Virginia: Man once acquitted of aiding the Taliban on trial

Posted by Robert on January 29, 2007 5:28 PM

Virginia Paintball Jihad Update: "Man once acquitted of aiding the Taliban on trial," from [1] AP, with thanks to Jeffrey Imm:

A man who was acquitted three years ago of providing services to the Taliban went on trial again Monday, this time accused of lying to a US grand jury about his training as a jihadist.

The lawyer for Sabri Benkahla, 31, told a jury that prosecutors essentially laid a perjury trap for Benkahla after his acquittal. The defense has also accused the US government of pursuing a vindictive prosecution after its legal defeat.

Benkahla was one of only two defendants who were acquitted in the government's prosecution of a dozen Muslim men who participated in what the government called a "jihad network" that used paintball games in the Virginia woods in 2000 and 2001 as a means to train for holy war around the globe.

The government called it a "jihad network." That's AP for you. That they gained ten convictions on that basis might suggest that there was something accurate in this designation, but you wouldn't get that impression from this story.


Article printed from Jihad Watch: http://www.jihadwatch.org/2007/01/virginia-man-once-acquitted-of-aiding-the-taliban-on-trial.html

URLs in this post:
[1] http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1167467842625&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull