Agence France Presse  --  Arab News

BOISE, Idaho, 30 April 2004 — A US federal judge has questioned government evidence that Saudi national Sami Omar Al-Hussayen called for terrorist acts against the United States and ordered both prosecution and defense to expedite the trial, according to a transcript released Wednesday.

Hussayen, a University of Idaho graduate student, was arrested in Idaho in February 2003 on charges of visa violation and has been in custody since.

Last January, he was charged by federal prosecutors with distributing funds to terrorist groups and for seeking to recruit potential terror operatives.

Since Hussayen’s trial began earlier this month, US District Judge Edward Lodge has thrown out some of the government’s evidence linking the defendant to the Michigan-based charity group Islamic Assembly of North America, and this week put government prosecutors on notice to back up their claims.

“When you make broad assertions to this court, make sure you know what you’re talking about,” Lodge said. “Maybe we can move this case along.”

Lodge has warned the government he will dismiss the case unless prosecutors clearly link Hussayen to the terrorist content they say he was responsible for on two Internet sites.

Hussayen’s computer and its files are central to the government’s case.

According to the indictment, Hussayen created two Internet sites calling for “violent jihad” in Israel and Chechnya, and e-mails sent through the sites included appeals to Muslims in the United States and Europe to identify US targets in the Middle East.

The Saudi national was a graduate student at several US universities for over nine years and was working toward a PhD in computer security. His trial is expected to last six more weeks.