CHICAGO - Rome's Mohamed Shorbagi, who pleaded guilty to supporting Hamas terrorism has agreed to testify against Mohammed Salah and a co-defendant in hopes of less prison time and federal protection.
Appearing downcast but not particularly nervous, Shorbagi took the witness stand Wednesday afternoon in the federal trial in Chicago, now in its seventh week.
Salah, of Bridgeview, is being tried on charges that he served as a high-level operative of Hamas, a militant Palestinian group considered a terrorist organization by the U.S. government. His co-defendant, former university professor Abdelhaleem Ashqar, of Virginia, is accused of acting as a U.S.-based Hamas information clearinghouse.
Shorbagi, 42, was charged in August with providing material support to a terrorist organization, but the charges and his plea agreement were sealed until after jury selection began in Salah's trial.
Shorbagi said Wednesday that in return for his testimony, prosecutors agreed to seek a reduction in the 15-year prison sentence he faces, give him a special residency visa, place him in the federal witness protection program and not indict him in an unrelated fraud scheme.
Shorbagi admitted he funneled money to Hamas through a Muslim charity, Holy Land Foundation, from 1997 until it was shut down in the wake of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. Prosecutors have described Holy Land, which had an office in Palos Hills, as the American fundraising arm of Hamas.
FBI agent Peter Connelly testified that in a March search of Shorbagi's Rome home, investigators found Arabic documents that appeared to have been sent to Shorbagi by Ashqar in 1995 -- including copies of alleged confessions that Salah gave to Israeli authorities following his 1993 arrest.
Salah was arrested at an Israeli checkpoint during a money-running mission to the Occupied Territories, and his confessions detailed his position in the Hamas hierarchy. Salah, who was released from Israeli custody in 1997, has said the statements were made only after he was tortured during his interrogation.
In the search of Shorbagi's home, agents found a letter informing him that Sharif Alwan -- an alleged Hamas foot soldier from Hickory Hills -- had been caught by the Israelis in the West Bank. Salah had earlier told the Israelis he had recruited Alwan into Hamas and paid for him and another man to go to Syria in 1992 for military training
Shorbagi told jurors Wednesday that he became involved with Muslim groups while living in Houston in the early 1990s.
He also testified that he saw Ashqar at two private meetings of local Hamas leaders, including one in Chicago in 1995. Shorbagi said he was invited to the meetings "because I was a supporter of Hamas." Shorbagi said the keynote speaker at the secret Chicago meeting was Khaled Mashaal -- now considered the world's top Hamas leader.
