Tuesday, January 29, 2008

LA Man Accused of Being Informant for Saddam

Via mercurynews.com -

LOS ANGELES—An Iraqi-born American citizen collected intelligence on Assyrian groups in the United States for former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein and didn't notify government officials here, a prosecutor said Tuesday during opening statements in a federal court trial.

William Shaoul Benjamin, 67, of Los Angeles, is charged with conspiracy, failing to register as an agent of a foreign government and making false statements. If convicted, he faces up to 20 years in prison.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Judith Heinz said Benjamin, who was free on bond, was a paid informant for the Iraqi Intelligence Service, the foreign intelligence arm of the Iraqi government, after coming to the U.S. in 1992.

Heinz said Benjamin was to "penetrate and monitor" expatriate Assyrian Christians, a minority group in Iraq perceived to be hostile to Saddam.

Documents uncovered in Iraq will show that Benjamin was "loyal and reliable" to Saddam, Heinz said.

"There is a spy in the room," Heinz said. "The spy is William Shaoul Benjamin."

Defense attorney James Blatt deferred his opening statement to a later time, and declined comment as he left the courtroom.

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