October 23, 2007	Tuesday	Shawwal 10, 1428

WASHINGTON, Oct 22: Jurors in Dallas, Texas, found three former leaders of America’s largest Muslim charity not guilty of funnelling illegal aid to terrorists, US media reported on Monday.

The panel, however, was sent back to deliberate on the other defendants after three jurors said the verdicts read in court were wrong. Because of the confusion, the judge has not officially accepted those verdicts, which acquitted Mohammed El-Mezain of the Holy Land Foundation for Relief and Development on all counts.

Two other defendants, Abdulrahman Odeh and Mufid Abdulqader were acquitted on most counts. Jurors were deliberating again on charges against the Foundation as well as former chief executive Shukri Abu Baker and former chairman Ghassan Elashi.

When jurors came into the courtroom earlier on Monday, the judge read the verdicts, but three jurors said those findings were not correct. US District Judge A. Joe Fish sent then back to resolve the differences. The jury forewoman told reporters she was surprised by the three jurors’ actions. “When we voted, there was no issue in the vote,” she said. “No one spoke up any different. I really don’t understand where it is coming from. All 12 made that decision.”

In December 2001, the US Department of the Treasury designated Holy Land Foundation as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist. In the year 2000 alone, HLF raised over $13 million. The US Department of Treasury claims that HLF had supported Hamas activities through direct fund transfers to its offices in the West Bank and Gaza that are affiliated with Hamas and transfers of funds to zakat committees and other charitable organisations that are part of Hamas or controlled by Hamas members.

The Department of Treasury also reported that HLF funds were used by Hamas to support schools that served Hamas ends by encouraging children to become suicide bombers and to recruit suicide bombers by offering support to their families.

On July 27, 2004, a federal grand jury in Dallas, Texas, returned a 42 count indictment against the HLF. Charges include: conspiracy, providing material support to a foreign terrorist organisation, tax evasion and money laundering.

The indictment alleges that the foundation provided more than $12.4 million to individuals and organisations linked to Hamas from 1995 to 2001, when their asset were frozen. The foundation denies all charges. It claims that the FBI falsified evidence and “fabricated a case” against it in an effort to show that it financed Palestinian suicide-bombers.

Evidence against HLF includes transcripts of conversations that were taped through the use of warrant-less wiretapping.

The foundation contends that in the taping of their communications, FBI translators made gross errors, turning what were otherwise unimportant conversations into something more ominous.