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– NAJI HAMDAN’S CONFESSION WAS ‘UNDER DURESS’

 

 

* Naji  Hamdan, was born in Lebanon in 1966 to a Muslim familly. He moved to USA in 1986 and lived in Los Angeles, United States, for 20 years, where he ran a car parts business. He is a USA citizen and a father of three children. Naji  Hamdan has been very active in the Southern California Muslim community and was a well-respected local leader. In 2006 Naji Hamdan moved to the UAE  while his family settled in Lebanon. 

 

In 2007, while travelling in the United States for professional reasons, he was placed under close surveillance by the  FBI. He was repeatedly summoned by the federal agency and interrogated about his work and his travels to the Lebanon and the United Arab Emirates – UAE.

 

In 01/2008, while travelling from Dubai to Lebanon, he was arrested at Beirut airport and held for 4 days by Lebanese intelligence services. He said he was submitted to torture and ill-treatment and was interrogated about his travel and work. His eldest son Khaled, 16, was also arrested.

 

Naji  Hamdan was detained in UAE, on 08/29/2008, following a specific request from the FBI is charged in the UAE with supporting terrorism and belonging to Iraqi militant group Ansar al-Sunna, an offshoot of Ansar al Islam. his interrogation, which he claimed included severe torture, appears to have been done with participation of U.S. federal officials.

 

At the beginning of August 2008, FBI agents contacted him by telephone and asked him to come to the Embassy of the United States in Abu Dhabi. He was again questioned at length by two U.S. officials.

 

According to the UAE public prosecutors Naji  Hamdan, while living in the USA, Haji Hamdan donated US $2,000 to an unnamed . This is alleged to have financed the firing of two rockets on Israel.

 

On 11/26/2008, one week after his brother and wife filed a lawsuit against United States officials in a Washington, D.C. court seeking his release, Naji  Hamdan was transferred from U.A.E. State Security custody to the Al Wathba prison in Abu Dhabi.

 

The charges carry a penalty of 10 to 15 years in jail followed by deportation. A verdict is due on 10/12/2009.

 

Naji  Hamdan’s attorney, Abdel-Qadir al-Haithami, said all the evidence against his client relied on “testimony which was given under duress”.
Naji  Hamdan was sentenced, on Monday 10/12/2009, to 18 months in jail and could be freed soon because the sentence takes account of time served. 
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* Related topics –  
PROFILE -RABIH  HADDAD  
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