The radical sermons of al-Qaeda propagandist Anwar al-Awlaki helped radicalise an American student setting him on a course that took him to Pakistan where he built a bomb designed to destroy a US military base in Afghanistan, according to prosecutors at the trial of Muhanad Mahmoud al-Farekh.
They summed up their case on Tuesday in a federal courthouse in Brooklyn, New York, saying two weeks of evidence should leave the jury in no doubt of the defendant’s guilt.
Farekh, 31, who was born in Houston and raised in Dubai, was captured by Pakistani security forces in 2014.
He has pleaded not guilty to nine charges, including conspiracy to murder American nationals, providing material support to al-Qaeda and conspiracy to use weapons of mass destruction.
His defence contends that he is the victim of American government “speculation, fear and politics”, and of a prosecution that “backfilled” the glaring gaps in its case only after he had spent months in Pakistani captivity.
________________
Read more
American Al Qaeda suspect 'plotted attacks against the West'
Trial set to open of American-born Al Qaeda suspect from Dubai
________________
The jury is expected to retire to begin considering its verdict on Wednesday.
The defendant’s father briefly interrupted proceedings on Tuesday as he called out to ask the judge for permission to meet his son.
“Can I meet Muhanad,” he shouted as the jury was being led out. “I’m 66 years old.”
He was silenced quickly by Judge Brian Cogan before he could continue.
The prosecution case rests on what it says are 18 sets of fingerprints found on a giant car bomb that failed to explode during an attack on an American military base.
In his closing statement on Tuesday, Douglas Pravda, US assistant attorney, said there was only one explanation for all the evidence.
“The abrupt departure from Canada in 2007, the radicalisation that led him to travel to Pakistan.
“His fingerprints on the bomb... and DNA evidence,” as well as the handwriting on a letter mentioning al-Qaeda and discussion life in Pakistan’s militant haven of North Waziristan, he said.
“There’s only one conclusion that you can draw, that Muhanad al-Farekh joined terrorists, that Muhanad al-Farekh provided material support to terrorists, that Muhanad al-Farekk tried to kill Americans.”
According to the prosecution, two bombs were loaded on to vehicles for an attack on Forward Operating Base Chapman in Afghanistan in 2009. The first exploded as it reached the gate but a second, bigger device was never detonated.
Investigators described during the trial how they painstakingly unravelled packing tape wrapped around 7500lb of explosives.
They said they found fingerprints that matched Farekh’s and, stuck to the tape’s adhesive, a hair dyed orange in the same style as that favoured by the defendant at the time.
The trial also heard how Farekh became interested in the teachings of Awlaki while he was a student at the University of Manitoba.
A witness who knew the defendant at the time and travelled with Farekh to Saudi Arabia for Haj said he was disturbed to discover his friend absorbed in the teachings of the radical cleric.
“He saw Muhanad al Farekh listening to a lecture, a radical lecture, a jihad lecture by Anwar al-Awlaki,” said Mr Pravda, who also cited emails sent by the defendant to his father asking him to obtain the preacher’s teachings.
The American-born Awlaki was killed by a CIA drone strike in Yemen in September 2010. He was a a key al-Qaeda propagandist and his words exhorting Western Muslims to take violent jihad have been used as evidence in dozens of terror trials.
However, Sean Maher, for the defence, said there was no evidence Farekh had listened to anything but a tiny portion of his teachings and that radicalisation was a more complex process than the prosecution suggested.
“When this American government tries to use what we look at, read, think, as being too radical for them, that’s not a place where we want to be,” he said.
The government’s star witness was a former al-Qaeda member with an interest in helping prosecutors in order to win a shorter sentence, and who contradicted himself and other witnesses, added Mr Maher.
“If you look at any part of the evidence it just crumbles,” he continued. “It’s ridiculous.”
Instead he said the case had been constructed to account for a lack of sightings of Farekh from 2007, when he arrived in Pakistan, to April 2015 when he was passed into American custody.
“On fear, speculation, politics, Muhanad al Farekh is here before you,” he said.
No-one had explained how a USB drive, holding letters allegedly written by Farekh, had turned up at the US embassy in Afghanistan in September 2015.
“We get nothing from the government about where this thing came from other than it appeared in the embassy in Kabul,” he said.
And Mr Maher warned the jury against trusting the fingerprint and DNA evidence when agents who gathered the bomb material admitted in their own words that they had been “as expedient as possible” because they were working in a “combat zone”. Nor had they kept a log of Afghan soldiers charged with securing the site.
“There’s nothing the government has brought to show the integrity of the crime scene was protected,” he said.
Dark Souls: Remastered
Developer: From Software (remaster by QLOC)
Publisher: Namco Bandai
Price: Dh199
BIRD%20BOX%20BARCELONA
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EDirectors%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20David%20and%20Alex%20Pastor%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EStars%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EGeorgina%20Campbell%2C%20Mario%20Casas%2C%20Diego%20Calva%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ERating%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%202%2F5%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Brief scoreline:
Manchester United 0
Manchester City 2
Bernardo Silva 54', Sane 66'
Global Fungi Facts
• Scientists estimate there could be as many as 3 million fungal species globally
• Only about 160,000 have been officially described leaving around 90% undiscovered
• Fungi account for roughly 90% of Earth's unknown biodiversity
• Forest fungi help tackle climate change, absorbing up to 36% of global fossil fuel emissions annually and storing around 5 billion tonnes of carbon in the planet's topsoil
Chelsea 2 Burnley 3
Chelsea Morata (69'), Luiz (88')
Burnley Vokes (24', 43'), Ward (39')
Red cards Cahill, Fabregas (Chelsea)
Zayed Sustainability Prize
SHAITTAN
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EDirector%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EVikas%20Bahl%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EStarring%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EAjay%20Devgn%2C%20R.%20Madhavan%2C%20Jyothika%2C%20Janaki%20Bodiwala%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ERating%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E3%2F5%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Conflict, drought, famine
Estimates of the number of deaths caused by the famine range from 400,000 to 1 million, according to a document prepared for the UK House of Lords in 2024.
It has been claimed that the policies of the Ethiopian government, which took control after deposing Emperor Haile Selassie in a military-led revolution in 1974, contributed to the scale of the famine.
Dr Miriam Bradley, senior lecturer in humanitarian studies at the University of Manchester, has argued that, by the early 1980s, “several government policies combined to cause, rather than prevent, a famine which lasted from 1983 to 1985. Mengistu’s government imposed Stalinist-model agricultural policies involving forced collectivisation and villagisation [relocation of communities into planned villages].
The West became aware of the catastrophe through a series of BBC News reports by journalist Michael Buerk in October 1984 describing a “biblical famine” and containing graphic images of thousands of people, including children, facing starvation.
Band Aid
Bob Geldof, singer with the Irish rock group The Boomtown Rats, formed Band Aid in response to the horrific images shown in the news broadcasts.
With Midge Ure of the band Ultravox, he wrote the hit charity single Do They Know it’s Christmas in December 1984, featuring a string of high-profile musicians.
Following the single’s success, the idea to stage a rock concert evolved.
Live Aid was a series of simultaneous concerts that took place at Wembley Stadium in London, John F Kennedy Stadium in Philadelphia, the US, and at various other venues across the world.
The combined event was broadcast to an estimated worldwide audience of 1.5 billion.
Benefits of first-time home buyers' scheme
- Priority access to new homes from participating developers
- Discounts on sales price of off-plan units
- Flexible payment plans from developers
- Mortgages with better interest rates, faster approval times and reduced fees
- DLD registration fee can be paid through banks or credit cards at zero interest rates
In numbers: China in Dubai
The number of Chinese people living in Dubai: An estimated 200,000
Number of Chinese people in International City: Almost 50,000
Daily visitors to Dragon Mart in 2018/19: 120,000
Daily visitors to Dragon Mart in 2010: 20,000
Percentage increase in visitors in eight years: 500 per cent
In numbers
- Number of children under five will fall from 681 million in 2017 to 401m in 2100
- Over-80s will rise from 141m in 2017 to 866m in 2100
- Nigeria will become the world’s second most populous country with 791m by 2100, behind India
- China will fall dramatically from a peak of 2.4 billion in 2024 to 732 million by 2100
- an average of 2.1 children per woman is required to sustain population growth
Sole survivors
- Cecelia Crocker was on board Northwest Airlines Flight 255 in 1987 when it crashed in Detroit, killing 154 people, including her parents and brother. The plane had hit a light pole on take off
- George Lamson Jr, from Minnesota, was on a Galaxy Airlines flight that crashed in Reno in 1985, killing 68 people. His entire seat was launched out of the plane
- Bahia Bakari, then 12, survived when a Yemenia Airways flight crashed near the Comoros in 2009, killing 152. She was found clinging to wreckage after floating in the ocean for 13 hours.
- Jim Polehinke was the co-pilot and sole survivor of a 2006 Comair flight that crashed in Lexington, Kentucky, killing 49.
The specs
Engine: 4.0-litre flat-six
Torque: 450Nm at 6,100rpm
Transmission: 7-speed PDK auto or 6-speed manual
Fuel economy, combined: 13.8L/100km
On sale: Available to order now
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
How to apply for a drone permit
- Individuals must register on UAE Drone app or website using their UAE Pass
- Add all their personal details, including name, nationality, passport number, Emiratis ID, email and phone number
- Upload the training certificate from a centre accredited by the GCAA
- Submit their request
What are the regulations?
- Fly it within visual line of sight
- Never over populated areas
- Ensure maximum flying height of 400 feet (122 metres) above ground level is not crossed
- Users must avoid flying over restricted areas listed on the UAE Drone app
- Only fly the drone during the day, and never at night
- Should have a live feed of the drone flight
- Drones must weigh 5 kg or less
Ferrari 12Cilindri specs
Engine: naturally aspirated 6.5-liter V12
Power: 819hp
Torque: 678Nm at 7,250rpm
Price: From Dh1,700,000
Available: Now
The specs
- Engine: 3.9-litre twin-turbo V8
- Power: 640hp
- Torque: 760nm
- On sale: 2026
- Price: Not announced yet
2018 ICC World Twenty20 Asian Western Regional Qualifier
The top three teams progress to the Asia Qualifier
Final: UAE beat Qatar by nine wickets
Third-place play-off: Kuwait beat Saudi Arabia by five runs
Table
1 UAE 5 5 0 10
2 Qatar 5 4 1 8
3 Saudi 5 3 2 6
4 Kuwait 5 2 3 4
5 Bahrain 5 1 4 2
6 Maldives 5 0 5 0
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
ELIO
Starring: Yonas Kibreab, Zoe Saldana, Brad Garrett
Directors: Madeline Sharafian, Domee Shi, Adrian Molina
Rating: 4/5
Turning%20waste%20into%20fuel
%3Cp%3EAverage%20amount%20of%20biofuel%20produced%20at%20DIC%20factory%20every%20month%3A%20%3Cstrong%3EApproximately%20106%2C000%20litres%3C%2Fstrong%3E%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3EAmount%20of%20biofuel%20produced%20from%201%20litre%20of%20used%20cooking%20oil%3A%20%3Cstrong%3E920ml%20(92%25)%3C%2Fstrong%3E%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3ETime%20required%20for%20one%20full%20cycle%20of%20production%20from%20used%20cooking%20oil%20to%20biofuel%3A%20%3Cstrong%3EOne%20day%3C%2Fstrong%3E%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3EEnergy%20requirements%20for%20one%20cycle%20of%20production%20from%201%2C000%20litres%20of%20used%20cooking%20oil%3A%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3E%E2%96%AA%20Electricity%20-%201.1904%20units%3Cbr%3E%E2%96%AA%20Water-%2031%20litres%3Cbr%3E%E2%96%AA%20Diesel%20%E2%80%93%2026.275%20litres%3C%2Fstrong%3E%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
The alternatives
• Founded in 2014, Telr is a payment aggregator and gateway with an office in Silicon Oasis. It’s e-commerce entry plan costs Dh349 monthly (plus VAT). QR codes direct customers to an online payment page and merchants can generate payments through messaging apps.
• Business Bay’s Pallapay claims 40,000-plus active merchants who can invoice customers and receive payment by card. Fees range from 1.99 per cent plus Dh1 per transaction depending on payment method and location, such as online or via UAE mobile.
• Tap started in May 2013 in Kuwait, allowing Middle East businesses to bill, accept, receive and make payments online “easier, faster and smoother” via goSell and goCollect. It supports more than 10,000 merchants. Monthly fees range from US$65-100, plus card charges of 2.75-3.75 per cent and Dh1.2 per sale.
• 2checkout’s “all-in-one payment gateway and merchant account” accepts payments in 200-plus markets for 2.4-3.9 per cent, plus a Dh1.2-Dh1.8 currency conversion charge. The US provider processes online shop and mobile transactions and has 17,000-plus active digital commerce users.
• PayPal is probably the best-known online goods payment method - usually used for eBay purchases - but can be used to receive funds, providing everyone’s signed up. Costs from 2.9 per cent plus Dh1.2 per transaction.
MATCH INFO
Uefa Champions League, last 16, first leg
Ajax v Real Madrid, midnight (Thursday), BeIN Sports
