A US Federal District Court has ruled in favor of the defunct Riyadh-based Al-Haramain Islamic Foundation (AHIF) branch in Ashland, Oregon and two of its officers including Engr. Solaiman Al-Buthi, the incumbent Director of the Environmental Health Department of Riyadh Municipality. Al-Buthi hailed the US court verdict saying it was the first step in a long legal battle to clear the AHIF branch in Oregon of all charges, as there are three more cases pending in the US court. “I am one of the founders of the AHIF branch in Ashland, Oregon and would like to see its name cleared of all charges leveled against it without any valid evidence,” Al-Buthi told Saudi Gazette. He said after the 9/11 events in the US, the maxim that “(one is) innocent until proven guilty” was changed to read “guilty until proven innocent and that's what we are trying to do”. He said that not only the AHIF branch in Ashland, Oregon but all Saudi charities that were operating elsewhere in the world had no links whatsoever with any terror organizations including Al-Qaeda. The Saudi charities were engaged in the noble cause of helping the needy and deserving members of society and it would be better for the US Administration to resolve any pending issues through mutual cooperation rather than legal battles fought in the court of law, he said. AHIF, a renowned Riyadh-based international charity that once had more than 70 branches worldwide, sued the US government over the wiretapping program conducted without warrant by the Bush administration. In his 45-page decision, Judge Vaughn Walker ruled in favor of the AHIF branch in Oregon and two of its officers, who had claimed that they were the subject of illegal surveillance by the US government in 2004. “In a historic ruling, Judge Vaughn Walker of the US Federal District Court for the Northern District of California in San Francisco ruled in favor of a US branch of AHIF and two of its lawyers that had sued George W. Bush, former US president and senior government officials for illegally intercepting telephone conversations between Saudi national Solaiman Al-Buthi and his two attorneys,” a copy of the US court verdict, received by Saudi Gazette, said. Al-Buthi last visited the US in 2000 as his name was put on that country's no-fly list. He said he was optimistic that he would clear his name and the image of AHIF as they had not done anything wrong. “The truth will stand out even if it takes a long time,” he said. The Al-Haramain lawsuit was filed in February 2006 by the US chapter of Al-Haramain Islamic Foundation after it was discovered that a transcript accidentally sent to them in August 2004 derived from illegal wiretapping under the illegal Terrorist Surveillance Program (TSP). AHIF attorney Thomas Nelson hailed the decision and said he will work with the legal team and with the plaintiffs to comply with the judge's order on pursuing other claims or moving straight to the damages phase, the statement added. AHIF and the two lawyers will ask for the damages the law allows – $20,200 each, or $100 for each day of illegal surveillance – plus punitive damages and attorneys' fees.
