2 MR. BARKOW: May I publish this, your Honor? 3 THE COURT: Yes. 4 MR. BARKOW: This is Government Exhibit 2204 in 5 evidence. Government Exhibit 2204AL in evidence. It reads 6 some coding.doc. 12KB, 9/20/1999. 12:55 p.m., Microsoft Word 7 document. This is Government Exhibit 2204A in evidence. And 8 Government Exhibit 2204AT in evidence. 9 In the name of the God, the compassionate, the 10 merciful. "Permission to take up arms to hereby given to those 11 who are attacked because they have been wronged." 12 The Islamic Group has adhered to the initiative to 13 stop all military operations which was released by the brothers 14 in detention camps more than two years ago, knowing that the 15 Egyptian regime continued in its violations, killing the 16 innocent, and holding unjust military courts. 17 When this initiative was released, it was released for 18 the protection of Moslem lives and to unify the ranks in order 19 to confront the true enemies of the nation. Except that on top 20 of whom is the ruling group in Egypt thought that this 21 initiative was made from a position of weakness, or that the 22 Islamic Group had abandoned its fundamentals of the call, 23 Jihad, and ordering kindness and forbidding the abominable, 24 forgetting or pretending that they have forgotten, that the 25 Islamic Group did not take up arms, except to defend itself and SOUTHERN DISTRICT REPORTERS, P.C. (212) 805-0300 6940 4A6MSAT1 1 to stand up to the power that overstepped all traditions and 2 all agreements, killing and imprisoning the best of Egypt's 3 youth in prisons and detention camps. 4 After two years of calmness and adherence of the group 5 and its members to that initiative, despite all the 6 instigations and the regime's failure to stop its injustice and 7 aggression, last week's newspapers came out with the news of 8 the regime killing four of the group's members. If such news 9 indicates anything, it is that the Egyptian regime has no 10 desire to respond to this peaceful initiative that intended to 11 unite people. 12 Therefore, and from the perspective of being an 13 Islamic scholar, my duty obligates me to confer advice on my 14 children and brothers in the Islamic Group, that they conduct 15 an inclusive evaluation and a complete assessment of this 16 initiative and its results. Also, I advise them that they 17 should consider themselves released from it. "And God has 18 power over all things, though most men may not know it." 19 Your brother, Dr. Omar Abdel Rahman. 20 MR. MORVILLO: Your Honor, at this time the government 21 requests permission -- withdrawn. 22 The government would offer into evidence Government 23 Exhibit 2312-40 and 2312-40T. 24 THE COURT: All right. Government Exhibits 2312-40 25 and 2312-40T are received in evidence. SOUTHERN DISTRICT REPORTERS, P.C. (212) 805-0300 6941 4A6MSAT1 1 (Government's Exhibits 2312-40 and 2312-40T received 2 in evidence) 3 MR. MORVILLO: Your Honor, in accordance with 4 agreement with counsel, may I publish the portion of the 5 stipulation 2300S relating to where exhibits in the 2312 series 6 were seized from? 7 THE COURT: Yes. 8 MR. MORVILLO: Paragraph 2, subparagraph A3. 9 Government exhibits in the 2312 series were found on the black 10 chair in between the front and back cover of an unbound 11 notebook labeled "legal notes 6 Sheikh Omar Abdel Rahman." 12 Your Honor, may I now publish and read to the jury 13 Government Exhibit 2312-40 and 2312-40T? 14 THE COURT: Yes. 15 MR. MORVILLO: I just note for the record that at the 16 top it says Ayna.com. And under says old approved, Ramsey 17 Clark, 1 of 1. 18 Can you scroll down, Ms. Griffith. 19 May I now publish and read to the jury Government 20 Exhibit 2312-40T? 21 THE COURT: Yes. 22 MR. MORVILLO: Handwritten English, old approved, 23 Ramsey Clark, translator No. 4. In the name of God, the 24 merciful, the compassionate. 25 Beloved brother. SOUTHERN DISTRICT REPORTERS, P.C. (212) 805-0300 6942 4A6MSAT1 1 May the peace, mercy and blessings of God be upon you. 2 I met with the (male) lawyer today. As I told you 3 this morning, he will issue a statement to express the 4 disappointment of the Sheikh at what is happening in Egypt and 5 at the initiative. But after the meeting and in light of the 6 discussion of the issue from all sides, calculating the pros 7 and cons here at least, we elected not to issue this statement. 8 It can cause a negative reaction, particularly from the legal 9 side here. So we decided not to issue it. 10 As for what I read for you in the morning, it was an 11 individual endeavor from me to phrase the points dictated to 12 me. I was granted the freedom to phrase them. These points 13 are: 14 1. The great disappointment at the outcome of the 15 initiative and at what happens in Egypt, specially the latest 16 incidents. 17 2. Confirm our commitment to the principles and 18 objectives. 19 3. Comprehensive review and evaluation of this 20 initiative. 21 4. Do not let the initiative constitute an impediment 22 or an obstacle that stops you from saying the truth. You are 23 absolved. If you think canceling it serves interests, cancel 24 it. If you think adherence to it is necessary to serve 25 interests, adhere to it. SOUTHERN DISTRICT REPORTERS, P.C. (212) 805-0300 6943 4A6MSAT1 1 5. We asked him to issue an appeal to Muntasir to 2 come back, same as happened before. However, he completely 3 disregarded this. This gave us the impression that he is 4 extremely disappointed at the way things ended up in Egypt. 5 6. He understands your position and point of view; he 6 is in total agreement with you. He thanks you and prays a lot 7 for you. He tells you, do whatever you think is appropriate. 8 Point number six was said as personal. This is why I 9 didn't include it with what I read to you this morning. This 10 is a very brief summary of what was said. I hope I presented 11 it correctly without distortion or omission. There are other 12 things, brother, but as you know, every situation has its 13 proper thing to say. For this reason, I was hoping to talk to 14 you at the time you set, God willing, we will talk again. May 15 God reward you graciously for your concern. 16 May the peace, mercy and blessings of God be upon you. 17 Abu Omar, 9/21/1999. 18 MR. BARKOW: Your Honor, at this point the government 19 requests permission to publish to the jury what is in evidence 20 as Government Exhibit 2201, 2201B, 2201BL, and we offer into 21 evidence Government Exhibit 2201BT from the Sattar search. 22 THE COURT: Ladies and gentlemen, those exhibits are 23 already in evidence except 2201BT. So 2201BT is received in 24 evidence. 25 (Government's Exhibit 2201BT received in evidence) SOUTHERN DISTRICT REPORTERS, P.C. (212) 805-0300 6944 4A6MSAT1 1 THE COURT: This exhibit is received not for the truth 2 of any of the matters asserted in the exhibit. It is received 3 solely with respect to the knowledge, intent, and state of mind 4 of Mr. Sattar. 5 MR. BARKOW: May I proceed, your Honor? 6 THE COURT: Yes. 7 MR. BARKOW: This is Government Exhibit 2201 in 8 evidence. 9 THE COURT: It is received, as I said, against 10 Mr. Sattar. It is a translation of a newspaper article and it 11 is received solely with respect to the knowledge, intent, and 12 state of mind of Mr. Sattar. 13 MR. BARKOW: Government Exhibit 2201BL reads across, 14 Arab.2.text.4.GIF, 17KB, ACD See, GIF image, 10/13/1999, 12:54 15 p.m. This is Government Exhibit 2201B. 16 And Government Exhibit 2201BT. 17 Egyptian "Islamic Group" leader calls for "stepping up 18 of hostile strategy" against the United States. 19 London: Muhamad al-Shafi'i. 20 Rifa'i Ahmad Taha Musa, considered by many to be the 21 de facto leader of the "Islamic Group" organization in Egypt, 22 in light of Omar Abdel Rahman's presence in a U.S. prison, has 23 called for the hostile strategy against the United States to be 24 stepped up and given priority. The fundamentalist leader, 25 Taha, whose extradition is sought by Egypt as one among 14 SOUTHERN DISTRICT REPORTERS, P.C. (212) 805-0300 6945 4A6MSAT1 1 involved in cases of religious violence, has said in a lengthy 2 e-mail message, a copy of which was received by "Asharq 3 al-Awsat," that the United States continuance in its hostile 4 policy towards its Islamic movement, by which it means to harm 5 the movement by targeting its prominent figures in order to 6 break its resolve will certainly end in utter failure. Indeed, 7 such a policy will cause the factions of the Islamic movement 8 to consolidate their efforts and their policies to confront 9 (what he called) U.S. rowdiness and piracy. 10 He added, the Islamic movement does not claim to be 11 stronger than the United States in terms of what it possesses 12 in physical capabilities and human resources, but it is more 13 powerful in terms of strength of will and clarity of purpose. 14 He clarified, the Jihad movement in particular, given 15 that it is the largest of the factions to have suffered from 16 the hostile U.S. campaign, cannot overlook these hostile 17 practices and will do all it can to rescue Islamic Group leader 18 Omar Abdel Rahman (held in an American prison in Rochester, 19 Minnesota, where he is serving a life sentence for his 20 involvement in the New York bombings) and force the United 21 States to stop its policy of kidnapping leaders of the Jihad 22 movement and pursuing them on behalf of the Egyptian government 23 or any other regime in the region." 24 He said the Islamic movement cannot forget the role 25 played by the United States in Omar Abdel Rahman's arrest, his SOUTHERN DISTRICT REPORTERS, P.C. (212) 805-0300 6946 4A6MSAT1 1 trial before a Jewish Judge, and his sentence to life 2 imprisonment. Also, its involvement in the kidnapping of 3 Engineer Tal'at Fu'ad Qasim (Abu-Talal al-Qasimi, official 4 spokesman of The Islamic Group, and a political refugee in 5 Denmark) while he was in Croatia. U.S. intelligence officers 6 have also kidnapped a number of "jihad" group leaders and 7 handed them over to Egypt, including Ahmad Salamah Mabruk and 8 Ahmad al-Najjar (both were sentenced to life in prison in the 9 returnees from Albania case by the military court in Hikestep 10 (PH) in northern Cairo last April.) 11 He pointed out that the U.S. campaign to pursue 12 members of the Islamic movement, especially the leaders of the 13 Jihad group in the United Kingdom, Germany, Italy and Albania, 14 has not yet stopped." 15 At this point, your Honor, the government requests 16 permission to publish to the jury what is in evidence as 17 Government Exhibit 2205, 2205A, 2205AL, and we offer into 18 evidence Government Exhibit 2205AT. These are from the Sattar 19 computer. 20 THE COURT: All right. Government Exhibit 2205AT 21 received in evidence and the other exhibits are in evidence. 22 (Government's Exhibit 2205AT received in evidence) 23 MR. BARKOW: This is Government Exhibit 2205. And 24 Government Exhibit 2205AL across has symbols,.doc, 16KB, 25 10/28/1999, 11:37 p.m., Microsoft Word document. This is SOUTHERN DISTRICT REPORTERS, P.C. (212) 805-0300 6947 4A6MSAT1 1 Government Exhibit 2205A. And Government Exhibit 2205AT. 2 To the director of the office of Reuters news agency 3 in Cairo. 4 Greetings. 5 Attached to this letter is a response to the report 6 that was published by your office in Cairo and was attributed 7 to Mr. Jamal Sultan, founder of the reform party in Egypt. 8 When the words attributed to Mr. Jamal Sultan were 9 contradictory to the truth, and were contrary to what I know 10 regarding the circumstances and setting of the letter that he 11 had sent and its response, I found that duty dictates that I 12 send you this statement, especially after Mr. Jamal Sultan had 13 doubted the words that were attributed to his eminence, 14 Dr. Omar Abdel Rahman. Therefore, I beg you to legitimize the 15 truth and in adherence to professional conduct, to be kind 16 enough to publish this statement, so that things become clear 17 and are put in their right place. 18 Note: Attached to this statement is the text of the 19 letter sent by Jamal Sultan and Gamal Habib asking Dr. Omar 20 Abdel Rahman's opinion. 21 Signature, Ahmed Abdel Sattar, legal assistant to 22 Dr. Omar Abdel Rahman, on 10/28/1999 Telephone 718-442-3513. 23 In the name of the God, the Compassionate, the 24 merciful. (Who is more wicked than the man who hides a 25 testimony he has received from God?) SOUTHERN DISTRICT REPORTERS, P.C. (212) 805-0300 6948 4A6MSAT1 1 Praise be to God almighty and prayer and peace be upon 2 the master of his messengers, our master Muhamad, and upon his 3 family and his friends and upon whoever became rightly guided 4 by him until judgment day. 5 And so, we were presented a dialogue by the media, 6 attributed to Mr. Jamal Sultan, where he refutes a report 7 published in the Islamic observation center regarding the 8 opinion of his eminence, Dr. Omar Abdel Rahman, in the matter 9 of planning to establish political parties in Egypt, and his 10 words saying that the report is fabricated and that the Sheikh 11 was lied about and other false rumors which were discussed in 12 other newspapers regarding thing subject. In addition, his 13 saying that he had sent questions to his eminence, the doctor, 14 and that he had not yet received an answer. 15 Because the words attributed to Jamal Sultan were not 16 correct, not only that, but they contradict the truth that I 17 know and which I was part of, and to legitimize the truth and 18 to reveal the facts, I found it my duty towards my religion 19 first and to my client, his eminence, Dr. Omar, to come out 20 openly with the truth, so that the name of Dr. Omar Abdel 21 Rahman does not get used in personal matters, from behind which 22 trivial gains are sought in this world. 23 I received a letter dated January 5, 1999 through an 24 intermediary known to Mr. Jamal Sultan. This letter was signed 25 in the names of Jamal Sultan and Gamal Habib. In it they SOUTHERN DISTRICT REPORTERS, P.C. (212) 805-0300 6949 4A6MSAT1 1 outlined the idea of the intention to establish a party and 2 they asked his opinion regarding this idea and these efforts 3 they are going through. They said exactly the following: "So 4 that our work is based on clear vision and enlightenment." 5 Actually, I presented this letter to his eminence, the 6 Sheikh, shortly after it arrived, hoping for an answer in the 7 form of a letter to them, which I myself sent right away to the 8 same intermediary through whom I had received the first letter. 9 In other words, the response reached them no less than eight or 10 nine months ago. 11 In this way, I had considered this matter to be closed 12 and I looked at it as a personal matter between a Moslem 13 scholar and some of his admirers asking him his opinion and 14 advice. At that time I didn't find any benefit to publishing 15 it. 16 But after the latest statements by Mr. Jamal Sultan, 17 in which he denied receiving any response from his eminence, 18 the Sheikh, I found the matter had escalated from a mere normal 19 letter to an attempt to throw the name of Dr. Omar into this 20 situation. Especially, that Jamal Sultan himself has admitted 21 in the past that they had sent requesting the Sheikh's opinion 22 in this matter. But when he received a response that was 23 different than what he had expected, we found him indicating 24 that he received nothing. I find it my courteous duty, 25 especially since I was a part of this situation, that I publish SOUTHERN DISTRICT REPORTERS, P.C. (212) 805-0300 6950 4A6MSAT1 1 the opinion of his eminence, the doctor, and with it an excerpt 2 from the letter that Jamal Sultan sent him. Actually, I sent 3 them both to the observation center to be published. 4 And from this perspective, I declare that whatever was 5 published and attributed to his eminence Sheikh Omar Abdel 6 Rahman, in the Islamic observation center, regarding this 7 letter, is the Sheikh's words, verbatim, even if Jamal Sultan 8 says to the contrary. In addition, what Jamal Sultan has 9 alleged, that the style in which the published terms in the 10 observation center do not befit a scholar from al-Azhar, due to 11 its linguistic weakness, I declare one more time that these 12 words were the Sheikh's, they were part of his letter to them 13 and it was not a formal fatwah that required to be written in a 14 manner befitting formal fatwahs or the response to them. The 15 Sheikh, in summing his respond and in not expounding on the 16 terms of the letter, felt he was addressing people who were 17 familiar with his prior fatwahs, in which he has addressed this 18 subject in detail. Writing or dictating a letter quickly 19 differs completely from writing or dictating a fatwah. 20 Finally, the Sheikh derives no benefit from this 21 subject. Rather, he was asked about his opinion and he 22 responded. If it weren't for the things said by Jamal Sultan 23 to the media and his attempt to mislead those around him by 24 saying that he never received any answer from the Sheikh, we 25 wouldn't have published the Sheikh's letter to him. SOUTHERN DISTRICT REPORTERS, P.C. (212) 805-0300 6951 4A6MSAT1 1 I also say that it is Jamal Sultan's right or others', 2 to establish a party or to get involved in what they see 3 proper. But what is not his right, is the attempt to create 4 doubt and refute the words of Dr. Omar Abdel Rahman when Jamal 5 Sultan knows very well that the words were his [Abdel 6 Rahman's.] 7 "And God has power over all things, though most men 8 may not know it." 9 Signature, Ahmed Abdel Sattar, legal assistant to 10 Dr. Omar Abdel Rahman, 10/28/1999. 11 MR. MORVILLO: Your Honor, at this time the government 12 offers into evidence Government Exhibit 2415-8, and 2415-8T. 13 THE COURT: All right. Ladies and gentlemen, these 14 exhibits are received in evidence. But they are not received 15 for the truth of any of the matters asserted in the exhibits. 16 (Government's Exhibits 2415-8 and 2415-8T received in 17 evidence) 18 MR. MORVILLO: Your Honor, the government would also 19 ask permission to publish 2415-8 and Government Exhibit 2013, 20 which has already been received in evidence. 21 THE COURT: All right. 22 MR. MORVILLO: The fax line at the top reads OCT-28-99 23 THU 10:23 p.m. 24 Ms. Griffith, do you have Government Exhibit 2013 as 25 well? Can you publish that, please. SOUTHERN DISTRICT REPORTERS, P.C. (212) 805-0300 6952 4A6MSAT1 1 Your Honor, with the Court's permission, I would like 2 to at this point read to the jury 2415-8T. 3 THE COURT: All right. 4 MR. MORVILLO: [Asharq al-Awsat, report by Muhamad 5 al-Shafi'i from London]. 6 In a message from his prison in the U.S., Sheikh Omar 7 Abdel Rahman opposes militants' participation in political 8 parties. 9 It has been circulated by the militant groups in Egypt 10 that Omar Abdel Rahman, the spiritual leader of the Islamic 11 Group, did not comment on the idea of establishing Islamic 12 political parties (Islah and Sharia) [reform and Islamic law]. 13 The latter caused controversy in both militant and political 14 arenas, because both parties are branded as Islamic. Among of 15 their founders, a number of individuals, some of whom are 16 branded as militants and others as symbols of the peaceful 17 approach of the movement. 18 A letter smuggled out of Rochester prison in 19 Minnesota, where Abdel Rahman is serving a life sentence 20 because of his role in the New York bombings suggested 21 completely the opposite. He emphatically rejected the idea of 22 the Islamic parties. The Blind Sheikh cited many Islamic legal 23 references (that was according to his own endeavors.) 24 Yesterday Asharq Al-Awsat received a copy of the 25 letter via the Islamic media Observation Center which is SOUTHERN DISTRICT REPORTERS, P.C. (212) 805-0300 6953 4A6MSAT1 1 located in London. In it, Omar Abdel Rahman wholly rejected 2 the concept that Islamic parties based on Islamic legal 3 principles. The latter prohibits the militants from 4 participating in the political parliamentary arena, the 5 democratic process, and the people's assemblies. 6 However, Omar Abdel Rahman stated in his opinion the 7 legal principles on which he based his rejection of the concept 8 of Islamic parties, referring to the incident of Dirar Mosque, 9 which was mentioned in the Quranic verse of Touba [repentance]. 10 [LS: The verse referred to an incident during Prophet 11 Mohammad's time where Muslims tore down a mosque which was 12 built by hypocrites.] 13 Some of the legal reasons that Abdel Rahman had cited 14 were parts of the story of prophet Abraham, peace be upon him. 15 Abdel Rahman alleged in his reasoning that the 16 militants' participation in the political life will bolster the 17 concept of parliamentary counsels and support the regime. 18 Abdel Rahman said, the sacrifice for the sake of God 19 does not bear any losses. Their dead ones are in heaven. 20 It is worth mentioning that the list of founders of 21 the Sharia party which was presented last month by their 22 representative attorney, Mamdouh Ismail (he was accused in the 23 case of the late President Anwar Sadat's assassination. He is 24 considered one of the prominent members of the legal defense 25 team defending Islamists.) to the Parties Affairs Committee of SOUTHERN DISTRICT REPORTERS, P.C. (212) 805-0300 6954 4A6MSAT1 1 the Egyptian Consultative council. It included some names of 2 militants who are considered "extremists who were accused in 3 the assassination of the late president Anwar Sadat and who 4 were involved in other religious violence cases." 5 Among the names that were included in the list of the 6 Sharia party was Abdel Khaleq and Majdi Ibrahim Al-Najar, who 7 are the brothers of Ahmad Al-Najar, the prime suspect in the 8 case of the returnees of Albania, and who is awaiting 9 execution. The two were previously accused in the case of 10 President Sadat's assassination. The list also included the 11 attorney, Hasan Ali Mahmoud, who was accused in 1993 in the 12 case of the famous writer, Faraj Fouda's assassination. It 13 also included Ismail Mohammed Ali, who was accused in the Sadat 14 case, which caused him to be discharged from the army. At that 15 time, he was accused to be one of Abud Al-Zoumar's aides. He 16 [Ismail] was also accused in the 1987 in the case of reviving 17 the al-Jihad organization, and in the assassination attempt of 18 the former interior minister, Major General Hasan Abu Basha. 19 Concerning the reform party, its list contained 70 20 people. Among them are some symbols of the nonviolent 21 approach, and others were previously accused in religious 22 violence related cases. 23 [LS: Missing line]. 24 The Islamic purpose. In order to apply God's law on 25 earth. To stand in a single line to face the waves of SOUTHERN DISTRICT REPORTERS, P.C. (212) 805-0300 6955 4A6MSAT1 1 alienation and dissolution that flooded all aspects of life in 2 the Islamic countries. 3 On the other hand, Jamal Sultan, who said that Omar 4 Abdel Rahman's letter is fabricated, added that this action was 5 aimed to "derail the new political project which was presented 6 by the reform party. He also said, whoever ponders the letter 7 will find out that it answered a question other than the one 8 which was asked by the founders. The alleged letter did not 9 address the political parties. However, it only addressed the 10 Parliaments. The poor language and weak evidence had clearly 11 proved that the letter had been falsely attributed to Sheikh 12 Omar, who is an Azhar University graduate. He, Jamal Sultan, 13 expressed his deep regrets regarding what he described as an 14 attempt of some Islamists to adopt and refuse the ills of 15 covert operations in the political action arena. The founders 16 of the reform party are historic figures and not "affiliates" 17 to the Islamic movement as they were depicted in the letter. 18 He emphasized that the consent of the political 19 activities was legitimized by many prominent and well known 20 scholars in Egypt and the Islamic world. 21 It is obvious that the clashes within the Islamic 22 forum hinder reforms and developments. It also hinders the 23 discovery of future challenges. 24 MR. TIGAR: May I confer with Mr. Morvello, your 25 Honor? SOUTHERN DISTRICT REPORTERS, P.C. (212) 805-0300 6956 4A6MSAT1 1 THE COURT: Yes. 2 MR. MORVILLO: Your Honor, for the record and at the 3 request of Mr. Tigar, I just note that LS in the transcript 4 stands for language specialist and not Lynne Stewart. 5 THE COURT: All right. The parties agree. Ladies and 6 gentlemen, the LS in the transcript stands for language 7 specialist and not Lynne Stewart. 8 MR. MORVILLO: Your Honor, at this time the government 9 offers into evidence Government Exhibit 2405-7 and 2405-7T. 10 THE COURT: Ladies and gentlemen, these exhibits are 11 received in evidence, 2405-7 and 2405-7T. They are received 12 only against Mr. Yousry and they are not offered for the truth 13 of any of the statements in the exhibits. They are being 14 received solely with respect to the knowledge, intent, and 15 state of mind of Mr. Yousry. 16 (Government's Exhibits 2405-7 and 2405-7T received in 17 evidence) 18 MR. MORVILLO: May we publish 2405-7, your Honor? 19 THE COURT: Yes. 20 MR. MORVILLO: Ms. Griffith, can you scroll down to 21 the bottom. Could you display the other three pages of the 22 exhibit? 23 Your Honor, I would like to display Government Exhibit 24 2405-7T, but I'm not planning on reading it at this time. 25 (Continued on next page) SOUTHERN DISTRICT REPORTERS, P.C. (212) 805-0300 6957 1 MR. MORVILLO: Your Honor, at this time the government 2 offers in evidence 2405-2. 3 THE COURT: All right. Government Exhibit 2405-2 4 received in evidence. 5 (Government's Exhibit 2405-2 received in evidence) 6 THE COURT: Ladies and gentlemen, this exhibit is a 7 newspaper article and it's not received for the truth of any of 8 the statements in the article. 9 MR. MORVILLO: Your Honor, may I read a -- may I 10 display the exhibit to the jury? 11 THE COURT: Yes. The article is not received for the 12 truth of any of the statements in the article. 13 MR. MORVILLO: At the top it reads in English 14 handwriting, approved by Mr. Jabara, then a date 1999, and then 15 some Arabic, then 25. 16 If I may read from Government Exhibit 2400S. It's in 17 evidence, your Honor, a stipulation. 18 THE COURT: Yes. 19 MR. MORVILLO: Paragraph five, your Honor. 20 Government Exhibit 2405-2 is identical but for the 21 handwriting of Government Exhibit 2020, as to which Government 22 Exhibit 2020T is a true and accurate translation. 23 Your Honor, at this time the government offers into 24 evidence Government Exhibit 2415-11 and 2415-11T. 25 THE COURT: All right. Government Exhibits 2415-11 SOUTHERN DISTRICT REPORTERS, P.C. (212) 805-0300 6958 1 and 2415-11T are received in evidence. 2 (Government's Exhibits 2415-11 and 2415-11T received 3 in evidence) 4 THE COURT: Ladies and gentlemen, this is a newspaper 5 article. It's not offered or received for the truth of any of 6 the statements in the article. 7 MR. MORVILLO: May we publish Government 8 Exhibit 2415-11 to the jury, your Honor. 9 THE COURT: Yes. 10 MR. MORVILLO: At the top in English it is written 11 approved -- in handwriting, approved by Mr. Jabara. 12 May I now publish and read to the jury Government 13 Exhibit 2415-11T, your Honor. 14 THE COURT: Yes. 15 MR. MORVILLO: Handwritten, English, approved by 16 Mr. Jabara. 17 Struggle between the Islamic Group leaders. Mustafa 18 Hamza announces that he has assumed the leadership. 19 London Al-Quds al-'Arabi, issue 3289. December 3, 20 1999. Report by Khalid al-Shami. 21 Increasing signs of splits within the militant Islamic 22 Group as well as contradictory statements about the leadership 23 of the Group emerged yesterday. The Group is considered one of 24 the biggest organizations that oppose the government of Egypt. 25 Al-Quds al-'Arabi received a letter from Rifa'i Ahmad SOUTHERN DISTRICT REPORTERS, P.C. (212) 805-0300 6959 1 Taha yesterday in which he denied his resignation, stating that 2 he will continue to work for religion "from several locations" 3 through the Islamic Group; besides "my membership in the 4 highest leading Group organization." 5 Usamah Rushdi, a member of the Islamic Group [IG] who 6 lives in the Netherlands confirmed the authenticity of Muhammad 7 Shawqi al-Islambuli's letter in which he announced his 8 resignation and that of Rifa'i Taha from the IG's Shura 9 Council, the IG's highest leadership body. 10 He emphasized that Mustafa Hamza is the "Shura Council 11 chairman" and the IG's present leader, that there is no 12 disagreement over this issue and that he is announcing this on 13 his behalf. 14 It is worth mentioning that Mustafa Hamza is the main 15 suspect in the 1995 assassination attempt against Egyptian 16 President Husni Mubarak at Addis Ababa. 17 Rushdi denied reports of an "organizational collapse" 18 in the IG, adding that the IG still includes several quarters 19 and trends. 20 He added that the resignation of Rifa'i, al-Islambuli 21 and others were "voluntary" and aimed at giving others the 22 opportunity to assume the responsibility and run the IG's 23 affairs. 24 Rushdi strongly denied reports of a deal between the 25 IG and Egyptian government which aimed at putting an end to the SOUTHERN DISTRICT REPORTERS, P.C. (212) 805-0300 6960 1 acts of violence in return for the release of the jailed IG 2 members and commuting the death sentences issued against some 3 IG members in the recent cases to life sentences. He accused 4 "some Islamist quarters" in the British capital or "Londistan" 5 as he called it, of changing their tune when speaking to the 6 media. 7 He said that the struggle with the Egyptian government 8 is continuing but "with different means," adding that are some 9 25,000 IG members in Egyptian jails despite the recent wave of 10 releases which affected over 5,000 fundamentalists. 11 An Islamist source close to the IG attributed the 12 contradictory statements issued by the IG leaders to old 13 disagreements within the Shura Council over a statement issued 14 by Rifa'i Taha in which he announced that IG was responsible 15 for the 1997 Luxor massacre which claimed the lives of 59 16 tourists in November 1997. 17 He said that Rifa'i did not consult with the council 18 on this issue and on other important issues such as joining 19 Saudi oppositionist Usama bin Laden's front, in addition to the 20 recent threats he made about the armed attacks that might 21 resume in Egypt. He added that he wanted to steer the IG 22 toward "certain directions." 23 It is worth mentioning that the Islamic Group did not 24 carry out any armed operation in the past two years in response 25 to an initiative launched by its traditional leaders who are SOUTHERN DISTRICT REPORTERS, P.C. (212) 805-0300 6961 1 imprisoned since the assassination of the late president Anwar 2 al-Sadat in 1981. 3 The source denied the alleged "struggle for power" 4 over the leadership of the Group, wondering what would happen 5 among them if they were ever been able to assume power. 6 He pointed out, Taha's resignation followed these 7 disagreements, and that he has a "a copy" of it except that he 8 refused to announce it. 9 Reuters quoted some fundamentalists who live in Egypt 10 and abroad their saying that "the Group's Shura Council is no 11 longer in power." 12 An Islamist living in London accused "some people" of 13 using al-Islambuli's name knowing he has no way of contact with 14 the media. It is believed that both Rifa'i Taha and Muhammad 15 Shawqi al-Islambuli live in Afghanistan. 16 The recent "war of statements" started last month when 17 Rifa'i Taha wrote an article warning against the government's 18 strong fist on Islamists which can push some members abroad to 19 violent operations similar to the Luxor massacre. 20 It is known that the Islamic Group differs from other 21 fundamentalist organizations in its concept of "shura" 22 (consultation); the leader is committed to "shura." Therefore, 23 the "Shura Council," not the leader alone, makes the decision. 24 If a leader does not conform to this law, he would be going 25 against Islamic law. SOUTHERN DISTRICT REPORTERS, P.C. (212) 805-0300 6962 1 Sheikh Rifa'i Ahmad Taha. I did not resign. No 2 organizational collapse -- 3 THE COURT: Hold on just a moment. One of the -- it's 4 10:46. Why don't we take a break. 5 (Pause) 6 THE COURT: OK. 7 MR. MORVILLO: May I continue, your Honor. 8 THE COURT: Yes. 9 MR. MORVILLO: Sheikh Rifa'i Ahmad Taha. I did not 10 resign. No organizational collapse in "the Islamic Group" 11 Brother, Mr. Abdel Bari 'Atwan, editor in chief, 12 Al-Quds al-'Arabi. 13 May the peace, mercy and blessings of God be upon you. 14 Your newspaper published an article on its front page 15 under the title "Predictions of Organizational Collapse and 16 Internal Conflicts." It included a letter sent by brother 17 Shawqi al-Islambuli -- may God protect him -- with news about 18 my resignation from the Islamic Group. I would like to state 19 the following in this respect: 20 One, the resignation of one member or more from the 21 leadership of the Islamic Group does not mean any 22 organizational collapse inside the Group nor any collapse at 23 all. The Group will continue to be strong and adamant in the 24 face of any attempt to demolish it. 25 Two, the resignation or nonresignation of the Group SOUTHERN DISTRICT REPORTERS, P.C. (212) 805-0300 6963 1 members is an internal issue. The Group is not in the habit of 2 putting these causes in newspapers. This is not acceptable to 3 any son of the Islamic Group. 4 Three, I did not authorize anybody to announce my 5 resignation. I do not know if brother Shawqi is the one who 6 sent this statement to you or somebody else. 7 Four, I did not submit my resignation the way it was 8 presented in the news article. God willing, I will continue to 9 work for religion through the Islamic Group from several 10 locations besides my membership in the highest leading Group 11 organization. 12 Five, all the statements and interviews I gave to the 13 press express my personal viewpoint as I said at the beginning 14 of each. It is possible that the person who sent you this news 15 article deducted it from the same interviews. The last 16 interview I made was published in your newspaper on Monday, 17 November 29, page 3. It quoted me saying something in this 18 effect. This does not mean that the Group said otherwise or 19 that it renounced part of it. The Group will continue to say 20 the truth no matter how much it costs. However, we agreed in 21 our Group to distinguish between the official statements of the 22 Group and the articles its leaders issue to express its general 23 direction. 24 I am writing this letter to make things clear. Please 25 publish it or at least refer to it on the front page same as SOUTHERN DISTRICT REPORTERS, P.C. (212) 805-0300 6964 1 you did with the former news article you received. 2 Please accept my best regards and respect. 3 Rifa'i Ahmad Taha, one of the traditional and founding 4 leadership of the Islamic Group in Egypt. 5 At this time, your Honor, the government offers in 6 evidence Government Exhibit 2415-12 and 2415-12T. 7 THE COURT: All right. Ladies and gentlemen, these 8 exhibits are received in evidence. They are not offered or 9 received for the truth of any of the matters stated in the 10 article. Like I say, it's a newspaper article. 11 (Government's Exhibits 2415-12 and 2415-12T received 12 in evidence) 13 MR. MORVILLO: Your Honor, may we publish Government 14 Exhibit 2415-12 to the jury. 15 THE COURT: Yes. 16 MR. MORVILLO: In handwriting at the top it states, 17 approved by Mr. Jabara. 18 May I now read and publish to the jury Government 19 Exhibit 2415-12T, your Honor. 20 THE COURT: Yes. 21 MR. MORVILLO: Handwritten in English, in brackets, 22 approved by Mr. Jabara. 23 Al-Hayat in Arabic, 7 December 99, page 5. 24 Report by Mohammed Salah from Cairo: 25 "Confirmed to Al-Hayat Rifa'i Taha's commitment to the SOUTHERN DISTRICT REPORTERS, P.C. (212) 805-0300 6965 1 decision to halt operations. Al-Zayyat: Islamic Group's 2 crisis is fabricated." 3 Muntasir Al-Zayyat, the Islamic Group's lawyer in 4 Egypt, said that he was expecting the recent crisis inside the 5 group, which led to rumors of possible resumption of violent 6 acts, to end soon. Al-Zayyat described the differences between 7 the group's leaders that the media has reported as 8 "fabricated." 9 A number of the Group leaders published statements and 10 interviews in a number of newspapers, revealed in a split in 11 their stands on how to deal with the government. These were 12 explained as differences between Rifa'i Ahmad Taha, who was in 13 charge of the organization's Shura Council for a long time, and 14 four council members living abroad. They are Mustafa Hamza, 15 Usamah Rushdi, Mohammad Shawqi al-Islambuli 'Abd-Al-Akhar 16 Hammad. It then became known that Taha resigned from the 17 council one year ago and was replaced by Hamza. But Al-Zayyat 18 stressed that Taha "is committed to the decision to halt armed 19 operations." He said that the analyses that explained an 20 article by Taha criticizing the Egyptian government as a threat 21 to violence "were an erroneous interpretation." He stressed 22 that Taha "did not mean at all that he intended to take 23 unilateral decisions on the question of violence." 24 Al-Zayyat told Al-Hayat that he has received signals 25 from several parties asserting their commitment to the Group's SOUTHERN DISTRICT REPORTERS, P.C. (212) 805-0300 6966 1 stands, including the ones maintaining the calm and continuing 2 to honor a decision taken by the Shura Council last March 3 ordering a total halt to armed operations inside and outside 4 Egypt." He said that he was expecting the Group to issue an 5 official statement soon that "will include decisions binding on 6 everyone and put an end to the speculations and rumors of the 7 past few days and the wrong information about changes in the 8 organization's strategy." 9 Regarding the stand of the Group's military wing on 10 the differences, Al-Zayyat pointed out that "unlike other 11 organizations, the Group has not seen any splits throughout its 12 history." He added, "Those who carry out the operations 13 receive their orders from the Shura Council, whomever its 14 members are. Thus the changes in the council's formation do 15 not affect the stand of the military wing's members who always 16 comply with its decisions." 17 He went on to say, "When the historic leaders who are 18 serving prisons terms in the assassination of Anwar al-Sadat's 19 case launched their famous peace initiative more than two years 20 ago, some of the council's members living outside Egypt doubted 21 it. The violent acts did not stop until the Luxor incident 22 happened. This led to the emergence of a current among the 23 leaders abroad that believed in the need to deal with the peace 24 initiative positively. They stood behind a Shura Council 25 decision issued in February 1998 that hinted at changes in the SOUTHERN DISTRICT REPORTERS, P.C. (212) 805-0300 6967 1 means and methods that the group would follow in future to 2 achieve its objectives. The group's members in Egypt have not 3 fired a single shot since that time, which means that all of 4 them are complying with the Shura Council members' decision to 5 stop operations. When an official decision was issued last 6 March to stop operations inside and outside Egypt, the Group 7 exercised self-restraint to the extent that it did not 8 retaliate for the death of a number of its members, among them 9 Farid Salim Kidwani who was killed last September. This means 10 that the members do not react until they receive orders to do 11 so." 12 Your Honor, at this time the government offers into 13 evidence Government Exhibit 231237. 14 THE COURT: All right. Ladies and gentlemen, this 15 exhibit is offered and received solely against Mr. Yousry. 16 MR. MORVILLO: May we publish it to the jury, your 17 Honor. 18 THE COURT: Yes. 19 MR. MORVILLO: I'm just going to read the top, 20 notification of Special Administrative Measures, April 7, 1999 21 (modified December 10, 1999). 22 Ms. Griffith, if you would just scroll through the 23 pages of the exhibit. 24 At this time, your Honor, the government would offer 25 into evidence Government Exhibit 2305-1. SOUTHERN DISTRICT REPORTERS, P.C. (212) 805-0300 6968 1 THE COURT: All right. Ladies and gentlemen, this 2 exhibit is offered and received solely against Mr. Yousry and 3 Ms. Stewart. 4 MR. MORVILLO: May I publish it to the jury, your 5 Honor. 6 THE COURT: Yes. 7 MR. MORVILLO: Government Exhibit 2305-1, United 8 States Department of Justice, United States Attorney, Southern 9 District of New York. April 5, 2000. By federal express, 10 Abdeen Jabara, Esquire, Ramsey Clark, Esquire, 36 East 12th 11 Street, New York, New York 10003. Lynne Stewart, Esquire, 351 12 Broadway, third floor, New York, New York 10013. 13 Re Omar -- Dr. Omar Abdel Rahman. 14 Dear counsel, on April 3rd, 2000, the Special 15 Administrative Measures (SAM) for Dr. Omar Abdel Rahman was 16 extended for another 120 days. Enclosed is a copy of your 17 client's SAM and an affirmation acknowledging receipt of the 18 SAM. Please sign the enclosed affirmation and return the 19 original to our office. 20 Very truly yours, Mary Jo White, United States 21 Attorney, Southern District of New York. By Paul W. Butler, 22 Assistant United States Attorney 212-637-2475. 23 With the Court's permission, I would just publish the 24 remaining pages, the attached pages of the exhibit. 25 THE COURT: All right. SOUTHERN DISTRICT REPORTERS, P.C. (212) 805-0300 6969 1 MR. MORVILLO: Your Honor, did you want to take a 2 morning break? 3 THE COURT: All right. Ladies and gentlemen, we'll 4 break for ten minutes or so. Please remember my continuing 5 instructions. Please, don't talk about the case at all. 6 Please always remember to keep an open mind until you've heard 7 all of the evidence, I've instructed you on the law and you've 8 gone to the jury room to begin your deliberations. 9 Have a good break. I'll see you shortly. 10 (Recess) 11 THE COURT: All right. Mr. Morvillo. 12 MR. MORVILLO: Thank you, your Honor. Your Honor, the 13 government now offers into evidence Government Exhibits 2312-25 14 and 2312-25T. 15 THE COURT: All right. Government Exhibits 2312-25 16 and 2312-25T are received in evidence. 17 (Government's Exhibits 2312-25 and 2312-25T received 18 in evidence) 19 THE COURT: Ladies and gentlemen, the exhibit is a 20 newspaper article and it's not offered or received for the 21 truth of any of the statements in the article. 22 MR. MORVILLO: Your Honor, may I publish Government 23 Exhibit 2312-25 to the jury. 24 THE COURT: Yes. 25 MR. MORVILLO: In handwriting at the top it says SOUTHERN DISTRICT REPORTERS, P.C. (212) 805-0300 6970 1 approved by Lynne Stewart. 2 May I now publish and read to the jury Government 3 Exhibit 2312-25T, your Honor. 4 THE COURT: Yes. Handwritten in English, approved by 5 Lynne Stewart. The 12th year issue, 3416 Friday, May 5, 2000. 6 Muharram 30, 1421, 4, Al-Quds al-'Arabi Arabic and 7 international affairs. 8 State security court prepares to sentence 13, 3 of 9 whom are minors, charged with belonging to "the Group." 10 The Egyptian government continues legal prosecution of 11 Islamists despite a halt in violent acts. 12 Cairo, AFP: In spite of the Egyptian authorities' 13 ability to put a stop to the wave of violence which reached its 14 peak in the Luxor attack in 1997, it remains firm in continuing 15 legal prosecution of the Islamists, 43 of whom will appear in 16 court during this May. 17 It had been decided that the Emergency Court, whose 18 decisions are considered final, will review three different 19 cases. Two of the cases address acts of violence committed by 20 armed organizations, while the third relates to those active in 21 the Islamic Brotherhood Group, which rejects acts of violence. 22 Sentence is expected to be pronounced on the 10th of 23 May by the state security court, for 13 defendants, three of 24 whom are minors. This is in the framework of trying an Islamic 25 Group in Al-Minya (south) connected to the Islamic Group, one SOUTHERN DISTRICT REPORTERS, P.C. (212) 805-0300 6971 1 of the most important armed fundamentalist groups in Egypt. 2 Their leader, Sha'ban Haridi, a 30-year-old peasant, 3 had been sentenced to death last April 13th for his involvement 4 in the killing of three members of the police force and seven 5 civilians, three of whom were Copts between 1995 and 1997. The 6 Group is charged with armed robbery in order to finance the 7 Islamic Group and they could be sentenced to life in prison 8 with hard labor. It is noted that the Islamic Group took 9 responsibility for the Luxor attack which took the lives of 58 10 tourists and four Egyptians in November 1997. 11 However, it announced in March of 1999 abandoning 12 violence and, in fact, there has been a period of tranquility 13 since the end of 1998. 14 The state security court will also review the matter 15 of ten Islamists, four of whom are women, on the 23rd of May. 16 They are accused of working to revive the fundamentalist 17 movement of Al-Takfir and Al-Hijra. 18 Shukri Ahmad Mustafa, who split from the Muslim 19 Brotherhood organization started Al-Takfir and Al-Hijra 20 movement. The movement was able to carry out the assassination 21 of the Minister of Islamic Estates, Muhammad Hussain al-Dahabi 22 in July of 1977. The founder of the movement along with four 23 of its leaders were executed in March of 1978. The ten from 24 Al-Takfir and Al-Hijra were arrested in 1999 in the provinces 25 of Al-Giza and Alexandria and were presented for prosecution SOUTHERN DISTRICT REPORTERS, P.C. (212) 805-0300 6972 1 last March. They are accused of being affiliated with "an 2 illegal group that works to obstruct application of the 3 constitution and that violates citizens' rights." 4 It has also been decided that the High Military Court 5 in Cairo will decide at the end of May on a date to sentence 20 6 from among the ranks of the Islamic Brotherhood Group who were 7 arrested in October. Their trial had started last 8 December 25th. 9 They are accused of "harming public welfare and 10 belonging to an illegal organization that works to obstruct 11 application of the constitution and of working to revive the 12 Muslim Brotherhood group." The penalty for these charges can 13 reach life imprisonment with hard labor. Among the 20 that 14 will appear in court are 12 board members of professional labor 15 organizations, for example, the ones representing engineers, 16 physicians, pharmacists and attorneys, the most prominent of 17 whom is Attorney Mukhtar Nuh, the former deputy and member of 18 the board for the attorneys' guild. 19 The trial of the members of the Muslim Brotherhood 20 comes months prior to the legislative elections due to take 21 place next fall, actual date not yet specified. Fifty-four 22 from the ranks of the Muslim Brotherhood were arrested and 23 imprisoned directly before the last legislative election in 24 1995. It is known that the Muslim Brotherhood Group, which was 25 founded by Hassan al-Banna in 1929 calls for implementing SOUTHERN DISTRICT REPORTERS, P.C. (212) 805-0300 6973 1 Islamic law. However, it rejects violence. Human rights 2 organizations said that there were currently more than 15,000 3 Islamists in Egyptian prisons, most of whom [are there] without 4 trial because of the imposed emergency statement that has been 5 almost permanent for the last 33 years. 6 Next to the headlines in English, approved by lynne 7 stu. 8 Under picture, Egyptian fundamentalist, members of 9 "the Islamic Group" during their appearance in front of the 10 military court that will review the Islamists' cases. (Reuters) 11 Your Honor, at this time the government offers into 12 evidence Government Exhibit 2405-1. 13 THE COURT: All right. Government Exhibit 2405-1 14 received in evidence. 15 (Government's Exhibit 2405-1 received in evidence) 16 THE COURT: Ladies and gentlemen, this exhibit is not 17 offered and not received for the truth of any of the statements 18 in the article. 19 MR. MORVILLO: Your Honor, may we publish Government 20 Exhibit 2405-1 to the jury. 21 THE COURT: Yes. 22 MR. MORVILLO: It says hotmail inbox, approved, Lynne, 23 May 19, 2000. Page one of two. 24 There's a stipulation with respect to this exhibit 25 that I'd like to read, your Honor. It's Government SOUTHERN DISTRICT REPORTERS, P.C. (212) 805-0300 6974 1 Exhibit 2400S, paragraph 6. 2 THE COURT: All right. 3 MR. MORVILLO: Government Exhibit 2405-1 consists of 4 two statements, one by Rifa'i Ahmad Taha and one by the 5 al-Azhar student's union, read to Sheikh Abdel Rahman by 6 defendant Mohammad Yousry in the presence of defendant Lynne 7 Stewart during the May 19, 2000, prison visit. A true and 8 accurate translation of the reading of these statements appears 9 at pages 50 through 58 of Government Exhibit 1706X (one of the 10 transcripts of the May 19, 2000 prison visit.) 11 At this time, your Honor, the government would offer 12 into evidence Government Exhibit 2312-34 and 2312-35. 13 THE COURT: All right. Government Exhibits 2312-34 14 and 2312-35 received in evidence. 15 (Government's Exhibits 2312-34 and 2312-35 received in 16 evidence) 17 THE COURT: Ladies and gentlemen, these exhibits are 18 not offered and not received for the truth of any of the 19 statements in these articles. 20 MR. MORVILLO: Your Honor, may we publish Government 21 Exhibit 2312-34 and 35 to the jury. 22 THE COURT: Yes. 23 MR. MORVILLO: Your Honor, at this time I'd like to 24 read a paragraph from Government Exhibit 2400S, which is a 25 stipulation relating to Government Exhibit 2312-34 and 35. SOUTHERN DISTRICT REPORTERS, P.C. (212) 805-0300 6975 1 THE COURT: All right. 2 MR. MORVILLO: Ms. Griffith, can you put it on the 3 Elmo for me. 4 Thank you. 5 Paragraph seven, Government Exhibits 2312-34 and 6 2312-35 together constitute a copy of an article read to Sheikh 7 Abdel Rahman by defendant Mohammad Yousry in the presence of 8 defendant Lynne Stewart during the May 20, 2000, prison visit. 9 A true and accurate translation of the reading of this article 10 appears at pages 73 through 79 of Government Exhibit 1711X (one 11 of the transcripts of the May 20, 2000 prison visit.) 12 Your Honor, at this time the government offers into 13 evidence Government Exhibits 2312-41 and 2312-42 and the 14 corresponding translations, 2312-41T and 2312-42T. 15 THE COURT: 2312-41, 2312-42, 2312-41T and 2312-42T 16 are all received in evidence. 17 (Government's Exhibits 2312-41, 2312-42, 2312-41T and 18 2312-42T received in evidence) 19 THE COURT: Ladies and gentlemen, these exhibits are 20 not offered and not received for the truth of any of the 21 statements in the article. 22 MR. MORVILLO: Your Honor, may we publish Government 23 Exhibit 2312-41 and 42 to the jury? 24 THE COURT: Yes. 25 MR. MORVILLO: At the top it reads Ayna.com, in SOUTHERN DISTRICT REPORTERS, P.C. (212) 805-0300 6976 1 handwriting, approved by Lynne Stewart, page one of two. 2 Your Honor, may I now publish to the jury and read to 3 the jury Government Exhibit 2312-41T and 2312-42T. 4 THE COURT: Yes. 5 MR. MORVILLO: Brackets, handwritten English, approved 6 by Lynne Stewart. 7 There is no God but Allah and Mohammed is his prophet. 8 In the name of Allah, the most merciful and compassionate. 9 "Those whose efforts have been wasted in this life, 10 while they thought that they were acquiring good by their 11 works?" 12 "They are those who deny the signs of their Lord and 13 the fact of their having to meet Him in the hereafter. Vain 14 will be their works, nor shall we on the day of judgment give 15 them any weight." 16 With broken hearts we have received the declaration 17 that is attributed to our honorable Sheikh, Dr. Omar Abdel 18 Rahman, which was conveyed by the American attorney Lynne 19 Stewart and delivered to the media by the American Abu 20 Omar/Ahmed Abdel Sattar. The declaration claims that our 21 honorable Sheikh has withdrawn his support of the initiative of 22 cessation of violence. 23 The Islamic Group "Callers of the Truth" was keeping 24 an eye on those members who deviated from the right path of our 25 basic and conventional Islamic work and put their personal SOUTHERN DISTRICT REPORTERS, P.C. (212) 805-0300 6977 1 interests and greed before the fear of God. 2 It is time for the Islamic Group "Callers of the 3 Truth" to publish their previous messages to brother Abu Yasir 4 Rafa'i Taha, which was delivered through his adherent, Yassir 5 al-Sirri in those messages. We advised him to fear God and to 6 stop his acts that only led us to tribulations. But since he 7 was kicked out of the consultative council of our Islamic Group 8 and was replaced by another brother, he kept on spreading 9 hatred and innuendos. He surrounded himself with shaky 10 characters and managed to recruit two individuals whose true 11 allegiance is unknown, and they are the American, Ahmed Abdel 12 Sattar, who claims that he is the official spokesperson of the 13 Sheikh, while, in fact, he adds to what the Sheikh says. And 14 he is an informant of American intelligence services. 15 The other individual is Yassir al-Sirri, Abu Ammar, 16 who was kicked out of the Jihad Group and who resides in London 17 from where he propagates enmity toward our Islamic Group. We 18 are used to this man's aggressiveness towards our group, 19 especially after he was rejected by the Jihad Group in 20 October 1998. And in order to create division, he lied and 21 claimed that the honorable Sheikh does not condone the issued 22 report by our distinguished Sheikhs and historical leaders in 23 which they call to stop violence. The authenticity of this 24 report was proven false and its purpose was revealed as well as 25 of those behind it. Once more today he repeats the same SOUTHERN DISTRICT REPORTERS, P.C. (212) 805-0300 6978 1 maneuver. 2 The Islamic Group "Callers of the Truth" will not 3 forget to warn all the brothers from this lobbyist, especially 4 as we commemorate the blessed birth of our prophet. May God's 5 peace, blessings and mercy be bestowed on him. They will not 6 forget to remind him to reflect on our blessed prophet's 7 biography and to remain united under the Islamic and lawful 8 leadership of the Islamic Group, their sheikhs and their 9 historical leaders, abiding by the rules of its Islamic work 10 and faithful to its constitutional resolutions. 11 "And Allah has full power and control over his 12 affairs; but most among mankind know it not." 13 The Islamic Group "Callers of the Truth," 6/14/2000. 14 11th of Rab'i first 1421H, the Islamic Group, the Callers of 15 the Truth, 6/14/2000. 16 Your Honor, at this time the government offers into 17 evidence Government Exhibit 2312-44 and 2312-44T. 18 THE COURT: All right. Government Exhibits 2312-44 19 and 2312-44T are received in evidence. 20 (Government's Exhibits 2312-44 and 2312-44T received 21 in evidence) 22 THE COURT: Ladies and gentlemen, these exhibits are 23 not offered or received for the truth of any of the statements 24 in the articles. All right. 25 MR. MORVILLO: May we display Government SOUTHERN DISTRICT REPORTERS, P.C. (212) 805-0300 6979 1 Exhibit 2312-44 to the jury, your Honor. 2 THE COURT: Yes. 3 MR. MORVILLO: At the bottom in handwriting it says 4 approved, Lynne Stewart. 5 May I now publish and read to the jury Government 6 Exhibit 2312-44T, your Honor. 7 THE COURT: Yes. 8 MR. MORVILLO: In the upper left-hand corner in 9 brackets, handwritten English, approved by Lynne Stewart. 10 Asharq Al-Awsat, in Arabic 15 June 00P3. 11 Omar Abdel Rahman's lawyer relays a message in which 12 he withdraws his support of the initiative to stop violence in 13 Egypt. 14 Omar Abdel Rahman, the banned spiritual leader of the 15 Egyptian Islamic Group who's serving a life sentence in the US, 16 has reportedly decided to withdraw his support for the 17 cease-fire announced by the Islamic Group leaders two years ago 18 in which their followers are still complying with. 19 Abdel Rahman (62) was sentenced to life in prison in 20 January 1996 in New York in the case of the explosions at the 21 World Trade Center in 1993 that killed six people and injured 22 1,000. His trial lasted nine months and more than 200 23 witnesses testified before it. 24 Abdel Rahman's lawyer, Lynne Stewart, said in a 25 telephone contact with Asharq Al-Awsat from New York last night SOUTHERN DISTRICT REPORTERS, P.C. (212) 805-0300 6980 1 that he is withdrawing his backing of the present initiative to 2 halt violence. 3 Abdel Rahman launched a vehement attack on Sameh 4 Darrar, Egypt's former consul in New York and its present 5 ambassador in the Swedish capital of Stockholm, for his 6 statement in which he accused the sheik of being a US agent. 7 Darrar also said he's being treated well in his US prison. 8 Abdel Rahman said, "I have been in a solitary cell since 1993 9 and I am not allowed visits or to have a radio." 10 He asked, "Is it good or privileged treatment when I 11 am not allowed to perform the Friday and congregation prayers? 12 Is it good treatment when I am not told of the advent of the 13 first day of Ramadan and the first day of the holiday, when no 14 one is allowed to talk to me or I don't talk to anyone and when 15 I, an al-Azhar scholar who studied and taught Islam for 40 16 years, am categorized as insane?" 17 Talking about being beaten and physically attacked by 18 his guards, he said "Is it good treatment when I am subjected 19 to toxic gases that cause me severe pains and to be monitored 20 by cameras 24 hours a day?" 21 Abdel Rahman replied to Ambassador Darrar's charges of 22 escaping to Sudan. He said "It was the Egyptian government 23 that expelled me. Apparently he can't differentiate between 24 the year 1980, when the Court acquitted me in the al-Sadat 25 case, and the year 1990, when I was forced to escape from Egypt SOUTHERN DISTRICT REPORTERS, P.C. (212) 805-0300 6981 1 to Sudan and from there to Pakistan, Afghanistan and then Saudi 2 Arabia." 3 Replying to Darrar's remarks that the United States 4 takes good care of its friends, the Islamic Group's spiritual 5 leader said "How great is the US backing for its friends in 6 Afghanistan! It is now chasing the Arab mujahadeen who had 7 brought down the Soviet Union and has sentenced me personally 8 to life in prison." 9 On his part the Egyptian ambassador in Stockholm 10 commented on Abdel Rahman's statement in a telephone call with 11 Asharq Al-Awsat. He said "I am surprised by the things that 12 the blind sheik still remembers after six years." He added 13 that he left New York in 1994 and does not recall accusing 14 Abdel Rahman of being a US agent when he acted as Egypt's 15 consul there. Darrar said he was living under the protection 16 of the FBI during his stay in New York after Abdel Rahman had 17 sanctioned his death in a speech at his mosque in Brooklyn 18 before his arrest in 1993. 19 Lawyer Stewart read the statement that she said Abdel 20 Rahman issued when she visited him two weeks ago at Rochester 21 prison in Minnesota where he is serving a life sentence. She 22 said that Sheikh Abdel Rahman concluded that the July 1997 23 initiative had not brought positive results for the Islamists. 24 Abdel Rahman backed the initiative in a statement that was 25 titled "They stood up for God and are stopping for the sake of SOUTHERN DISTRICT REPORTERS, P.C. (212) 805-0300 6982 1 God." The initiative gained momentum and a moral boost after 2 the Luxor incident in November of the same year. 3 Stewart cited Abdel Rahman as saying "no progress has 4 been made. Thousands of detainees are still in prison, the 5 military trials are continuing and the death sentences are 6 still carried out." 7 The Islamic Group announced a unilateral ceasefire in 8 July 1997. The lawyer also cited Abdel Rahman as saying "those 9 who declared the initiative acted in good faith but the 10 Egyptian government does not have good intentions." 11 Stewart added that the sheik was totally isolated in 12 his prison and that, contrary to reports, was not treated well. 13 She said that he was held in solitary cell but his morale was 14 very high. 15 She noted that the prison authorities might ban her 16 from visiting him because of these statements. She also 17 pointed out that the US government had imposed many 18 restrictions on the defense team. But the latter decided at a 19 meeting held several days ago to study the best way for 20 reporting Abdel Rahman's message to the media and the right 21 timing for doing so. 22 Stewart said the defense team visits Abdel Rahman once 23 every few months and contacts him by telephone once a week. He 24 can telephone his wife once a month. Sources close to Abdel 25 Rahman have reported that he inadvertently spoke for the first SOUTHERN DISTRICT REPORTERS, P.C. (212) 805-0300 6983 1 time with his 11-year-old daughter who was born during his 2 voluntary exile. The US authorities penalized him by banning 3 him from making telephone calls for six months. 4 Your Honor, at this time the government offers into 5 evidence Government Exhibit 2312-46. 6 THE COURT: All right. Ladies and gentlemen, let me 7 just take five minutes. We'll take a brief break. Please 8 remember my continuing instructions. Don't talk about the case 9 at all, always remember to keep an open mind. 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 SOUTHERN DISTRICT REPORTERS, P.C. (212) 805-0300 6984 1 (In open court; jury not present) 2 THE COURT: Please have a seat. 3 The only reason for the break is that I wanted to 4 confirm that the construction that the parties had agreed upon 5 for the documents coming up, which in all of the cases appear 6 to be from 2312-46 through 2312-58, are these exhibits are not 7 offered or received for the truth of any of the statements in 8 the article; that I'm correctly reading; and that, in fact, 9 those go over to 2312-58. 10 MR. TIGAR: Your Honor, does that instruction begin 11 with the text that says these are media articles or newspaper 12 articles or words to that effect, because -- 13 THE COURT: I'll say that. 14 MR. TIGAR: It might be helpful to remind the jurors 15 that you've told them about newspaper articles and that 16 newspaper reporters sometimes get it wrong. The language that 17 you've used before as an introduction would, we suggest, make 18 it clearer. 19 MR. MORVILLO: Yes, your Honor, that's the correct 20 instruction. 21 THE COURT: OK. All right. Then that really would 22 take me down, with a couple of exceptions which don't have 23 limiting instructions, to about 2312-54. OK. 24 MR. MORVILLO: Your Honor, just with respect to this 25 one article that I'm about to read, which is Government SOUTHERN DISTRICT REPORTERS, P.C. (212) 805-0300 6985 1 Exhibit 2312-46, this is an article by Esmat Salaheddin. It is 2 the government's view that his testimony about the statements 3 are admitted for the truth but the article itself is -- gets 4 this limiting instruction, just so that -- 5 THE COURT: Well, he's already -- yes, he's testified 6 and there was no claim of limitation on his testimony in court 7 subject to cross-examination. 8 MR. TIGAR: Is Mr. Morvillo requesting that the Court 9 say something about that subject? 10 MR. MORVILLO: No, your Honor. I was just pointing it 11 out to the Court and to the parties. 12 THE COURT: All right. Unless someone else needs a 13 break, would you call the jury in and we'll probably go until 14 12:45. OK. 15 MS. BAKER: Your Honor, actually, if we might have a 16 minute before the jury comes in. 17 THE COURT: Sure. Why don't we take five minutes. 18 MR. BARKOW: Your Honor, the reason we asked for this 19 is that Mr. Tigar asked that at this point the Court remind the 20 jurors that you've told them newspaper articles -- about 21 newspaper articles and that newspaper reporters sometimes get 22 it wrong. 23 THE COURT: No. What I would intend to do -- and you 24 can keep the jury out -- what I would tell the jurors at this 25 point is, as you will see, the next series of exhibits are SOUTHERN DISTRICT REPORTERS, P.C. (212) 805-0300 6986 1 newspaper articles. I've previously instructed you about 2 newspaper articles. They are not received for the truth of the 3 matters asserted. 4 MR. BARKOW: We're content with that instruction, your 5 Honor. 6 THE COURT: And that's what I will say. 7 MR. TIGAR: Your Honor, the Court had in the past 8 given an instruction that was longer than the one you're now 9 giving in which you said, and reporters may or may not get it 10 right about what was said or done. I would ask that you give 11 the same instruction that you did at that page of the 12 transcript, which I will find. 13 (Continued on next page) 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 SOUTHERN DISTRICT REPORTERS, P.C. (212) 805-0300 6987 4A6MSAT3 1 MR. TIGAR: The reason that I'm happy to tell them 2 that you should, of course, continue to follow that 3 instruction, to talk about it runs into the issue of -- 4 Mr. Salaheddin previously testified to the Court's point. I 5 accept that. I do not press the contention I just make telling 6 the jurors to follow the earlier instruction and I can level 7 the playing field. I understand the concern that's been 8 expressed here and I don't want to use the instructional 9 process as a mid-trial summation, and I take the Court's point. 10 MR. BARKOW: That's fine, your Honor. 11 THE COURT: Let's bring in the jury. The order should 12 be, the next series of exhibits, newspaper articles. I 13 previously instructed you about newspaper articles and you 14 should follow that instruction. They are not received for the 15 truth of the matters asserted in the articles. 16 (Jury present) 17 THE COURT: Mr. Morvillo. 18 MR. MORVILLO: Your Honor, I am not sure -- I don't 19 recall whether you received in evidence Government Exhibit 20 2312-46. 21 THE COURT: Government Exhibit 2312-46 is received in 22 evidence. 23 (Government's Exhibit 2312-46 received in evidence) 24 THE COURT: Ladies and gentlemen, this exhibit and a 25 series of exhibits following it are newspaper articles. I SOUTHERN DISTRICT REPORTERS, P.C. (212) 805-0300 6988 4A6MSAT3 1 previously instructed you about newspaper articles, and you 2 should follow that instruction here. They are not received for 3 the truth of the matters asserted in the articles. 4 You may proceed. 5 MR. MORVILLO: Your Honor, may I display for the jury 6 Government Exhibit 2312-46? 7 THE COURT: Yes. 8 MR. MORVILLO: The top in the handwriting, approved, 9 Lynne Stewart. 10 Your Honor, may I now read from Government Exhibit 11 2400S, which is a stipulation? 12 THE COURT: Yes. 13 MR. MORVILLO: Paragraph 8. Government Exhibit 14 2312-46 is an article by Esmat Salaheddin from the June 15, 15 2000 edition of the Arabic-language newspaper al-Quds al-Arabi. 16 It is an Arabic version of Mr. Salaheddin's June 14, 2000 17 Reuters article which is in evidence as Government Exhibit 524. 18 Thus, Government Exhibit 524 is a true and accurate English 19 translation of Government Exhibit 2312-46. 20 Your Honor, I've been informed that Government Exhibit 21 524 is not yet in evidence, so I would offer it at this time. 22 THE COURT: All right. Government Exhibit 524 23 received in evidence. 24 (Government's Exhibit 524 received in evidence) 25 THE COURT: It is not offered or received for the SOUTHERN DISTRICT REPORTERS, P.C. (212) 805-0300 6989 4A6MSAT3 1 truth of the statements in the article. 2 MR. MORVILLO: May I publish it to the jury, your 3 Honor? 4 THE COURT: Yes. 5 MR. MORVILLO: Full article, Government Exhibit 524, 6 Factiva, Dow Jones and Reuters, page 1 of 3. 7 Spiritual chief of Egypt militants renounces truce by 8 Esmat Salaheddin, 589 words, 14 June 2000 10:23 GMT Reuters 9 News, English. 2000 Reuters limited. 10 Cairo, June 14, Reuters. The spiritual leader of 11 Egyptian Moslem militants whose bloodiest act was the 1997 12 Luxor massacre, has renounced their truce, his lawyer said on 13 Wednesday. "He is withdrawing his support for the cease fire 14 that currently exists," Lynne Stewart, the main lawyer for 15 Sheikh Omar Abdel Rahman, told Reuters by telephone from New 16 York. 17 The Sheikh is serving a life sentence in the United 18 States for his role in a plot to bomb New York buildings in 19 1993. 20 She read a statement which she said he had issued two 21 weeks ago from his jail cell in Rochester, Minnesota, which his 22 defense team had held while considering how best to release it. 23 Stewart said Sheikh Omar had concluded that the 24 unilateral truce observed by al-Gama'a al-Islamiya (Islamic 25 Group) since the Luxor slaughter of 58 foreign tourists and SOUTHERN DISTRICT REPORTERS, P.C. (212) 805-0300 6990 4A6MSAT3 1 four Egyptians had brought no advantage to Egypt's biggest 2 militant group. 3 "There is absolutely nothing moving forward," she 4 quoted his statement as saying in Arabic. "The thousands of 5 people who are in prison (in Egypt) are still in prison, the 6 military trials continue, executions are taking place." 7 Last year exiled Gama'a leaders endorsed a 1997 cease 8 fire call by their jailed comrades in the shura (consultative) 9 council that sets the group's guidelines. 10 "The people who launched the cease fire have good 11 faith, but the (Egyptian) government has shown no good faith, 12 Sheikh Omar said in the statement. He wants people not to 13 place hope in this process because nothing is moving forward, 14 Stewart said. 15 Moslem militants in Egypt and abroad say the views of 16 the 61-year-old blind cleric are highly respected by his 17 followers. 18 Exiled Egyptian Islamists say his latest decision may 19 further deepen a rift between what are believed to be two camps 20 inside the Gama'a, those who support the cease fire and those 21 who want to continue the armed struggle. 22 Leader said to be ill-treated in jail. 23 Stewart said the Sheikh was completely isolated in 24 jail and was not well treated. He is held in solitary 25 confinement, but his faith is very, very strong, she added. SOUTHERN DISTRICT REPORTERS, P.C. (212) 805-0300 6991 4A6MSAT3 1 They (U.S. prison authorities) may bar me from visiting him 2 because of this announcement." 3 U.S. officials could not immediately be reached for 4 comment. 5 Stewart said Sheikh Omar's legal defense team visits 6 him every few months and calls him once a week. He is 7 permitted one call a month to his wife in Cairo. 8 The cleric was tried twice in Egypt in the early 9 1980s, but acquitted for lack of evidence. He made his way 10 into the United States in 1990 after obtaining an American visa 11 in Khartoum. 12 About 1200 people, mainly militants and police, were 13 killed during a 1992-1997 insurgency by Moslem radicals bent on 14 toppling President Hosni Mubarak's pro western government and 15 turning in Egypt into a purist Islamic state. 16 Egyptian jails hold 12,000 political detainees who 17 have not been charged or tried, the U.S. State Department 18 reported in February. A local human rights group puts the 19 figure at 15,000. 20 The interior ministry says about 5,000 detainees have 21 been released in the past three years, though human rights 22 activists and Islamists say the number is much lower. Military 23 courts have sentenced about 95 militants to death since 1992, 24 of whom 72 have been executed. Sentences by military courts 25 cannot be appealed under Egypt's emergency laws in force since SOUTHERN DISTRICT REPORTERS, P.C. (212) 805-0300 6992 4A6MSAT3 1 militants assassinated President Anwar Sadat in 1981. 2 Your Honor, at this time the government offers into 3 evidence Government Exhibit 2312-49 and 2312-49T. 4 THE COURT: All right. Government Exhibits 2312-49 5 and 2312-49T received in evidence. 6 (Government's Exhibits 2312-49 and 2312-49T received 7 in evidence) 8 THE COURT: But not for the truth of any of the 9 statements contained in the article. 10 MR. MORVILLO: Your Honor, may we publish Government 11 Exhibit 2312-49 to the jury? 12 THE COURT: Yes. 13 MR. MORVILLO: The handwriting at the bottom of the 14 second page says approved, Lynne Stewart. 15 May I now publish and read to the jury Government 16 Exhibit 2312-49T? 17 THE COURT: Yes. 18 MR. MORVILLO: [Handwritten English] approved Lynne 19 Stewart. Al-Hayat in Arabic 15 June 00 PP16. 20 Omar Abdel Rahman Withdraws his Support of the Peace 21 Initiative and Founder of The Group persists in halting 22 violence. 23 Cairo, Muhamad Salah. 24 Signs of a new disagreement have appeared within the 25 Islamic Group in Egypt following the decision of its leader SOUTHERN DISTRICT REPORTERS, P.C. (212) 805-0300 6993 4A6MSAT3 1 Dr. Sheikh Omar Abdel Rahman, who is serving a life sentence in 2 a U.S. prison to withdraw his support of the peaceful 3 initiative. This initiative was launched in July 1997 by the 4 organization's historic leaders who are serving sentences for 5 their involvement in the case of the assassination of the late 6 President Anwar al-Sadat. This is while engineer Salah Hashem 7 the group founder who lives in Suhaj province, has stressed 8 that Mustafa Hamzah, who is in charge of the Organization 9 Consultative Council, his council colleagues and historic 10 leaders "still maintain their stand on the initiative and have 11 not changed it." 12 Hashem told Al-Hayat that he was contacted by Hamzah 13 several days ago during which the latter confirmed that the 14 decision to halt military operations "is a strategic choice 15 that the group will not deviate from." He pointed out that he 16 had visited the leaders in prison a few days ago and did not 17 find any change in their stand. Hashem also said that Abdel 18 Rahman's remarks "are just reviews for discussion and 19 examination at the Consultative council, but no decision has 20 been taken yet." He asserted that he and his colleagues still 21 "support the initiative." 22 Since launching the initiative, the Islamic Group is 23 experiencing reactions and differences between two factions. 24 The first is led by Hamzah and represents the majority that was 25 behind the Islamic Group's decision in March of last year to SOUTHERN DISTRICT REPORTERS, P.C. (212) 805-0300 6994 4A6MSAT3 1 stop all military operations inside and outside Egypt. 2 Prominent leader Rifa'i Ahmad Taha Musa leads the other 3 hard-line wing that rejects the initiative and believes that it 4 has not achieved anything for the group. Abdel Rahman's 5 position is therefore favorable to Taha. 6 Last November, the organization had changes in 7 leadership when Hamzah took charge of the consultative council, 8 the post that was held by Taha. It was noted recently that 9 Taha issued statements signed by him but without an 10 organizational title, and included violent attacks against the 11 government. 12 Justifying his new stand, Abdel Rahman said, "The 13 initiative has not achieved any positive results." His lawyer 14 Lynne Stewart said in New York that her client wrote her a 15 statement two weeks ago and handed it to her when she visited 16 him in the Minnesota prison. Stewart said in a telephone 17 conversation with Al-Hayat in Cairo yesterday that Abdel Rahman 18 had replied in his statement to remarks made by Egypt's former 19 consul in New York, ambassador, Sameh Darrar. 20 The latter said "The Sheikh is being treated well and 21 even more than well in his U.S. prison," that he and his 22 followers are "U.S. agents" and that the "U.S. Government takes 23 good care of its friends." 24 In his statement, Abdel Rahman asked, "Is it good 25 treatment and even better than good when I am deprived of radio SOUTHERN DISTRICT REPORTERS, P.C. (212) 805-0300 6995 4A6MSAT3 1 broadcasts and newspapers, when I am not allowed to have a 2 person read books and newspapers to me, read a letter or write 3 one for me? Is it good treatment when I am not allowed to 4 perform the Friday prayer or pray with a congregation, not told 5 of the first day of Ramadan, its last day, and the holidays, 6 remain imprisoned with no one talking to me or me talking to 7 anyone for 24 hours a day?" 8 He added, "Is it good treatment and above good when I, 9 an al-Azhar scholar who studied and taught Islam for 40 years, 10 am classified among the insane and placed next to them, 11 subjected to harmful odors and gases that cause me severe 12 pains? Attached and beaten by government employees? Thrown to 13 the ground and kicked? Denied visit from my family, friends 14 and media correspondents? Being observed by cameras and tape 15 recorders 24 hours and also for those to be used during the 16 single visit that my family was allowed to pay me in five 17 years?" 18 Abdel Rahman's wife and his brother visited him in 19 prison last year, but the American authorities refused to let 20 them have a close meeting and placed a glass barrier between 21 them. 22 Abdel Rahman added, "I withdraw my support of the 23 initiative to halt operations because we have reaped nothing 24 from it ex