Christians Under Attack

necessarily Muslim holy war and that mujahedeen could just as easily be freedom fighters as terrorists.

The meaning of words, especially Arabic words, is center stage as federal prosecutors play hours of FBI telephone intercepts involving Padilla and two other defendants charged with participating in an Islamic extremist support network.

Padilla, 36, is a U.S. citizen who was held for 3½ years as an enemy combatant at the Navy brig in Charleston before he was added to the Miami terror support case in late 2005.

The legal battle about definitions goes to the heart of the defense argument that what Padilla, Adham Amin Hassoun and Kifah Wael Jayyousi were doing from 1994 to 2001 was not supporting terrorism, but providing humanitarian aid to oppressed and persecuted Muslims worldwide.

Prosecutors, however, must show the trio were involved in violence — that the “jihad” they were fighting involved killing and armed struggle.

The trial, now in its fourth week of testimony, is expected to last into August.

POSTED BY /http://www.thestate.com