TERRORISM CASES Yemeni native from Ohio hopes ruling will free him

Lawyer hopes ruling frees Yemeni man accused of terrorist ties
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) -- The lawyer for a Yemen native from Ohio who has been jailed for more than two years as a suspected terrorist is hoping that an immigration judge's recent ruling will free him.
An immigration judge on Friday granted Ashraf al-Jailani's request for protection under the Convention Against Torture, which would prevent him from being deported on the grounds that he would be persecuted or tortured if he is forced to return to Yemen.
No reason to keep him
Al-Jailani's lawyer, Farhad Sethna, said in an e-mail sent to reporters and friends of al-Jailani's family on Monday night that even if the federal government appeals the ruling, "there is no legal reason to keep Ashraf in detention."
Sethna said he is working to secure permission from the Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement for al-Jailani's release from a detention center in York.
"If I need to travel to York, I am prepared to do so, to pick up what probably is the best Christmas gift that Ashraf's family have ever received," Sethna wrote.
No time to discuss case
Contacted at his office on Tuesday, Sethna said he did not have time to discuss al-Jailani's case with a reporter.
Al-Jailani, a 40-year-old geochemist from Kent, Ohio, was arrested in October 2002 for deportation based on his no-contest plea to a 1998 domestic violence charge, in which he was accused of hitting his wife in the face during an argument. He was granted a pardon by Ohio Gov. Bob Taft in 2001.
But he has remained in jail while the federal government investigates whether he has ties to al-Qaida associates, although no charges have been filed against him. Federal investigators first became interested in al-Jailani in 1999, when his business card was discovered with a suspected terrorist in New York.
In June, the U.S. Board of Immigration Appeals ruled that al-Jailani should be denied bond not because of his alleged al-Qaida connections, but because he is a threat to his wife.
Based decision on testimony
Immigration Judge Walt Durling said in his ruling that he based his decision largely on expert testimony by Sheila Carapico, a University of Richmond political science professor. During a Nov. 9 hearing, she said that Yemen is under constant pressure to cooperate with the United States in the war on terrorism, and that its administration of justice was "chaotic."
Al-Jailani's fear of torture in Yemen "appears well-founded, whether or not such actual torture would occur," Durling wrote.
It was unclear whether the federal government would agree to al-Jailani's release. Jeff Bubier, a government attorney in York, declined to comment.
In a subsequent e-mail to reporters on Tuesday, Sethna said the Department of Homeland Security has indicated it will appeal the ruling and seek to have al-Jailani remain in custody because it believes he poses a threat to his wife. A spokeswoman for the agency did not return a telephone call seeking comment Tuesday.