Intel worker charged with terrorism offences

29 Apr 2003 15:13

An Intel engineer has been accused by the US government of supporting terrorist organisations - but his friends and family have called the charges 'absurd'

The Justice Department has charged Intel engineer Mike Hawash, who has been held in solitary confinement since 20 March, with conspiracy to levy war against America and of supporting terrorist organisations.

In a 41-page document made public late on Monday, the US government asserts that Hawash travelled to China in the company of suspected terrorists and attempted to enter Afghanistan to fight for the Taliban against the United States in October 2001.

Hawash, who was born in 1964 in Nablus, which was then under Jordanian control, is a naturalised US citizen. He lives in Oregon, with his wife and three children.

The affidavit, prepared by an Oregon state trooper, attempts to tie Maher "Mike" Mofeid Hawash, 38, to a group of six Portland, Oregon, residents arrested on terrorism charges last year. It alleges that Hawash travelled to China at the same time they did and shared a guest house room. It also includes reports from anonymous neighbors saying that Hawash acted more "eastern" and grew a beard after the 11 September, 2001, terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon.

An arraignment in open court, at which time Hawash will be able to plead guilty or not guilty, is scheduled for Tuesday morning in US District Court in Portland. Prosecutors and defence lawyers are under a gag order imposed by US District Judge Robert Jones.

After Hawash was arrested and detained for weeks without charges filed against him, his case became something of a cause celebre online. His friends and former boss at Intel set up a Web site and stated in response to the criminal charges: "Mike's friends and those who know him think the idea that Mike would have fought for the Taliban or travelled to Afghanistan is absurd. Mike's concerns were for his family in America, his family in Palestine, and for his faith." A protest is scheduled for Tuesday morning outside the courthouse where his arraignment will take place.

As a lead engineer on Intel's Multimedia Extensions, or MMX, software team, Hawash worked on the MMX technology emulator and MPEG decoders. In 1998, Addison-Wesley published a book co-authored by Hawash and titled "DirectX, RDX, RSX and MMX Technology: A Jumpstart Guide to High Performance APIs."

Until criminal charges were filed on Monday, Hawash was held as a "material witness" under a 1984 law that has been used to detain terrorist suspects without the need for prosecutors to charge them with a crime. A Washington Post investigation last autumn said the Justice Department has imprisoned at least 44 people, including seven US citizens, under the same law, with some held for many months and possibly over a year.

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