On Wednesday, Hassan Abujihaad was convicted by US District jury in Connecticut for providing material support of terrorism and disclosing previously classified information relating to national defense. Federal prosecutors argued that American-born Abujihaad, originally named Paul Hall, provided classified documents to Azzam Publications, an organization based in London and believed to have ties to al-Qaeda, while Abujihaad was still active in the Navy.

According to Navy officials, Abujihaad was stationed in 2001 for several months aboard the USS Benfold, a guided-missile destroyer operating in waters in the Middle East alongside other ships in its battle group. During this time, a period not long after the bombing of the USS Cole which killed seventeen sailors, Abujihaad, prosecutors argued, used his position as a signalman with security clearance to email information to Azzam that detailed future ship movements and diagrams highlighting weaknesses in attacks.

The investigation into Abujihaad’s activities was not launched until 2003, nearly two years after his honorable discharge in January 2002. In December 2003, while searching the London home of Babar Ahmad, British police discovered a disk containing the classified information purported to have been leaked by Abujihaad. Ahmad, a computer specialist who was working with Azzam at the time, is currently fighting extradition to the US on charges of fundraising for terrorist groups.

Although prosecutors stated that that Abujihaad had confessed to disclosing the classified information, they admitted that their case lacked direct evidence connecting Abujihaad to the leak. Prosecutors did produce email evidence between Abujihaad and Azzam detailing the sailor’s admiration for Osama bin Laden and praising the attacks on the USS Cole. Still, though, the conviction without a “smoking gun,” critics argue, is the result of fear-mongering on behalf of the US government.

Dan LaBelle, defense attorney for Abujihaad stated that an appeal of the verdict was likely. Abujihaad, who will be sentenced in May, now faces up to twenty-five years in prison.

by Jonathan Mason