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| Two Detroit men charged as Saddam Hussein's spies |
| 2007-04-18 |
| Two Detroit-area men have been charged with spying for Saddam Hussein’s intelligence service, supplying the executed dictator’s regime with information about its enemies in the United States, according to federal court documents unsealed today. Ghazi Al-Awadi, 78, of Dearborn, allegedly told the Iraqi Intelligence Service in 1997 that he killed his son-in-law because the man belonged to an anti-Hussein political party, court documents said. Najib Shemami, 59, of Sterling Heights, allegedly provided Iraqi intelligence with information about Iraqi expatriates who might be called upon to guide U.S. troops during the invasion of Iraq and potential political candidates for the new government. The charges were based on Iraqi intelligence documents captured by U.S. forces in Iraq. The men are believed to be the first Detroit-area residents to be charged on the basis of such documents, which were authenticated by former members of the Iraqi Intelligence Service. On Monday, a federal jury in Chicago convicted Sami Latchin, 59, of Des Plaines, Ill., of working as an Iraqi sleeper agent, spying on Iraqi dissidents in the United States. He is facing a possible 40-year prison sentence. Al-Awadi’s lawyer, Deputy Federal Defender Richard Helfrick, declined to comment. Shemami’s lawyer, Juan Mateo of Detroit, said: “I’ve known the family for many years now. They are a hardworking Chaldean family that, in my opinion, would never do anything to hurt the United States.” Both men are charged with conspiring to act as agents of a foreign government without the approval of the attorney general, and acting as an agent for a foreign government. Shemami also is charged with violating the U.S. International Emergency Powers Act and making false statements to the FBI. The most serious charge against Shemami, violating the emergency powers act, carries a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine. The most serious charge against Al-Awadi, acting as a foreign agent, carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine. U.S. Magistrate Judge Donald Scheer freed both men on $10,000 bonds following brief appearances Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Detroit. He ordered both men to surrender their passports. Both men are U.S. citizens. Shemami is married, has nine children, has lived in the United States for about 40 years and is disabled, Mateo said. Al-Awadi, who lives alone in an apartment and appeared frail and hard of hearing during today's court hearing, has been in the United States since 1974, court records said. He has seven children and lives on Social Security. In 1996, he was paroled from the Michigan Department of Corrections after serving six years of a 5-to-15-year sentence for manslaughter in the stabbing of his son-in-law, Imad Muttar, in Dearborn. The captured documents said Al-Awadi, code named Ghassan, met with Iraqi officials in 1997, offered to cooperate and said he had killed his son-in-law for belonging to the Al-Da’wa Party in the United States. The documents said he provided information about a retired Iraqi physician who was planning to flee to the United States and his nephew, a major general in Iraq, who allegedly was put under surveillance as a result of Al-Awadi’s information. When the FBI interview him in 2006, he denied working as an Iraqi agent, court documents said, adding that he had gone overseas in 1997, 2001 and 2002 to visit family members. |
| Posted by:trailing wife |
| #8 Hey Levin...Nice work. Thanks. (at) |
| Posted by: Asymmetrical T 2007-04-18 23:30 |
| #7 How many passports did they surrender? Do they have any left? All the Paki ones they gave back. But they got to keep the Syrian ones. |
| Posted by: eLarson 2007-04-18 17:57 |
| #6 they will stick around, if only to collect their dole. or until they can set up a private post office box that will then forward the checks. |
| Posted by: USN, Ret. 2007-04-18 14:24 |
| #5 They forgot the "Stasi" factor... |
| Posted by: mojo 2007-04-18 14:14 |
| #4 I believe Detroit has a record of handling those who rat on the mob. The titles of the parties may have changed, but the outcome will probably be the same. |
| Posted by: Procopius2k 2007-04-18 13:09 |
| #3 They are gone. Faded into the INS freezone of Dearbornistan. |
| Posted by: Icerigger 2007-04-18 08:52 |
| #2 How many passports did they surrender? Do they have any left? |
| Posted by: Jackal 2007-04-18 08:29 |
| #1 U.S. Magistrate Judge Donald Scheer freed both men on $10,000 bonds following brief appearances Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Detroit. He ordered both men to surrender their passports. Absolutely apalling, unspeakably harsh treatment for such outstanding, |
| Posted by: Besoeker 2007-04-18 04:13 |