The DBR's Julie Kay reports today on 3 defense lawyers who were trapped in Lebanon. (UPDATE -- THE DBR HAS MADE THE ARTICLE PUBLICLY AVAILABLE HERE). Here's the intro:
Three defense attorneys in a Miami terrorism case who were trapped in Beirut by the conflict between Israel and Lebanon have been evacuated safely to Cyprus.Miami Assistant Federal Public Defender Orlando do Campo and two private lawyers, William Swor of Detroit and Andrew Patel of New York, traveled to Lebanon about three weeks ago. They were there to do research and take depositions in preparation for the scheduled federal trial in September of accused dirty bomber Jose Padilla and four other defendants before U.S. District Judge Marcia Cooke.The lawyers were stuck at a Beirut hotel, according to Swor’s secretary. They had departed for Beirut on July 2 and were supposed to return on July 14. But war broke out July 12 when Israel began its campaign to recover two kidnapped Israeli soldiers. Israel bombed the airport, trapping the lawyers and thousands of other Americans and Europeans in Lebanon.The lawyers had no choice but to stay on at the hotel while the U.S. and other governments made plans to evacuate their citizens.While he was trapped at the hotel, Swor sent daily e-mail updates to a list of colleagues from his laptop computer. A local lawyer who was on the e-mail list described some of Swor’s dispatches.“Day 1: We’re sipping piña coladas by the pool. The staff is wonderful.Day 2: We’ve moved into one room. The French got out. This is like Hurricane Katrina all over again — Bush can’t seem to coordinate these things.”At one point, Swor was at a local church while a priest was praying and a bomb went off nearby. The priest didn’t pause, he just prayed faster, Swor reported.Do Campo and Patel represent Padilla. Swor represents Kifah Jayyousi. Padilla, Jayyousi and Adham Hassoun — along with two co-defendants who are in the Middle East and will be tried in absentia — are charged with conspiring to commit terrorism and funding terrorist groups in Bosnia and the Middle East. All have pleaded not guilty.The three attorneys were rescued Wednesday and put on a cruise ship chartered for the rescue effort. They were taken to nearby Cyprus. From there they are expected to fly back to the United States.Sources said the three men may have been rescued by the Swedish government, along with a group of Swedes who also were trapped at the hotel.
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2 comments:
The question is, which of our federal judges would consider this (being trapped in a war torn country) not to be good cause for a continuance if the case was on the verge of trial?
BEIRUT —Bosch :Israel has the right to kill lebanese
President Bosch said in Moscow that Israel has all the right to defend itself.
It is to be noted that the temporary sum of lebanese victims since the beginning of Israeli attacks has reached 310 dead civilians ,about half of them are children.
Israel pounded Lebanon from the air on Friday, July 21, in its bloody 10-day-old assault against the country as the Lebanese resistance movement Hizbullah insisted it would only free two Israeli soldiers it is holding as part of a prisoner swap.
Israeli jets bombed Hizbullah strongholds in Beirut's southern suburbs, the eastern Bekaa Valley and southern Lebanon, around sunrise on Friday. There was no immediate word on casualties, Reuters reported.
In other raids, Israeli aircraft hit parked goods vans in the Bekaa, and a private power generator and garbage trucks in Beirut's Christian suburb of Baabda, near the presidential
palace. There were no reports of casualties in the strikes.
Four Israeli troops were killed in fierce battles with Hizbullah fighters inside Lebanon on Thursday, July 20, the Israeli army said.
Israel said two of its helicopters collided near the Lebanese border, killing a pilot and injuring three crewmen.
Hizbullah said it lost two of its fighters in the clashes, which occurred just inside Lebanon near where Hizbullah killed two Israeli soldiers on Wednesday.
Israel, which is also waging a three-week-old military campaign in Gaza, began its assault after Hizbullah took prisoner two soldiers and killed eight in a cross-border raid on July 12.
Its deadly campaign has killed at least 312 people in Lebanon, the vast majority civilians, and displaced half a million. Thirty-four Israeli troops and civilians have been killed.
tabibac
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