Man's pro-Saddam tape part of trial

[stormy]

<span style='font-size:12pt;line-height:100%'>Man's pro-Saddam tape part of trial</span>

January 3, 2004

BY DAVE NEWBART Staff Reporter

In the speech at a celebration of Saddam Hussein's birthday in 2001, the Oak Lawn man praises the Iraqi ruler as a &quot;great'' and &quot;inspirational'' leader.

A federal judge ruled Friday that prosecutors can show jurors a videotape of Khaled Abdel-Latif Dumeisi's remarks at his trial on charges that he acted as an unregistered agent of the Iraqi government. The trial begins Monday in U.S. District Court. Prosecutors accuse Dumeisi of spying on Iraqi opposition members in the United States.

Federal judge Suzanne Conlon agreed with prosecutors that the speech, made at the headquarters of the Iraqi Mission to the United Nations, shows Dumeisi's motive to allegedly aid the government of Iraq, even though Dumeisi is not Iraqi.

A Palestinian who has lived in various Middle Eastern countries, Dumeisi has repeatedly praised Hussein for his help with fighting Israel, which he called the &quot;evil Zionist stronghold.'' He is now a permanent resident of the United States.

Read The Rest (http://www.suntimes.com/output/news/cst-nws-spy03.html) http://www.gopusa.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/shake.gif

[Terri]

It would be nice if they would just let the jury hear the facts. http://www.gopusa.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/doh.gif

[Commodore Barrett]

Terri, this may be off-topic, but Geraldo mentioned in Sunday's Fox column about prosecutors wanting to try their case in the News Media -- what he calls &quot;the Court of Public Opinion&quot;. It is not new; any prosecutor worth his salt wants to have his side of the case presented in such a manner as to get the jury pool on his side right off the bat. And in his zeal to get a conviction, so that he can be re-elected or promoted to an higher political office, the Assistant District Attorney (State or Federal) may well manipulate the data to suit the prosecution, even though the data are 99.44% in favor of the defense.

Small wonder Liddy wrought a mini-revolution while he was an involuntary guest of the Feds; he got so many fellow guests sprung legally that the Department of Justice had to scream to Deacon Jimmy to let Liddy go. (Details are in Liddy's autobiography, Will.) *http://www.gopusa.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/laugh.gif

[stormy]

Jan 13, 1:45 AM EST

<span style='font-size:11pt;line-height:100%'>Publisher Guilty of Spying on Iraqi Exiles</span>

By MIKE ROBINSON
Associated Press Writer

CHICAGO (AP) -- A suburban community newspaper publisher was convicted of spying on Iraqi exiles in this country for Saddam Hussein's intelligence service, a charge that could land him in prison for years.

Khaled Abdel-Latif Dumeisi, 61, remained calm Monday as the federal court jury delivered its verdict after deliberating less than three hours.

Dumeisi could be sent to prison for 25 years if he were sentenced consecutively, though he is likely to get much less time under federal guidelines at sentencing, set for March 30.

Prosecutors said there was no evidence that any anti-Saddam dissidents spied on by Dumeisi had been harmed - but they weren't taking any chances.

&quot;The Iraqi intelligence service is a service that you wouldn't want to have information about you,&quot; U.S. Attorney Patrick J. Fitzgerald said following the verdict.

The Rest Of The Story--Thank God They Found Him Guilty! (http://customwire.ap.org/dynamic/stories/I/IRAQI_SPY_TRIAL?SITE =TXMCA&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT)

That Didn't Take Long--3 hrs. *They Should All Be That Short!