Return to Transcripts main page

American Morning

Stewart Charged With Aiding Terrorist Group

Aired April 10, 2002 - 07:19   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.
JACK CAFFERTY, CNN ANCHOR: Could a U.S. citizen be helping a convicted terrorist carry out terrorist attacks? The lawyer for convicted Sheikh Omar Abdel Rahman's defense lawyer, Lynne Stewart, was indicted on federal charges yesterday for allegedly helping the blind Egyptian cleric run his terror organization from prison. The Islamic militant is serving a life sentence for his role in a plot to blow up New York City landmarks, including the World Trade Center in 1993.

More on the story now from CNN's Deborah Feyerick.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DEBORAH FEYERICK, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): She defended a convicted terrorist. Now, she is being accused of keeping his network going.

Lawyer Lynne Stewart, accused of passing messages from radical Muslim cleric, Sheikh Omar Abdel Rahman, to his followers worldwide.

LYNN STEWART, RAHMAN'S LAWYER: Prove it, prove it, prove it. I am a lawyer. I fight for my clients. That's what my job is.

FEYERICK: Justice officials say Stewart tried covering up an unlawful prison conversation in which Sheikh Rahman gave his translator instructions to pass to members of his Islamic group, Gamat Islamiya. Prosecutors say that was a clear violation of prison rules, keeping the blind cleric from communication with anyone else on the outside.

JOHN ASHCROFT, ATTORNEY GENERAL: Stewart took affirmative steps to conceal the conversation from prison guards, making extraneous comments in English to mask the Arabic conversation between Rahman and Yousry.

FEYERICK: The translator, Mohammed Yousry, was also charged. Prosecutors say Stewart publicly announced that Sheikh Rahman was withdrawing his support for a cease-fire among his followers, a cease- fire agreed to in 1997 after his terrorist organization claimed credit for attacking tourists in Luxor, Egypt, killing 58.

STEWART: And then I think this will be a very good fight. I think we can make the government put up or shut up here, and I don't think they can put up. FEYERICK: But the government says it has recorded conversations, hundreds of them between Rahman, his lawyer, his translator and two other men, Ahmed Abel Sattar in New York and Yassir Al-Sirri in London. Both have been charged with spreading Rahman's message to followers.

ASHCROFT: We will not allow individuals to continue to perpetrate criminal acts or terrorist acts from their prison cells, and we will take whatever steps are necessary.

FEYERICK: The attorney general says because of the alleged violations, the government is invoking the U.S. Patriotic Act set up after September 11, from now on, monitoring all communication between Rahman and his lawyers; defense attorneys infuriated by the move.

SHELDON KRANTZ, CRIMINAL DEFENSE ATTORNEY: If that is eroded and basically the Department of Justice and the FBI can decide whenever they want to monitor conversations or search lawyers' offices or in some other way intrude in the confidential relationship, then we are no different than a totalitarian country.

FEYERICK (on camera): Justice officials pointing out the indictment is not related to the September 11 attacks, still making several references to al Qaeda, saying specifically Sheikh Rahman took a page out of the al Qaeda manual by making sure that even though he was in prison, whoever he had contact with got his message out.

Deborah Feyerick, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.