Sep 28, 2007 8:44 pm US/Central
Jury Chosen In Trial Of Sears Tower Terror Plot
MIAMI (AP) ―
A jury was chosen Friday for the trial of seven men accused of plotting with a man they thought was an al-Qaida operative to blow up Chicago's Sears Tower and bomb FBI offices in several U.S. cities.
The 12-person jury, plus six alternates, was selected over a two-week period. Opening statements in the trial are scheduled for Tuesday, with testimony likely to last two months or more.
The seven defendants, all from Miami's blighted Liberty City neighborhood, face up to 70 years in prison if convicted of conspiring to levy war against the United States and provide material support to al-Qaida. They were charged after a lengthy investigation in which an FBI informant posed as an al-Qaida emissary sent to help with their alleged plans.
Led by a construction worker named Narseal Batiste, 33, the seven were all videotaped taking an oath of allegiance to al-Qaida and Osama bin Laden, authorities said.
FBI wiretaps and listening devices captured several conversations in which Batiste discusses the Sears Tower plot and how it could trigger a "full ground war" that would replace the U.S. government with one based on Islam, according to tape transcripts.
(© 2007 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)
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