A man who authorities say admitted to attending a training camp in Afghanistan at the same time Usama bin Laden was there appeared in court Monday to hear charges that he conspired with the terror network Al Qaeda. Mohammed Warsame answered "Yes" when the chief magistrate judge asked him if he understood the charges against him. A federal grand jury last month indicted Warsame on conspiracy to provide material support to Al Qaeda. FBI agents arrested Warsame in December on a material witness warrant issued in New York.
The indictment alleges Warsame, 30, conspired to provide material support and resources to Al Qaeda from March 2000 until Dec. 8. Neither the indictment nor the affidavit reveal any other details about the alleged conspiracy, and the prosecutor declined to comment. Warsame, a Canadian citizen of Somali descent who lives in Minneapolis, was represented in court Monday by Dan Scott, the chief federal public defender in Minnesota. The two were not allowed to speak to each other, and Scott told the court he was upset by restrictions he said Attorney General John Ashcroft was trying to set before Warsame could be seen by any attorney. Scott said the conditions include who in Scott’s office can speak to Warsame, who can be present during discussions with him and what use can be made of information resulting from discussions. "They want me to agree to restrain his rights," Scott said after the hearing. "I won’t do it." Prosecutor Michael Ward said he and Scott should be able to reach a compromise so Scott and Warsame can see each other. The restrictions, he said, mainly deal with third-party messages that could be relayed by a family member or an attorney to a defendant. He said the conditions should not interfere with an attorney’s ability to prepare a case. Chief Magistrate Judge Franklin Noel set Warsame’s arraignment for next Monday. The same hearing will also be used to determine whether Warsame should continue to be detained. |