Dutch Citizen Faces Terror Charges in U.S.

Dutch Citizen Faces Terror Charges in U.S.

By Lara Jakes Jordan
Associated Press Writer
January 29, 2007

CBNNews.com - WASHINGTON - An Iraqi-born Dutch citizen is facing terror charges in what the Justice Department calls the United States' first criminal prosecution of attacks targeting Americans in Iraq.

Wesam al-Delaema, 33, is scheduled to be in federal court in Washington on Monday to face terrorism conspiracy charges, Justice spokesman Dean Boyd said. Al-Delaema, who was extradited from the Netherlands over the weekend, will become the first suspect tried in a U.S. court for alleged terrorism in Iraq's bloody insurgency.

The Justice Department said he was part of a group calling themselves the "Mujahideen from Fallujah," which hid explosives on a road.

Netherlands officials said he is also charged with possession of explosives. If convicted, he faces a maximum sentence of life in prison.

Al-Delaema claims he is innocent, and his lawyers have argued that the U.S. does not have the right to try him.

Evidence against him includes a videotape he filmed of a group called "Warriors of Fallujah" preparing a roadside bomb, which was widely shown on Arabic TV stations.

The tape was seized by police who raided al-Delaema's house in the Dutch city of Amersfoort in May 2005, following a tip from U.S. authorities.

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