Student acquitted in 9/11 perjury case

Last Updated: Friday, November 17, 2006 | 9:02 PM ET
CBC News

A second jury has found a San Diego college student linked to two of the Sept. 11 hijackers not guilty on all counts of perjury, ending a legal battle that began just 10 days after the attacks.

Osama Awadallah, 26, broke out in a broad smile as the verdict was read Friday in Manhattan federal court, then turned and beamed at his father crying in the audience. Jurors had begun deliberating Thursday.

"I knew that justice would prevail," he said to reporters. "My goal will be to continue to be a very good citizen in this country."

Awadallah would been convicted last spring had a lone juror not held out for acquittal, forcing a mistrial.

The 21-year-old college student showed up on investigators' radar just days after the 9/11 attacks. His first name and a phone number were found on a scrap of paper in a car parked at Dulles Airport near Washington, a car that had been driven there by Nawaf al Hazmi, one of the 19 hijackers.

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