Bomb suspects may
claim entrapment
NATIONAL
N K W
YORK (AI’)
— Was llit*
Kill's inside
man an
a H »* n I
provocateur? Entrapment is a
sli*niti*r ri***ti for most defendants,
but it may !*• the only one avail
able to those ( harmed with plot
ting .1 bombing campaign in New
York
"Wore these people doing
nothing more than sitting around
exc hanging invoi live about the
Ureat Satan? Did the agent provo
i ateur provide the opportumtv.
the means or even the inspira
tion' You try to put him on trial
for his crimes against the defen
dants — turn the trial on its
head," suggested David Lewis,
a New York defense lawyer.
“That looks like the first
defense. And frankly, it the\
caught these guys mixing the
chemicals, there is no second
defense other than insanity
The lawyers representing those
ac i used of scheming to bomb the
United Nations, the FBI's local
headquarters and two commuter
tunnels have yet to reveal a
defense strategy But legal experts
say the attorneys probably will
tr\ to show that the government
informer, Emad Salem, tried to
incite criminal behavior toward
whic h the suspects were not pre
disposed.
Salem, 43. is a former Egyptian
military offic er who was close to
Sheik Omar Ahdel-Kahman.
whose incendiary preaching
apparently appealed to some or
ail of those accused in February's
World Trade Center Iximhing and
in the second alleged bomb plot.
Salem now is believed to he in
a federal witness protection pro
gram.
Investigators say the plot's
alleged mastermind, Siddig
Ibrahim Siddig All. gave Salem
$300 to rent the hideout where
agents arrested the conspirators
last week as they allegedly were
mixing bomb ingredients.
Salem also was said to have
helped Siddig test a bomb deto
nator. buy guns, get explosives
and conduct a test explosion in
a remote sec tion of Connecticut
William Kunstler. who repre
sents Siddig. called Salem “u
thief and a UMl man" and says the
FBI hired him to he an agent
provocateur
M T Mehdi, n spokesman for
the A rah-A merit an community,
has < ailed Salem a traitor who
lured others into the plot 'He's
at ting ns a fireman who puts a lit
tie hush fire in a nearhv wore
house and goes to pot it out. and
thereby appears as a hero ”
The government's r ase could
hinge on the distinction lietween
an informer, the investigator s
greatest asset, and an agunt provo
cateur. the prosecutor s vsorsl lia
bility
A provocateur says. Let's
blow up the Statue of Liberty!'';
a mere informer sticks to an
appropriately enthusiast!! Kiglit
on!"
A provix ateur uses his spin i.il
expertise or set ret motivation to
perform a task beyond the i a pm
ity or im tination of the other i on
spirntors, an informer goes along
with routine errands or tasks th.it
could he done by any other con
spirator
Although entrapment is a com
mon defense cry. it usually isn't
sui i essful. most nart otic s i on
victions are obtained with testi
mony of those who were in on
the drug deal
In the bomb plot case, the gov
ernment can negate the entrap
ment defense "just by showing
the defendants had a predisposi
tion (to commit the crime), and
it doesn't look as if that would lie
too difficult." said William
Greenhalgh. a Georgetown Uni
versity law professor
Last year the entrapment
defense got a boost when the U S
Supreme Court threw out the
conviction of a Nebraska fanner
whom postal agents had coaxed
for more than two years to buy
mail order pornography
The man lacked a predisposi
tion to commit a crime, and pur
chased the kiddie porn only after
prolonged solicitation by the gov
ernment, the court said As such,
he was denied due process of
law
Hut the facts of the i ase were
so extreme, and the wording of
the mu(ority opinion so cautious,
that federal law enforcers are pro
ceeding as if nothing has
i hanged. Greenhalgh said
The weakness of many con
spiracy cases is that talk is not a
crime.
Hoppin’ good time
»"*0*0!>> «'•
Danielle Schneider and her taster dad Andy Papendieck meet a kangaroo Sunday
afternoon at the annual Eugene Childrens Services Picnic for foster families
House votes to kill selective service
WASHINGTON (AIM I'he
!I(nj>i»* voted Monday to kill the
Seim live Service System that
registers lH-vear-olds for the
draft, despite warnings that
scrapping it would hurt the
nation's ability to prepare in
case of war
The House voted. 207-20Z.
not to restore $20 million for the
program, which had been
stripped out of a spending hill
by the House Appropriations
( ommiltm*
Under Monday "s action, only
$5 million would remain, with
that money direc tod for closing
down the system at the end of
this year However, the Senate
has not taken up the bill and
could still restore the money.
The system keeps computer
ized data on tH- to 25-year-olds
in case the nation needs to
mobilize its fortes quickly
As the only superpower loft in
the world and amid wide scale
defense cuts, the United States
no longer needs to go through
the motions of registering young
men. said opponents of Selec
tive Service.
"What a waste," said Rep.
Peter DeFazio. U-Ore. "lad’s end
this farce The Cold War's over
lad's spend the money on some
thing useful
Hut supporters argued ii was a
w.iv for the nation t<> prole< t
Itself
"It's t ertainly an insurance
policy o( wltat i mild happen to
us,'' said Kep. Sonny Mont
gomery, I) Miss
"This world is i ro/\ out
there." Montgomery said, noting
that just over the weekend the
United States lauiu hed a mis
silt* attack against Iraq
Still, opponents of the system
said America, with its all-volun
teer force, wouldn't need to over
draft young men again
"No one would buy an insur
ance policy for u non-existent
threat," Deh'a/io said
Kep Uerald Solomon. R-N.V..
sponsored the amendment to
put the $J() million hack in. At
one point, he interrupted one of
the opponents who was arguing
that America didn't need to reg
ister potential soldiers anymore
"What if you're wrong and
I'm right? There's no more
America." Solomon said
President Clinton requested
million to continue the
Selective Service, about the
same level of funding it's getting
this year
Officials at the Selective Ser
‘Let’s end this farce.
The Cold War’s over.
Let’s spend the
money on
something useful.’
Rep Peter DeFa/io.
DOff
viii’ headquarters in Washing
(un declined louimunl. saying
I titty < ouldn't discuss mutters
pending before (Congress
I'liii government ended the
draft in I>I7.‘I, vvliitn tin) nation
wont to an all-volunteer fori e
I wo years later then President
Kurd ended the registration
requirement.
Hut over the next lew years,
with the Soviet invasion of
Afghanistan and the Iranian
hostage i risis, the government
dix idod it needed to he mobilize
quickly.
f ormer President Carter rein
stated tlie registration in IfiHO,
and sini.e then the servil e lias
Ini111 up its computer system
There are about 1-t million
young men's names on file now
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