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Taliban-Linked Former Sailor Convicted of Spying

A Connecticut federal jury has convicted a former Navy sailor on charges of espionage and providing support to a terrorist group that works with the Taliban.

Hassan Abu-Jihaad, previously known as Paul R. Hall, 32, was convicted in the U.S. District Court for the District of Connecticut following a trial before Judge Mark R. Kravitz.

U.S. Attorney Kevin J. O'Connor said the defendant was found guilty of spying and disclosing classified national defense information to a United Kingdom-based terrorist group associated with the Taliban.

Prosecutors said Abu-Jihaad had access to classified information while he was a Navy signalman aboard the destroyer USS Benfold between 1998 and early 2002.

The charges, filed last March, alleged that Abu-Jihaad was in frequent contact with a London-based group called Azzam Publications, which recruits terrorists and provides support for terrorism through Web sites and e-mail.

According to prosecutors, between late 2000 and late 2001 Abu-Jihaad frequently e-mailed members of Azzam Publications to discuss his orders for videotapes depicting "violent jihad" and a monetary donation he had made to the group.

Abu-Jihaad and members of Azzam Publications also discussed Osama bin Laden and the October 2000 terrorist attack on the USS Cole, according to the indictment.

Prosecutors also alleged that in March and April 2001 Abu-Jihaad gave Azzam Publications classified Navy information about the USS Benfold's mission as part of a battle group heading from San Diego to the Persian Gulf.

The government claimed the defendant gave the terrorist organization an analysis of the Navy battle group's supposed vulnerability to a terrorist attack while moving through the Straits of Hormuz in the Persian Gulf.

Prosecutors said British law enforcement agents raided a home belonging to an Azzam Publications member in December 2003 and found a computer disk that contained information about the USS Benfold and the battle group.

The agents also discovered Abu-Jihaad's Navy e-mail address in an Azzam Publications online address book, according to the indictment.

The charges against Abu-Jihaad stemmed from a subsequent investigation by federal agents in the United States.

Judge Kravitz will sentence Abu-Jihaad May 23. He faces up to 25 years in prison.

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