Pakistani outage halts terror testimony

Mysterious transmission outage halts Pakistani testimony in Florida terror support trial

Published On: Feb 13 2013 10:56:57 AM EST   Updated On: Feb 13 2013 01:15:36 PM EST
MIAMI -

A mysterious outage in transmission of live testimony from Pakistan has temporarily halted the South Florida terrorism support trial of an elderly Muslim cleric.

The feed to a Miami federal courtroom was cut off Tuesday and restoration efforts failed. Neither lawyers for 77-year-old Hafiz Khan nor the U.S. Justice Department could explain the cause Wednesday.

Khan lawyer Khurrum Wahid said employees at the Islamabad hotel where the witnesses were appearing told him police were seen taking photos in the building. But prosecutors say Pakistani government agencies contacted by the U.S. denied cutting off the feed.

U.S. District Judge Robert Scola ordered Khan's lawyers to either bring witnesses to Miami or find a third country. Trial will resume next week.

Khan is charged with funneling cash to the Pakistani Taliban.

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