DAOTD Detroit edition

[B-Bottom]

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/M/MI_SCREENER_BIN_LADEN_MIOL-?SITE=MIDTN&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT

 

Jury convicts former airport screener of lying about Air Force discharge

 

By SARAH KARUSH

Associated Press Writer

 

DETROIT (AP) -- A man who was discharged from the Air Force amid allegations he expressed sympathy for Osama bin Laden was found guilty Thursday of lying to get a job as an airport security screener.

 

A federal jury deliberated for about four hours before convicting Sadeq Naji Ahmed of two counts of making false statements. Each charge is punishable by up to five years in prison.

 

Sentencing is set for Aug. 22 before U.S. District Judge Bernard Friedman.

 

Ahmed, 25, of Dearborn, was accused of lying to the government about his Air Force discharge in order to get his job at Detroit Metropolitan Airport. Prosecutors said he lied on a 2002 Transportation Security Administration questionnaire when he said he never left a job under unfavorable circumstances and when he failed to disclose that his security clearance had been revoked.

 

Ahmed was fired from the TSA job in August 2003 after the agency learned about his Air Force discharge.

 

"Every traveler through Detroit Metro Airport should feel confident that the government is taking steps to ensure that all federal employees in charge of security are held to higher standards," U.S. Attorney Stephen Murphy said in a statement following the verdict.

 

But defense lawyer William Swor said Ahmed's conviction had more to do with his political views than with any real crime. He said he intended to ask the judge for a new trial.

 

"The unpopular words that were attributed to him, especially given the ongoing war in Iraq, made it very difficult to defend this case," Swor said.

 

He said Ahmed did not lie when he said he had never left a job under unfavorable circumstances because he received an honorable discharge. Furthermore, his statement that he never had a security clearance revoked was technically true, even though his commander suspended his access to classified information, Swor said.

 

"The real question is did he knowingly say something false and was it material?" Swor said.

 

Ahmed had worked for the private contractor handling security at the airport before the TSA took over. He was kept on by the federal agency on a conditional basis pending a background check. Swor said the government would have conducted a full background check regardless of his answers on the application.

 

Ahmed's former commander at Eglin Air Force Base in Florida testified Wednesday that military officials had concerns about the loyalty of the Yemeni immigrant, but took action only after the Sept. 11 attacks.

 

Col. Steven G. Seroka said Ahmed's colleagues quoted him as saying that if the United States attacked certain countries, he would have to fight for the other side. Ahmed also talked about Osama bin Laden as "a holy man, someone to be looked up to, to be listened to," Seroka said.

 

Seroka said several officers told him they heard Ahmed praising the attacks on New York and Washington and saying that the United States deserved it.

 

On Sept. 17, 2001, Seroka suspended Ahmed's access to classified information and reassigned him to administrative duties on the non-combat side of the base.

 

Ahmed's discharge date was subsequently moved up from Dec. 2, 2001, to Sept. 28.

 

 

[Bonoman]

Not to be racist or anything, but when a dude in charge of your security is in the Osama Fan Club, I think he should have been fired if he lied or not.

[sevenroy]

such a sticky sitch

[Jumpy]

 

Originally posted by B-Bottom [b

[NeonVomit]

Yeah... someone expressing sypathy for OBL isn't exactly the same person i'd like to be responsible for not allowing any bombs on a plane...