April 2, 2004

Publisher sentenced to 3-plus years

This is interesting - from the Boston Globe bq. A suburban Chicago newspaper publisher convicted of spying on Iraqi dissidents for Saddam Hussein was sentenced Wednesday to three years and 10 months in federal prison. bq. Khaled Abdel-Latif Dumeisi, 61, is expected to be deported after he finishes his prison term. bq. U.S. District Judge Suzanne B. Conlon also said he may not re-enter the United States without permission from the attorney general. bq. Dumeisi was convicted of failing to register as a foreign agent, conspiring to fail to register, lying to a federal grand jury and lying to an immigration agent. He was not convicted of espionage, which involves theft of defense secrets, nor was there any allegation the case involved terrorism. bq. "I don't think anyone at the trial would conclude that Mr. Dumeisi was a sophisticated spy," the judge said, characterizing his offense as more like fraud. bq. Witnesses said Dumeisi spied on Iraqi dissidents living in the United States who were opposed to Saddam's regime and that he forwarded his information to Iraqi intelligence agents who worked at that country's U.N. mission under the guise of diplomats. Makes you wonder how many people like Dumeisi are out there in the woodwork - people who used to be supportive of Saddam and who went to ground after his capture but are still anti-US, pro Baath... Posted by DaveH at April 2, 2004 4:50 PM