Chicago federal jury acquits 2 men of laundering money for Hamas

Two men accused of furnishing money and fresh recruits to the militant Palestinian group Hamas were acquitted Thursday of racketeering but convicted on lesser charges.

The two men beamed broadly at the split verdict, and defense attorneys declared victory in the three-month trial that the government had described as a major component in its war on terrorism.

"We are not terrorists," former grocer Muhammad Salah said as he left the courthouse. "I feel good. I thank God, and I hope justice will prevail."

Salah, 53, of suburban Bridgeview, and Abdelhaleem Ashqar, 48, a onetime assistant business professor at Howard University in Washington, had been accused of laundering money for Hamas terrorists fighting to topple the Israeli government.

Defense attorneys portrayed the men as freedom fighters, comparing them to Nelson Mandela, Malcolm X and the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.

Salah and Ashqar, of Springfield, Va., have always denied belonging to Hamas. But they have made no secret of their dislike of the Israeli occupation of the West Bank and Gaza.

Salah was convicted of obstruction of justice for providing false answers to questions in a civil lawsuit filed by parents of an American teenager who was shot and killed by Hamas terrorists at an Israeli bus stop.

Ashqar was convicted of obstruction of justice and criminal contempt for refusing to testify before a federal grand jury after receiving immunity from prosecution for anything that he might have revealed.

The jury delivered the verdict amid heavy security in the courtroom after deliberating for 14 days. "We've convicted them - it's hard to say that we're disappointed," First Assistant U.S. Attorney Gary Shapiro said.

Defense attorneys said they hoped to have the convictions reversed on appeal but added that, at worst, the men would likely serve relatively short sentences.

"It is very hard for an American jury to find people guilty if they're fighting for their rights," said William Moffitt, Ashqar's attorney.

Also charged in the case is Abu Mousa Marzook, described as a fugitive living in Damascus, Syria, and one of the top leaders of Hamas. Prosecutors said it was Marzook who sent Salah on his mission to Israel and supplied him with money to give to Hamas leaders.

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