Key Witness Tells Little of Alleged Bomb Plot

The prosecution’s key witness against accused terrorist Ahmed Ressam gave few details of an alleged millennium bomb plot Thursday, after a judge prevented him from testifying about Ressam’s reputed links to an extremist group he has previously said is run by Islamic militant Osama bin Laden.

U.S. District Judge John Coughenour also dealt prosecutors a setback when he ruled that the witness, Abdelghani Meskini, could not tell the jury about a phone conversation just before Ressam’s arrest, in which he says a third alleged co-conspirator told him: “The fire is on and it’s coming.”

Meskini did, however, testify that he agreed to travel to Seattle to help a man he knew only as “Reda” with money and by renting a car to drive him around to “meet with people.” Prosecutors say “Reda” is an alias for Ressam.

Meskini told jurors that the third alleged co-conspirator did tell him that by “helping Reda” he could get his wish of joining the Islamic holy war, or jihad, because Reda had contacts in Afghanistan.

Assistant U.S. Atty. Robin Baker had wanted to use the “fire is on” remark in an effort to show that Ressam, Meskini and others were on the verge of bombing unspecified U.S. targets on or about New Year’s Eve 2000 to “punish America.”

The prosecutor also told the judge she wanted Meskini to testify about an Algerian terrorist cell linked to Bin Laden to show that Ressam and other alleged co-conspirators were part of a global jihad orchestrated by the exiled Saudi militant.

But in arguments heard out of the jury’s earshot, Coughenour upheld defense objections, ruling that the references were irrelevant and too vague.

Baker appealed, saying they were needed to prove the terrorist conspiracy element of the case, including the prosecution’s belief that Ressam, Meskini and others were “assisting in what they believe was a terrorist act.”

“I think you can establish all that without mentioning Mr. Bin Laden’s name,” Coughenour responded.

Ultimately, the much-awaited testimony of Meskini ended up being more a grueling recitation of his long criminal record than a specific discussion of the alleged bomb plot. He also came under attack by defense lawyers for being an admitted liar and thief.

Meskini, 33, was arrested at his Brooklyn, N.Y., apartment two weeks after Ressam was apprehended Dec. 14, 1999, upon driving a rental car loaded with explosives off a ferry arriving in Washington state from Canada.

Meskini was indicted in New York along with fellow Algerian Mokhtar Haouari of Montreal. Both were charged with conspiring to help Ressam in the alleged terrorist plot, and faced 105 years in prison and $2.75 million in fines.

Earlier this month, just weeks before their trial, Meskini agreed to testify against Ressam and Haouari in exchange for leniency when sentenced.

Ressam, 33, charged with conspiring to commit terrorism and facing more than 100 years in federal prison, listened impassively as Meskini told jurors how he had spent six years as an illegal immigrant in Boston and then New York. Virtually the entire time, he said, he and Haouari were engaged in a wide variety of criminal activity, from credit card and bank fraud to theft and the sale of fake passports and other documents.

Then, in early 1998, the two men began discussing another matter--Meskini’s interest in joining the jihad. Haouari said he would use his contacts to help Meskini get a visa to Pakistan, so he could meet with Islamic extremists and gain entry into their training camps in Afghanistan, Meskini testified.

When Meskini pressed Haouari for details about why he should go to Seattle, he said, he was told that he should meet “Reda” in person as part of his efforts to join the jihad. Haouari told Meskini, he testified that “Reda” was in Vancouver and heading to Seattle to raise funds for a group of Algeria-based militants.

The jury heard Meskini talk of “Reda’s” support of that group. What the panel was not permitted to hear was what prosecutor Baker told the judge earlier in the day: that Haouari had told Meskini that he and Ressam were both linked to the new jihad cell and that “it is being run by Bin Laden.”

In the past, Meskini has told authorities that Haouari described Ressam as a “very important brother” in the jihad cause, with contacts in London and Afghanistan. Meskini also has stated that Ressam was supposed to leave a rental car somewhere in Seattle with the car keys inside and “walk away” from it. a

On Thursday, however, prosecutor Baker barely broached the subject of the alleged conspiracy except to get Meskini to say he and Ressam talked on the phone several times and planned to meet in Seattle on Dec. 13. The two never met because Ressam was arrested.

The jury also didn’t get to hear what Meskini said he was told by Haouari that Ressam had said upon hearing that Meskini agreed to help him in Seattle.

Ressam, according to Baker, told their alleged go-between, Haouari, that Meskini “will have a great blessing” in the Islamic cause because of his health.

Baker said that remark, coupled with Haouari’s alleged comment that “the fire is on and it’s coming” had led Meskini to believe “that there is going to be a violent act” involving Ressam.

Far more time Thursday was spent on Meskini’s reliability as a witness, including his admitted penchant for lying--especially to authorities--to get himself out of trouble.

In more than an hour of blistering cross-examination, Ressam’s lawyer questioned Meskini’s credibility, raising the issue of whether he was making up information as a way of winning a lesser sentence.

“Everything you know about [Ressam] was told to you by Mr. Haouari, a criminal who specializes in crimes of dishonesty--your specialty also,” Hillier told Meskini. “You knew your own legal ship was sinking and your only option was to cooperate.”