US citizen indicted for attempting to sell spy list to Iraq News
US citizen indicted for attempting to sell spy list to Iraq

[JURIST] A federal grand jury in Indianapolis Indiana has indicted Shaaban Hafiz Ahmad Ali Shaaban on charges he tried to sell the names of US intelligence operatives in Iraq to Saddam Hussein's government. Charges outlined in the indictment include conspiracy, acting as a foreign agent without notification and violating the Iraqi sanctions in place before Saddam was deposed by the US-led military invasion two years ago. US Attorney for the Southern District of Indiana Susan Brooks [official profile] alleged that Shaaban attempted to rebroadcast pro-Iraqi propaganda in the US, and offered to pay Iraqis to act as human shields against coalition forces. Brooks claims Shaaban traveled to Iraq in 2002 and agreed to sell the names of US intelligence agents to the Iraqi government for $3 million. It is believed that Shaaban arrived in the US from Jordan and became a legal US citizen in 2000. Shaaban's trial is set for April 25. AP has more.

THIS DAY @ LAW

Ku Klux Klan founded

The US hate group known as the Ku Klux Klan was founded on December 24, 1865 in Pulaski, Tennessee as a reaction to reconstruction efforts following the Union victory in the American Civil War. The group would later become notorious for its attacks on Black Americans, being targeted by the Enforcement Act of 1871, which imposed civil and criminal liability for deprivation of constitutional rights. Read the Enforcement Act of 1871.  

Hamid Karzai born

On December 24, 1957, Hamid Karzai was born in Karz, Afghanistan. He would go on to become in 2004 his country's first elected president after the end of Taliban rule in 2001.