Accused Smuggler Seeks Venue Change

Attorneys for an Algerian accused in Seattle of smuggling explosives into the United States as part of a bombing conspiracy have asked to move his trial to another city, the Seattle Post-Intelligencer reported. Media coverage of the arrest of Ahmed Ressam and other alleged bomb plotters has reduced the chances of obtaining a fair trial in Seattle, the attorneys wrote in a motion filed in federal court asking to shift the trial to San Francisco or Los Angeles. Ressam, 32, was arrested by customs officers Dec. 14 as he drove off a ferry from Victoria, Canada, in a car authorities said contained bomb-making ingredients.