Sailors Say They’re Being Court-Martialed Because of Religion

Two U.S. sailors accused of plotting to sabotage their San Diego-based ship to aid Iraq during the Gulf War claimed Monday that they were being court-martialed because they are Muslims.

Airman Apprentice Abdul H. Shaheed, 22, of St. George, S.C., and Seaman Apprentice James L. Moss, 21, of Columbus, Ohio, accused a fellow crewman on the aircraft carrier Ranger of fabricating the story of the plot.

The two were ordered Friday to stand trial for alleged offenses committed Jan. 17 aboard the Ranger in the Persian Gulf.

The Navy said an investigation found sufficient evidence to support charges that they planned to sabotage the carrier, although there was no indication that any sabotage was actually attempted.

A conviction would mean dishonorable discharge, 10 years imprisonment and forfeiture of pay and allowances, Navy spokesman Lt. Cmdr. Kevin Mukri said.

“I am a victim of incredible exaggeration, hysteria and paranoia,” said Shaheed, who changed his name from Kevin E. Brothers when he converted to Islam two years ago. “I truly believe that all of this is happening to me simply because I am a Muslim.

“I am here today because I have been accused unjustly of a lot of horrible things which are simply untrue,” he told reporters at the Subic Bay naval station, 50 miles west of Manila.

Shaheed and Moss were charged with “urging disloyalty, mutiny or refusal of duty” after being implicated in a plot to kidnap the carrier’s skipper, Capt. Ernest Christensen, and sabotage the ship’s catapult launch system and engineering equipment.

The Navy said the alleged conspiracy was in support of Saddam Hussein’s appeal for Muslims worldwide to rise up in a holy war against the United States.

Shaheed and Moss said Airman Apprentice Gregory Jones “made up his whole story” about the abduction and told Christensen about it.

Shaheed and Moss were flown to the Philippines and investigated, the Navy said.

Moss, who is also Muslim, said he had obeyed all orders from his superiors during the war because he opposed Saddam and was loyal to the United States.

Moss said he was pursuing an earlier request to be discharged from the military as a conscientious objector.