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Witnesses, Testimony and Evidence Made Unavailable to Prosecutors in Terror Trial

Prosecutors in the first major terror trial after Sept. 11 were hindered by superiors from presenting some of their most powerful evidence, including testimony from an al-Qaida leader and video footage showing Osama bin Laden's European operatives casing American landmarks, Justice Department memos show. The department's terrorism unit "provided no help of any kind in this prosecution," the U.S. Attorney's office in Detroit wrote in one of the memos, which detail bitter divisions between front-line prosecutors and their superiors in Washington. The Detroit case involved four men who were accused of operating a sleeper terror cell that possessed plans for attacks around the world. Although three men were convicted, only two of the four men were convicted of terrorism charges. Now the convictions are in jeopardy because of an internal investigation into allegations that defense lawyers were denied evidence that could have helped them. Whatever the outcome, internal documents obtained by AP reveal that the Justice Department kept important evidence from being shown to jurors. For instance, after Ibn al Shaykh al-Libi was captured and had incriminated himself to interrogators, prosecutors were nonetheless denied access to interview him. al-Libi was taken to Egypt and prosecutors were unable to interview him or use him as a witness. [more]