By Dan Modlin
Bowling Green, KY – U-S District Judge Thomas B. Russell has ruled that the Geneva Convention doesn't stop Federal Prosecutors from bringing charges against Iraqi terror suspect Waad Ramadan Alwan. The thirty year old Alwan is one of two Iraqi nationals arrested in Bowling Green in May and charged with trying to send money and weapons to be used against U-S soldiers in Iraq. Alwan and 23 year old Mohanad Shareef Hammadi have entered "not guilty" pleas and remain in federal custody.
The question of whether the terror suspects should be tried in civilian court has led to controversy, and U-S Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell of Louisville has maintained that the pair should be tried at Guantanamo Bay. However, U-S attorneys handling the prosecution argue that the trial should not be moved and say they are confident the case will proceed safely.
Prosecutors say Alwan's fingerprints were found on an improvised explosive device in Iraq. The defendants face life in prison if they are convicted on all counts.