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Chicago Judge Refuses to Throw Out Terrorism Perjury Case

Aired May 14, 2002 - 13:24   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: On the terrorism front now, a judge in Chicago refusing to throw out perjury charges against a leader of an Islamic charity there. That group accused of lying about its ties to Osama bin Laden and other suspected terrorists.

Our Chicago bureau chief, Jeff Flock, tracking and covering this story for us now -- Jeff, good afternoon. What more are we learning?

JEFF FLOCK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good afternoon to you, Bill. Indeed, that is an important distinction you made there. This is not a terrorism case, this is a perjury case, and it is against a man named Enaam Arnaout. He runs an organization called Benevolence International, it is a Islamic charity that is based here in the Chicago suburbs.

Now, let's look at Mr. Arnaout. There are some controversial photographs that were released yesterday. This one depicts Mr. Arnaout with a machine gun. There is another one of him with an automatic weapon. The government says this proves -- or at least suggests that Mr. Arnaout was lying when he said his organization did not funnel money to Islamic organizations -- terrorist organizations in the Middle East.

That one there is a photograph of Mr. Arnaout on a cot at a camp in the Middle East. Now, there is a second photograph I want to show. That is of what the government says is the same camp, and that is Osama bin Laden. So this, the government says, demonstrates some sort of a tie between the two.

Attorneys for Mr. Arnaout, however, say that it doesn't demonstrate really much of anything. It was fairly common for people to be photographed with machine guns and other pieces of artillery in that country back in the 1980s, sort of akin to be photographed with Mickey Mouse, said his attorney, his attorney is Matt Piers.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MATTHEW PIERS, ARNAOUT'S ATTORNEY: This isn't a terrorism claim. It is a perjury claim. Secondly, it is not even a perjury claim related to any activity the government considers to be terrorism. What the government is saying is that money, which BIF maintains, and which we will be able prove, went to refugee camps, which are overflowing with Chechen refugees. In fact, some of it, says the government, they think may have gone to Chechen freedom fighters. If that is true, with all due respect to Mr. Fitzgerald, that is not illegal.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FLOCK: And he points out that the government has not made such an allegation that that is illegal. Now this, what you are looking at here, is a letter, one of several letters that were released also. This one purportedly -- this is in Arabic, but there is -- a English translation. It is from Abu Mahmoud Abdel Sami (ph) to Osama bin Laden. They say that is the alias for Enaam Arnaout. There is a second letter also, and this one is to Mr. Arnaout, and it is from what they say, based on the English translation of what you are looking at there, which is the Arabic, it is from an alias that has been linked to Osama bin Laden, the alias that you see there, "your brother." That, they say, is Osama bin Laden. It proves these two men have had a long and ongoing connection. Again, according on Arnaout's attorneys, it doesn't really prove much of anything.

Now, we should tell you also, Bill, that there is a separate civil case, and that -- that is what this perjury grew out of, when the government went in and seized the assets of the foundation, the Islamic charity, they went to court and sued the government to get the assets unfrozen.

It was in testimony that Mr. Arnaout gave in connection with that civil case that there was the alleged perjury. That case was put on hold today by a separate judge who says we're going to let this criminal prosecution go forward, put the civil case on the back burner.

So that is what happens, that is where we are right now, and it is -- I reported earlier, tomorrow for the bond hearing for Enaam Arnaout, it is actually Thursday of this week in Chicago. We will watch it -- back to you.

HEMMER: Good deal. Thank you, Jeff. We'll watch it too. Jeff Flock in Chicago.

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