(Washington Post) Jerry Markon - A U.S. District Court jury in Alexandria, Va., Tuesday convicted prominent Washington-area Muslim spiritual leader Ali Al-Timimi, 41, of inciting his followers to train overseas for violent jihad against the U.S. Five days after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on the Pentagon and World Trade Center, Timimi told his followers that "the time had come for them to go abroad and join the mujahideen engaged in violent jihad in Afghanistan," according to court papers. The jury decided that his words were enough to send him to prison for what prosecutors said will be a mandatory life sentence. "If one's demonstrated intention is to procure a violent act, that's not protected speech,'' said Ruth Wedgwood, a law professor at Johns Hopkins University and a former federal prosecutor.
2005-04-27 00:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive