Judge says al-Marabh can be interviewed
By ALEXANDRA R. MOSES
Associated Press Writer
DETROIT -- Defense attorneys for three men accused of supporting terrorism can ask a former terror suspect what he knows about the defendants and evidence seized during a raid.
Attorneys for Karim Koubriti, 24, Ahmed Hannan, 34, and Farouk Ali-Haimoud, 22, wanted to interview Nabil al-Marabh before he is deported to Syria.
U.S. District Judge Gerald Rosen agreed in a ruling dated Wednesday, but said the questions the lawyers could pose to al-Marabh would be limited.
The attorneys also want to speak with a second man they say may be able to provide information about a key piece of evidence. Rosen denied that request.
Al-Marabh once was portrayed as a key figure detained after the Sept. 11 attacks. Agents raided a Detroit apartment with his name on the mailbox last year and instead arrested Koubriti, Hannan and Ali-Haimoud.
In August, the three were charged with conspiracy to plan attacks against the United States through an alleged "sleeper operational combat cell" in Dearborn and Detroit.
But al-Marabh, who was arrested later in Chicago, has faced no terrorism charges. Instead, he drew a maximum eight-month sentence last month for an immigration violation and was ordered deported.
Koubriti, Hannan and Ali-Haimoud were arrested on Sept. 17, 2001, when agents of the Joint Terrorism Task Force went to a flat in southwest Detroit to arrest al-Marabh, who was listed among 200 people being sought for questioning in connection with terrorism.
At the same time the three were arrested, al-Marabh was getting a duplicate driver's license at the Three Oaks license branch.
Attorneys for Koubriti, Hannan and Ali-Haimoud have argued that publicity about al-Marabh's possible connection to terror prejudices their clients.
They want to establish that their clients were not acquainted with al-Marabh, that the name on the mailbox is merely a coincidence, and that al-Marabh had left the apartment before the others moved in.
Rosen said the defense would be limited to questions regarding al-Marabh's connection to the defendants, the evidence seized from the apartment and how he came to be in the Detroit area.
The judge ruled in favor of the defense because he said it is likely al-Marabh will be unavailable at trial, which is scheduled to begin Jan. 21. Rosen also said al-Marabh's deposition will be taken during a closed court proceeding. A date was not set.
The government has argued that interviewing al-Marabh would be a fishing expedition.
Rosen said testimony by the second man the attorneys wanted to depose, Naser Ahmed, is important to the defense, but denied their request because Ahmed is expected to be called as a prosecution witness at trial. Ahmed has not been charged.
When agents raided the apartment, they found a day planner with references in Arabic that investigators said were plans for attacks in Jordan and Turkey.
Ali-Haimoud, one of the defendants, has said the planner belonged to a now-dead Yemeni man, who the attorneys say is Ahmed's brother. The defense wanted to ask Ahmed what he knows about the day planner and his brother's mental state.
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