Subject: Terrorist conspiracy defendant released from jail
Date: Wed, 9 Feb 94 9:53:50 PST

        NEW YORK (UPI) -- Sources close to the brother of the alleged
mastermind of the World Trade Center bombing said Wednesday the 29-year-
old defendant in a massive terrorism conspiracy case was freed because
the government dropped its case against him.
        Mohammed Abouhalima was released from a federal detention center in
Manhattan Tuesday. Charged with conspiring in an assassination attempt
against Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, he officially remains part of
a case against 15 suspects, including Sheik Omar Abdel-Rahman, linked to
a plot to bomb the United Nations and other New York City landmarks.
        The U.S. attorney's office refused to comment but Abouhalima's
lawyer, David Lewis, said his client was released on bail with terms
sealed by U.S. District Judge Michael Mukasey.
        But Arab-American sources close to the case said there was no bail
hearing and, in a sign of some weakness in its case, the government had
dropped charges against Abouhalima.
        ``They just told him he could go home,'' said his wife, Namaa
Abouhalima.
        Another defendant already has been freed on bail and a third
defendant, Abdo Mohamed Haggag, a 34-year-old Egyptian, was moved from
his jail quarters about three months ago and is rumored to have made a
deal to testify for the prosecution.
        Transcripts of conversations secretly taped by government informant
Emad Salem show another defendant told the informant Abouhalima knew
nothing about the Mubarak assassination plot.
        Additionally, he was charged with helping his brother escape the
country, although when he drove Mahmud Abouhalima to an airport,
authorities were not trying to arrest him.
        The government rested its case Tuesday against Mahmud Abouhalima and
three others in the trial for the World Trade Center bombing. He is the
alleged mastermind of the bombing.
        With his release, Mohammed Abouhalima for the first time saw his
daughter, Fatma, who was born the day before his Aug. 26 arrest. He also
has a 2-year-old son, Abdel-Rahman, named after the controversial
cleric.