Padilla Testimony Focuses on Relief Aid

[Eugene]

Source: Associated Press

Padilla Testimony Focuses on Relief Aid

Thursday August 2, 2007 11:46 PM

By CURT ANDERSON

Associated Press Writer

MIAMI (AP) - A defense witness in the Jose Padilla terrorism support
trial described Thursday how an organization operated by a Padilla
co-defendant generated tons of clothing, medicine, food and toys for
relief efforts in war-torn Chechnya.

The testimony by Erol Bulur was aimed at bolstering claims by Kifah
Wael Jayyousi that his group, American Worldwide Relief, was focused
on providing humanitarian aid to oppressed Muslims around the globe
and not on assisting Islamic extremists.

Bulur ran a warehouse in Paterson, N.J., that received and dispatched
four shipping containers containing about 25,000 pounds each of
supplies for Chechen refugees in 1995 and 1996. Jurors were shown a
video of the warehouse, including boxes of goods labeled “AWR” for
Jayyousi's San Diego-based organization.

The testimony provided a counterpoint to prosecution witnesses and
FBI wiretap intercepts that implicate Jayyousi and Adham Amin Hassoun,
both 45, in a worldwide support network for Islamic jihadist groups,
including al-Qaida. Prosecutors contend Hassoun recruited Padilla, 36,
to become a holy warrior while both attended a mosque in Sunrise, Fla.

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Read more: http://www.guardian.co.uk/uslatest/story/0,,-6824022,00.html