National briefs 6/19/02

Terrorists could face death under N.J. law

TRENTON, N.J. -- The New Jersey governor signed a new state law Tuesday that makes terrorism a crime punishable by death.

While much of the law mirrors national statutes, lawmakers said New Jersey needed the measure to ensure terrorists face justice if federal laws fail.

The state could also prosecute jointly with federal authorities or pursue charges that may not rise to the federal level.

Under the law signed by Gov. James E. McGreevey, anyone who hides a terrorist or gives money to them would also be subject to the same punishment as those who launch an attack.

Defense questions facts in smuggling case letter

CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- A case charging two Lebanese men with running a cigarette smuggling ring to support the militant group Hezbollah boils down to one letter, a federal prosecutor said during closing arguments Tuesday.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Ken Bell cited a February 1997 letter to defendant Mohamad Hammoud from a man named Abu Adam. In the letter, Adam asks that Hammoud collect money for the Lebanese resistance as he has done in the past.

"If that happened, as Abu Adam said, then these defendants are guilty of running a Hezbollah support cell in Charlotte," Bell told jurors.

A defense attorney told jurors they will view the letter differently after they read all of it. Adam and Mohamad Hammoud talk about cigarettes being resold in Michigan -- not about the Hezbollah, said Deke Falls, attorney for Mohamad Hammoud.

"Read the rest of the letter," Falls told the jury.

Moussaoui expresses contempt for judge

ALEXANDRIA, Va. -- Zacarias Moussaoui, accused of conspiracy in the Sept. 11 attacks, says his judge is mentally ill, his former lawyers are bloodsuckers and Jews are his enemies.

He also says he wants his trial moved from Northern Virginia, near the Pentagon, to Colorado, where there are fewer government workers.

Granted the right to represent himself, Moussaoui said the judge "is suffering from post-traumatic mental disorder and she must be dismissed for her own mental interest."

"The curse of Allah is and will be on you," he wrote the judge on several occasions.

Senate passes terrorism insurance legislation

WASHINGTON -- The Senate approved a bill Tuesday to help allay the costs of terrorism insurance, setting up a showdown with the House over how to help businesses survive possible future disasters. President Bush warned that he wanted the final measure to include protections against "predatory lawsuits."

The Democratic-controlled Senate approved the bill by a vote of 84-14, sending it to a House-Senate conference committee and beginning a new fight over a final version to send to the president.

The House last year approved its own version of the bill. Democrats say there is room for compromise with House Republicans.

"The president wants this bill, the House wants this bill, we want this bill," said Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev.

-- From wire reports