Second son of Iraqi diplomat charged

[emad]

NEW YORK (CNN) -- A second son of Iraq's former deputy ambassador to the United Nations pleaded not guilty Friday to federal charges that he acted illegally as an agent of a foreign government. Wisam Noman Al-Anbuke, 24, was charged with providing information to Iraqi agents about Iraqi dissidents living in the United States, federal prosecutors said. Charges were filed against his 30-year-old brother, Raed Rokan Al-Anbuke, earlier this year.

The men are sons of Rohan Al-Anbuke, who is back in Iraq working on a committee to reformulate the country's foreign ministry. The government claims that Rohan Al-Anbuke worked covertly for Iraqi intelligence when he was posted to the Iraqi mission in New York, without registering with the attorney general as an agent of a foreign government. When the elder Al-Anbuke left the United States in August 2000, his sons' visas were invalidated. The indictment against Wisam Noman Al-Anbuke alleges he provided an officer of the Iraqi Intelligence Service with "the location, employment and family status of Iraqi expatriates in the United States" and made several false statements to FBI agents about his work.

"I don't have any comment at this time," Jesse Siegel, the court-appointed attorney for Wisam Noman Al-Anbuke, told CNN Friday. If convicted, Al-Anbuke could be sentenced to up to 10 years in jail on the charge of acting as an undeclared agent of a foreign government and up to five years on counts of conspiracy and making false statements. He also could be fined up to $250,000 on each of seven counts.

http://edition.cnn.com/2003/LAW/09/05/iraqi.diplomats.son/index.html

[struggle4progress]

1. Related to Lindauer case