2 U.S. Sailors Cleared of Trying to Incite Mutiny

The U.S. Navy Friday dropped all charges against two black Muslim sailors accused of trying to incite a mutiny in support of Iraqi President Saddam Hussein aboard a U.S. aircraft carrier during the Gulf War.

“The situation would not have occurred if I weren’t a Muslim,” Airman Apprentice Abdul Shaheed, 22, said at a news conference inside the U.S. naval base at Subic Bay.

The charges were dropped because of insufficient evidence, a Navy spokesman said.

“The government attorney cited new information which led to the conclusion that the evidence was insufficient to support proceeding to trial,” a Navy statement said.

Shaheed, of Brooklyn, N.Y., and Seaman Apprentice James Moss, 21, of Columbus, Ohio, were accused of urging crewmen aboard the carrier Ranger to mutiny and sabotage equipment in support of Saddam at the start of the Gulf War.

The two sailors rejected the charges, saying they were persecuted because of U.S. prejudice against Muslims.

Shaheed’s counsel, Lt. Victor Bernson, said in a statement that the withdrawal of the charges had vindicated his client. New information gathered through interviews with the Ranger crew favored the two sailors, Bernson said.

“There was substantial evidence Shaheed and Moss . . . never supported Saddam Hussein in any way, shape or form. There was also substantial evidence that the government’s key witness may have been less than credible,” Bernson said.