NYPost

CAPTURED AL QAEDA SUSPECTS TO BE TRIED IN D.C. - NOT APPLE

By DEVLIN BARRETT and BRIAN BLOMQUIST

November 1, 2001 -- Any al Qaeda terrorists captured in the Sept. 11 terror probe will be tried in Washington and not New York, sources said yesterday.

Manhattan U.S. Attorney Mary Jo White, in meetings with Justice Department officials, had lobbied hard to keep the case in her jurisdiction, but Attorney General John Ashcroft decided against it, the sources said.

Ashcroft, who immediately assumed a direct role in supervising the massive terror investigation, has come to the conclusion that the trials for anyone charged in connection with Sept. 11 or the attack on the USS Cole in Yemen will be handled in the nation's capital. Ashcroft may decide to farm out some small terror-related cases to certain U.S. attorneys around the country, but the bulk of the cases will remain in D.C., sources said.

Sources said many of the detainees being held in connection with the case will now be processed through sealed proceedings before judges in Washington, instead of New York.

"Her office has been fighting to keep the case in [New York courts], and the answer is no," said a source.

It was not clear what impact Ashcroft's decision will have on the grand jury that has been hearing evidence here about the Sept. 11 attacks.

But the followers of terror lord Osama bin Laden charged in the 1998 bombings of U.S. embassies in Africa will still be brought to trial in New York, sources said.

White's new top terror prosecutor, Kenneth Karas, won convictions of four of the embassy bombers earlier this year. A key bin Laden adviser is still in custody here awaiting trial on that case, and three others are awaiting extradition from England. Many others are still fugitives.

White, a Clinton appointee, tried to persuade Ashcroft that anyone charged in the Sept. 11 attacks should be tried here because New York was the site of the worst devastation.

Her office has also traditionally been the focal point for terror investigations, and had overseen the Cole investigation until September.

White's office has been probing bin Laden's al Qaeda network for years, but stepped up its efforts after the 1998 bombings, indicting bin Laden along with two of his top lieutenants.

"Washington has always been the headquarters in the investigation, and New York plays a crucial part of the investigation," a Justice Department spokeswoman said. "Nothing has changed."

A spokesman for White declined to comment.

Sources said another of White's prosecutors, ex-Marine David Kelley, who is already working in Washington, will likely be named to a new prosecutorial panel being formed by Ashcroft.

-- Anonymous, November 01, 2001