JURY FINDS CALIF. MAN GUILTY IN TERRORISM CASE

Jury finds Calif. man guilty in terrorism case
SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- A federal jury on Tuesday convicted a 23-year-old man of supporting terrorists by attending an al-Qaida training camp in Pakistan three years ago. Hamid Hayat, a seasonal farm worker in Lodi, an agricultural town south of Sacramento, was convicted of one count of providing material support to terrorists and three counts of lying to the FBI. His attorney said she would seek a new trial. "Hamid Hayat never attended a terrorist training camp. This fight is not over," Wazhma Mojaddidi said. The verdict came hours after a separate jury hearing a case against the man's father deadlocked, forcing the judge to declare a mistrial. The father, 48-year-old ice cream truck driver Umer Hayat, is charged with two counts of lying to the FBI about his son's involvement in the training camp. Defense attorneys and prosecutors will meet in court May 5 to decide whether he will be retried.
WTC site developer, port close to deal on rebuilding
NEW YORK -- The World Trade Center developer and government officials agreed Tuesday to most terms of a deal that scales back his role and surrenders his job as landlord of the 1,776-foot Freedom Tower. An agreement would end four months of messy negotiations over control of ground zero. The rewriting of Larry Silverstein's 99-year lease for the site would give the owner, the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, control of two of the five planned office towers, including the Freedom Tower. Silverstein, who has been developing the Freedom Tower, would build and lease the three other towers that are considered to be in more lucrative spots on the 16-acre lower Manhattan site. Officials said the deal ensures all five planned towers would be built by 2012 to replace the fallen twin towers.
N. Carolina congressmanblocks Flight 93 Memorial
WASHINGTON -- Family members of those killed on United Flight 93 are urging a North Carolina congressman to lift his hold on funding for a memorial planned for the Pennsylvania site where the plane crashed on Sept. 11, 2001. Nearly a dozen family members are scheduled to meet with their members of Congress on Wednesday to encourage them to sign a letter that asks Rep. Charles H. Taylor, R-N.C., to support $10 million for the project. It was not clear if they would also meet with Taylor. Taylor, chairman of the Appropriations subcommittee that oversees the Interior Department, has blocked millions in funding for the project in the last two years, and has expressed opposition to funding it when it comes up again before his committee May 3, said John Scofield, the House Appropriations Committee spokesman. The White House has requested $5 million for the nearly 1,700-acre site in remote western Pennsylvania as part of a larger spending bill.
SBA official steps downafter tumultuous tenure
WASHINGTON -- Small Business Administration chief Hector Barreto resigned Tuesday after a tenure marked by criticism of the agency's response to the Sept. 11 terror attacks and the Gulf Coast hurricanes. President Bush immediately announced a new agency chief, Steven C. Preston, an executive vice president for The ServiceMaster Co. The appointment requires Senate confirmation. Barreto, a California businessman, was appointed head of the agency in 2001. After the Sept. 11 terror attacks that year, his agency provided nearly $5 billion in economic disaster recovery loans to small businesses across the country. The Associated Press reported last year, however, that many of the businesses that received loans said they neither wanted nor knew they were receiving money earmarked for terror victims. Companies receiving aid ranged from an Oregon winery to a Virgin Islands perfume bar, drawing outrage on Capitol Hill. Barreto also was criticized for his agency's response to the 2005 Gulf hurricanes. A month after Hurricane Katrina laid waste to much of the Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama coasts, no loans had been handed out, and the backlog of applications was in the tens of thousands.
Rebels reject king's speech
KATMANDU, Nepal -- Nepal's Maoist militants on Tuesday rejected the king's decision to restore Parliament in the wake of bloody anti-monarchy protests, dismissing the royal announcement as nothing but a ploy. The insurgents' statement -- which came as tens of thousands of people flooded the streets to welcome the king's move as a victory for democracy -- made it clear the Himalayan nation's political crisis was far from over. The underground army's top leaders called the king's announcement "a conspiracy to protect the regime" and said their allies in a seven-party opposition alliance had betrayed them by accepting it. It remained unclear whether the Maoists -- whose 10-year campaign for power left more than 13,000 people dead -- would turn violently against the parties, former enemies with whom they allied only recently.
Associated Press
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