Ex-Detroit Metro screener charged with hiding bin Laden sympathy
3/25/2005, 2:27 a.m. ET
The Associated Press

DETROIT (AP) — A Yemeni immigrant who was discharged from the U.S. Air Force
after expressing sympathy for Osama bin Laden following the Sept. 11 attacks
faces trial next week on accusations of lying to land a job as an airport
screener.


Sadeq Naji Ahmed, 25, of Dearborn faces up to 5 years in prison and a
$250,000 fine if convicted of making false statements on a questionnaire to
get a job with the Transportation Security Administration at Detroit
Metropolitan Airport.

"This is a case of vast government overkill," defense lawyer William Swor
said Thursday after U.S. District Judge Bernard Friedman declined to dismiss
the indictment. "My client is an absolutely loyal American."

Following his arraignment in July, Ahmed told reporters "people take things
out of context, that's not the right information."

Assistant U.S. Attorney Cathleen Corken declined to comment on the case.

Ahmed was born in Yemen and immigrated to the United States with his parents
in 1982. He now attends Wayne State University student and is married with
one child.

He was indicted in July on charges of lying when he said he had never left a
job under unfavorable circumstances and never had a security clearance or
had security access denied.

But the indictment said Ahmed was given an expedited honorable discharge
from the Air Force in September 2001 after superiors became alarmed about
statements he was said to have made at Eglin Air Force Base, Fla., between
1999 and September 2001, and began to question his loyalty.

The indictment said that Ahmed made statements in support of bin Laden, that
he was neither for or against the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, that the
United States deserved to be attacked, that he would not fight if the U.S.
military took action in Iraq and that U.S. aircraft flying over Iraq should
crash.

On Sept. 17, 2001, superiors suspended his access to classified information
and secure areas of the base, the indictment said. He was reassigned to
administrative duties and honorably discharged 11 days later, two months shy
of completing his 4-year tour.

He returned to Detroit and got a job in December 2001 as a baggage screener
for a private contractor at Detroit Metro. In October 2002, he was
conditionally appointed to the Transportation Security Administration
contingent upon passing a background check, which included filling out a
questionnaire.

He was dismissed in August 2003 after the government learned about his Air
Force discharge.

Swor said his client "was simply exercising his First Amendment right to
question and criticize the policies of the U.S. government. The military and
the government didn't like his point of view, and they've charged him with a
felony that could ruin the rest of his life."

Swor said Ahmed did not leave the military under unfavorable circumstances
because he was offered an honorable discharge and took it.

"Is the government saying people can't rely on official government
documents, that they don't mean what they say?" the defense lawyer asked.

Swor said Ahmed was a good baggage screener and had an excellent record in
the military. He said Ahmed was named 2000 Airman of the Year at Eglin and
1999 Airman of the Year for the 33rd Fighter Wing, where he served as an
information systems analyst.