Monday, October 22, 2007

Islamic Charity Case Ends In Mistrial

Looks like all the riots, violent protests, and death threats involving Muslims around the world are paying off in this case. At least one American was intimidated or sympathizes with U.S. Islamic charities supporting terrorism.

DALLAS (Reuters) - A District judge declared a mistrial on Monday on most of the counts against an Islamic charity and several men linked to it who were accused of illegally funneling over $12 million to the militant Palestinian group Hamas.

The prosecution immediately signaled it would seek a retrial in a case that the U.S. government had viewed as part of its wider efforts to stop financing of terrorism.

But the complex trial's inconclusive end after three exhausting months and the fact that the few verdicts rendered were not guilty underscored difficulties in prosecuting such cases and making firm links between charitable and terrorist activities.

"You are at the end of your service in this case," presiding Judge Joe Fish told the jurors in a Dallas court before declaring a mistrial on the vast majority of the roughly 200 counts against the six accused, including the Holy Land Foundation itself.

The foundation was one of the biggest Islamic charities in the United States before its closure late in 2001 and said then that it focused on disaster relief and aid to Palestinian refugees. The mistrial will likely leave its status in legal limbo, making it difficult for its supporters to reopen it.

http://www.reuters.com



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