US court convicts ex-Soviet soldier on terror charges

A federal jury at the court in Richmond, Virginia on Friday found Irek Hamidullin, 55, guilty of 15 charges ranging from supporting terrorists to firearms offenses related to the attack six years ago on an Afghan Border Police base.

The prosecution told the court that Hamidullin, who did not testify in the trial, orchestrated the attack designed to lure US troops into a trap before pounding them with heavy weapons and shooting down US helicopters. However the insurgents' anti-aircraft weapons malfunctioned and US forces killed around 30 of them. Hamidullin was the sole survivor among the insurgents, while there were no US or Afghan government casualties.

In secretly recorded interviews used as evidence during the trial, Hamidullin admitted to planning the attack, but denied personally opening fire on US troops. He also described his actions as "God's work."

Whether or not Hamidullin did fire on US troops was a major bone of contention, with three American soldiers testifying that he did raise his AK-47 to fire at them. However, the US marksman credited with taking him down said he never saw Hamidullin fire his weapon.

'Prisoner of war' defense

His defense team had argued unsuccessfully that Hamidullin's indictment should be dismissed as he was essentially a prisoner of war and as such should not have been put on trial in a civilian court. However, the administration of President Barack Obama is seeking to prove that it can use the civilian criminal court system to try terror suspects. At the same time, though, the judge in the case barred the prosecution from using the word "terrorist" during the trial.

According to US officials, Hamudullin was a tank commander in the Soviet Union's war in Afghanistan in the 1980s and stayed in the country after the Soviets withdrew.

He could face a maximum of life in prison when he is sentenced on November 6.

pfd/bw (AP, Reuters)