Parade of Witnesses Presented in Bid to Place Defendant Squarely in Terror Plot

Two weeks into his terrorism trial, evidence is mounting that defendant Ahmed Ressam may have been far more instrumental in an alleged New Year’s Day 2000 bombing conspiracy than his defense lawyers would have the federal jury believe.

FBI forensic experts have testified that Ressam’s fingerprints were found on all four of the homemade bomb-timing devices seized from his rental car Dec. 14, 1999, as he drove off a Canadian ferry and into Washington state.

Other prosecution witnesses said a pair of pants and designer boots found in Ressam’s Montreal apartment had burn holes from explosives residue.

And still others told the court that credit cards in the name of a Ressam alias, “Benni Noris,” were used to buy bomb-timer components, ingredients for explosives compounds, plane tickets and other items that seem to tie him to the alleged bombing plot.

By late Friday, a trio of federal prosecutors had called more than 80 witnesses to the stand at U.S. District Court in Los Angeles. They plan to call about 40 more witnesses during the trial’s remaining two or three weeks.

No bombs were detonated in the alleged millennium terrorist conspiracy, which authorities say involved Ressam and at least three other Islamic extremists who also have been indicted.

Based on opening statements, the defense, which has yet to present its case, plans to describe Ressam, 33, as a gullible “lost soul.” He was manipulated by a group of extremists bent on attacking the United States and then was left holding the bag, according to public defender Jo Ann Oliver.

Oliver and Ressam’s other two lawyers have portrayed the defendant as an unwitting courier who either didn’t know about explosives in the trunk of his rental car or didn’t realize their significance.

During cross-examination of the government’s witnesses, the defense team has often left the testimony unchallenged. Ressam has listened impassively to the parade of witnesses as testimony has been translated into Arabic for him.

FBI fingerprint specialist James L. Rettberg told the jury that nine fingerprints--all Ressam’s--appear to be on the bomb-timing devices’ exterior or interior plastic casings. And he said one Ressam print was found inside on a piece of tape attached to electronic components designed to trigger an explosion.

On the outside, each of the timing devices resembles a garage-door remote control. On the inside is a complicated hodgepodge of electronics--circuit boards, capacitors, resistors and long strands of connecting wire, all attached to Casio watches--that federal agents say Ressam bought at two Montreal stores.

Rettberg also told the jury that Ressam’s prints were found on a French-language tour book of California found in his rental car, a map of Los Angeles found in his Montreal apartment and a Canadian baptismal certificate that authorities say he used to create his Benni Noris alias.

But so far, prosecutors have focused so much on forensics and paper trails that there has been little talk of other aspects of the alleged terrorist plot, such as a motive.

A travel agent testified that someone using a credit card in the name of Benni Noris bought a ticket from Montreal to Karachi, Pakistan, in March 1998 for almost $1,550. Prosecutors contend in court papers that Ressam went from Karachi to Afghanistan, where he spent at least several months in a terrorist training camp.

Serge Haineault, a Royal Canadian Mounted Police constable, testified that when searching the Montreal apartment of an alleged Ressam accomplice, Abdelmajid Dahoumane, he found excerpts of a speech by President Bill Clinton about terrorism with Arabic writing on the back.

Dahoumane has never been caught, and authorities have offered a $5-million reward for information leading to his arrest and conviction. Two other alleged accomplices, Abdelghani Meskini and Mokhtar Haouari, were to go on trial next month in New York, but Meskini entered into a plea agreement recently and is expected to testify against Ressam.

The government’s witnesses have revealed some personal details about the wiry, diminutive defendant as well.

Since arriving in Montreal in 1994, Ressam had spent his time working, playing soccer and attending a local mosque, where he was befriended by other Algerians.

Outside court, authorities have said Ressam and those friends--Fateh Kamel, Karim Said Atmani, Mustafa Labsi and others--are linked to a worldwide jihad network orchestrated by accused terrorist leader Osama bin Laden.

Authorities also say the men--Labsi in particular--may have been co-conspirators with Ressam in the alleged bomb plot.

Kamel and Labsi have been charged with terrorism in unrelated cases in Europe, but neither they nor Atmani have been charged in the Ressam case.

Other testimony indicated that Ressam, who has pleaded not guilty, was proceeding with plans to open a neighborhood convenience store--Benni’s Market--in the weeks before his arrest.

“It was a very good spot” for a market, Ressam acquaintance Said Araar testified. But, he added, Ressam had no business acumen and was about to pay well above market value for the store until his friend intervened and agreed to help him.

Ressam had between $15,000 and $20,000 to spend on the market but “didn’t have any experience,” Araar said.

The store’s shelves were stocked and it was ready to open for business in early December 1999.

“We waited for the gentleman to come back,” Araar testified.

But Ressam never returned. He was arrested and has been in custody ever since. He faces more than 100 years in prison if convicted.