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Terror Trial: Agent Talks About Day Planner Drawings

Sketch Illustrates Planes, Runway, Bunkers, FBI Says

POSTED: Monday, March 31, 2003

Testimony has resumed in the trial of four men accused of acting as a "sleeper" terrorist cell.

A federal agent testified Monday that drawings of airplanes immediately caught her attention as she flipped through a day planner found in an apartment where three of the four men lived.

Video

Karim Koubriti, 24, Ahmed Hannan, 34, Farouk Ali-Haimoud, 22, and Abdel-Ilah Elmardoudi, 37, are charged with conspiracy to provide material support or resources to terrorists.

Defense attorneys argued to the Detroit federal courtroom that the men came to the United States to live the American dream, but ended up in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Prosecutors believe the suspects were organizing a terror plot, and sending money overseas to support terrorist activity, Local 4 reported.

FBI Special Agent Mary Ann Manescu said Monday that the day planner also contained a sketch that the government claims illustrates planes, a runway and a bunker at a United States air base.

The day planner also reportedly contained overseas targets. A star witness is expected to testify that the men were plotting attacks at popular vacation spots such as Walt Disney World and Las Vegas, Local 4 reported.

Video and audio tapes confiscated from the home contained information on those two destinations, according to authorities.

Defense attorneys said the day planner belonged to a former occupant of the home who was mentally ill and had commited suicide. They argued that the prosecution's witness is a career criminal looking for an early release from prison.

A jury of 12 women and four men will determine if the evidence links the suspects to involvement in a terrorist plot.

It's the first trial in the United States for an alleged terror cell detected after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.

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