Jordanian Accused of Terror Ties To Be Released

By JOSH GERSTEIN, Staff Reporter of the Sun
July 28, 2006

SAN FRANCISCO — A federal judge in Los Angeles has ordered the release of a Jordanian man who has spent two years in jail on immigration charges after authorities accused him of ties to terrorism.

Abdel Jabbar Hamdan, 46, drew the attention of federal officials because of his work for more than a decade as a fund-raiser for a Texas-based Islamic charity, the Holy Land Foundation, which was raided and shut down in 2001 after being linked by investigators to a Middle East terrorist group, Hamas.

Judge Terry Hatter Jr. ordered Mr. Hamdan's release after adopting a report by a magistrate who found there was little chance of deporting Mr. Hamdan in the near future.

Judge Hatter's ruling was dated Wednesday and entered on the court's docket yesterday, but lawyers for both the government and Mr. Hamdan were unaware that he had been ordered released until notified of the decision yesterday afternoon by The New York Sun.

"We will review the ruling and determine our course of action," a spokeswoman for the Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Virginia Kice, said. Mr. Hamdan was being held at an immigration facility in San Pedro, Calif., she said.

Mr. Hamdan, who is of Palestinian Arab descent, fought his deportation by arguing that the claims that he had ties to Hamas would make him likely to be tortured if he was returned to Jordan. He said he believed Holy Land Foundation supported charitable relief for Palestinian Arabs and had no connection to Hamas or terrorism.

Last year, an immigration judge found that Mr. Hamdan, who was the foundation's highest-paid employee, knew or should have known about its ties to Hamas. However, the immigration judge accepted Mr. Hamdan's argument that he faced likely torture if sent to Jordan.

In April, the Board of Immigration Appeals reversed that finding.The Justice Department agency credited testimony by a Tel Aviv University professor, Meir Litvak, who said there was no evidence that Jordan persecutes or tortures Hamas members.

Mr. Hamdan has appealed his deportation to the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, which has not yet ruled.

Ms. Kice said her agency was "continuing its effort to remove Mr. Hamdan from the United States," but she acknowledged that no action was likely while the 9th Circuit appeal is pending.

The ruling releasing Mr. Hamdan, who was arrested in July 2004, was based on a 2001 Supreme Court decision that said immigration detainees should generally not be held for more than six months.

The government could seek a stay to prevent Mr. Hamdan's release, but one of his attorneys, Stacy Tolchin, said she expected him to be freed shortly. "We're thrilled," she said. "It's been two years. This is a man who's devoted his life to humanitarian causes and relieving the suffering of poor people around the world."

The Holy Land Foundation and several of its officers are awaiting trial in Dallas on criminal charges, but Mr. Hamdan has not been charged with a crime.