dictionary

Haouari

By Phil Hirschkorn
CNN Producer

NEW YORK (CNN) -- A federal jury of nine women and three men has asked the judge to clarify the central question as it deliberates the case against Mokhtar Haouari, an Algerian-born Montreal shopkeeper who is accused of aiding a plot to bomb Los Angeles International Airport around New Year's 2000.

Hours after beginning its deliberations Thursday morning, the jury sent a note asking U.S. District Court Judge John Keenan what direct knowledge of terrorism is required to find Haouari guilty.

Haouari, 32, is charged with two counts of assisting fellow Algerian national Ahmed Ressam, 34, in a plan to detonate a suitcase bomb at the Los Angeles airport.

Ressam, who testified as a government witness in a deal to shorten the jail sentence from his April conviction, said he never explicitly told Haouari the purpose of his trip to the United States, but described it as "important and dangerous business."

MORE STORIES Training camp links millennium, embassy bombers

Prosecutors say Haouari conspired to provide material support to terrorists by loaning Ressam roughly $2,000 ($3,000 Canadian) and making him a fake Canadian driver's license under the alias "Mario Roig." They also said Haouari made Ressam a fake Algerian passport so he could flee after the bombing.

Prosecutors say Haouari aided and abetted the plot by arranging for an Algerian friend, Abdelghani Meskini, 33, to personally assist Ressam upon his arrival in Seattle. Meskini fit Ressam's specifications as someone who spoke English, could drive a car, and was not well known in the Muslim community, according to testimony.

LEGAL RESOURCES Latest Legal News Law Library FindLaw Consumer Center Select a topic Bankruptcy Discrimination Divorce Estate Planning Landlord-Tenant Personal Injury Taxes

Ressam said Haouari knew he had undergone explosives and weapons training in 1998 at Islamic militant camps inside Afghanistan. Meskini said he told Haouari he wanted to go to the camps, too, which is why Haouari recommended him to Ressam.

Both Ressam and Meskini said they discussed "jihad" with Haouari and shared the view that the United States was "the biggest enemy of Islam."

The millennium bomb plot fell apart on December 14, 1999, when Ressam, trying to cross the border by ferry from Canada, was arrested after he fled a routine inspection at a U.S. entry point in Washington state. Agents found explosive materials and homemade timing devices in the trunk of his rented sedan.

Neither Ressam nor the government had publicly disclosed the target of the New Year's 2000 bomb plot until this trial. The city of Seattle -- where Ressam had hotel reservations -- canceled its New Year's Eve celebration as a result of his arrest.

In response to their questions, Keenan told jurors they could not convict Haouari of terrorism conspiracy merely "by association" with Ressam but only if he acted "knowing or intending that his support or resources were to be used in the preparation for or in the carrying out of the terrorist act or the concealment or escape from that act."

Keenan told jurors Haouari, to be found guilty, did not need to have known what building or property was targeted; he didn't. But Keenan said they could consider if he "consciously avoided" confirming certain facts about the plot. A "high probability" that the defendant was aware of Ressam's goals could constitute knowledge of terrorism, Keenan said.

Meskini, who like Ressam testified under a cooperation agreement with the government to reduce his sentence, said he and Haouari had engaged in a string of credit card and counterfeit check schemes. Haouari also trafficked in fake and stolen passport and identification cards, according to government evidence.

In addition to two terrorism counts, Haouari is charged with four counts of committing fraud with documents and credit card devices. If convicted on all six counts, Haouari faces a maximum of 95 years in prison.

Ressam faced a maximum 130-year sentence after his conviction; because of his cooperation he could now receive as little as 27 years in prison.

Meskini, a Brooklyn resident and originally Haouari's codefendant, pleaded guilty in March. He also testified against Ressam.

The case went to the jury at the U.S. District Courthouse for the Southern District of New York, in lower Manhattan, after one day of jury selection and an eight-day trial. Jurors heard closing arguments and instructions from the judge Wednesday.

Deliberations are scheduled to resume Friday at 9:30 a.m. ET.