A Yemeni national extradited from Germany to the US in 2003 has been sentenced to 45 years in prison and fined $750,000 for conspiring to support and fund al-Qaida and Hamas. Muhammad Zayed, 32, was convicted by a federal jury on 10 March of conspiring to provide material support and resources to prescribed organisations in the US. At a sentencing hearing in Brooklyn federal court on Thursday, he was given a 15-year sentence and a $250,000 fine for each of three counts. His sentences are to be served consecutively.His colleague Shaikh Muhammad al-Moayyad was sentenced in July to 75 years and fined $1.25 million in the same case. For each of five counts, the shaikh received 15-year sentences, each to be served consecutively.
Before sentencing, Zayed told the court: "I have never supported in any one day or time any terrorist organisation whether it be moral support or financial support. I am swearing by God, I do not believe in terrorism. I do not believe in causing trouble or damage to anyone." However, four days of videotaped meetings between the defendants and FBI undercover agents in a Frankfurt hotel in January 2003 formed the crux of the government's case. In one meeting they were recorded promising more than $2 million to Hamas, the Palestinian resistance to occupation organisation.
| I actually feel kind of sorry for poor Zayed — not enough to go bail for him, of course, but a certain amount of sympathy. From what I've read, he's just Moayyad's gofer and probably joy boy. I guess being a minion carries its own set of risks. |