NEW YORK, Aug 25 (AFP) - An imam at an Albany, New York mosque accused of supporting terrorism could be released on bail this week because a translation error was discovered in the evidence against him, a legal source said Wednesday.
The judge hearing the case against Yassine Muhiddin Aref set his bail at 250,000 dollars Tuesday after having refused bail requests just two weeks ago.
The discovery of a translation slip-up appears to have convinced the judge that Aref can be released while he awaits trial.
Aref's lawyer Terence Kindlon expects the accused's family, friends and religious associates to obtain the required 250,000 dollars by the end of the week.
The 34-year-old imam was arrested earlier this month with another man, Mohammed Mosharref Hossain, 49, following an undercover sting. The judge has also set bail for Hossain at a quarter of a million dollars.
The two are accused of aiding a potential terrorist, in reality a US undercover agent, to purchase a shoulder-fired missile.
Among the evidence presented against Aref was a notebook US authorities said was found in a terrorist camp in northern Iraq in mid-2003, which lists Aref's name and US address next to a Kurdish word written in Arabic -- initially translated as "commander" but actually meaning "brother."
The prosecution has said, however, that the translation error changes nothing material in its case against the men.
"It doesn't change a thing whether it ends up to be 'brother' or 'commander,'" US Attorney Glenn Suddaby told AFP last week, noting that there was "evidence of criminal activity."
Both sides are due to return to court by September 15.
Born in Kurdistan, Aref left Iraq in 1995 and arrived in the United States a few years later where he was accorded refugee status, according to his lawyer who has also requested more information to determine if the camp where the notebook was found was a terrorist base.