US court jails Palestinian on lesser charge in Hamas financing case

0 Comments | AFP, July, 2007

CHICAGO (AFP) — A Palestinian man cleared of terrorism charges by a US jury was sentenced to 21 months in jail Wednesday on a lesser charge of lying under oath in a high-profile Hamas financing case.

A jury acquitted Chicago businessman Muhammad Salah in February of accusations of being a "bag man" who shuttled funds to pay for the terrorist activities of Hamas, the militant Islamist group which controls the Gaza Strip and is designated a terrorist organization by the US government.

It was a significant defeat for President George W. Bush's administration which had touted his 2004 indictment as a victory in the "war on terror."

But Salah was found guilty of obstruction of justice for lying under oath in a civil case when he was sued, along with Hamas and...