Dutch man faces terror trial in U.S.

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An Iraqi-born Dutch citizen pleaded not guilty yesterday in federal court in Washington to charges of conspiring with insurgents to attack U.S. military personnel in Iraq -- the first U.S. criminal prosecution arising from terrorist activities in Iraq.

Wesam al-Delaema, 33, extradited from the Netherlands on Saturday, had been sought by the U.S. government since 2003, when he and other members of the "Mujahideen from Fallujah" videotaped themselves planting explosives along an Iraqi road used by U.S. troops.

The videotape, which was widely shown on Arabic TV stations, was seized by Dutch police who raided Mr. al-Delaema's house in Amersfoort in May 2005 following a tip from U.S. authorities.

Mr. al-Delaema was returned to the United States after being held in the Netherlands for nearly two years, where he and his attorneys vigorously fought the U.S. extradition request.

"After a lengthy extradition process, this defendant will now face justice for his efforts in orchestrating and launching roadside bomb attacks against our men and women serving in Iraq," said Assistant Attorney General Kenneth L. Wainstein, who heads the Justice Department's national security division. "We in the ranks of federal prosecutors are honored to play a role in protecting our military colleagues against such deadly and cowardly attacks."

Mr. al-Delaema entered his not guilty plea before U.S. District Judge Paul Friedman during a 10-minute court hearing. Assistant U.S. Attorney Gregg Maisel told the judge investigators would seek hair samples and other DNA from Mr. al-Delaema, but did not elaborate.

A grand jury indictment handed up in U.S. District Court in Washington in September 2005 named Mr. al-Delaema on six counts of conspiracy -- to kill U.S. citizens abroad, to use a weapon of mass destruction, to maliciously damage or destroy U.S. government property by means of an explosive, to possess a destructive device during a crime of violence, to use such a device, and to teach the making of an explosive with the intent to further a crime of violence.

The indictment said Mr. al-Delaema traveled from the Netherlands to Iraq in October 2003 after the U.S.-led invasion and, together with his co-conspirators, the Mujahideen from Fallujah, "declared his intentions to kill Americans in Iraq using explosives."

If convicted of all the charges, Mr. al-Delaema could be sentenced to life in prison.

Mr. al-Delaema has claimed he was forced to make the videotape after being kidnapped and beaten, and feared being beheaded if he resisted. Although in a 2003 interview broadcast on Dutch television, Mr. al-Delaema accused the U.S. government and its allies of waging war in Iraq to control its oil reserves, saying the "Americans and British are coming to our country to steal oil and everyone knows it."