Fingerprint in Spain led to Oregon arrest

PORTLAND, Ore., May 10 (UPI) -- A fingerprint on a plastic bag containing bomb materials found after the March 11 Spanish train bombings led to last week's arrest of an Oregon lawyer.

While U.S. federal officials continue to hold Brandon Mayfield of Portland, Ore., as a "material witness," his brother contends it's a case of "profiling" and a trampling of civil liberties, Newsweek magazine reports in this week's issue.

A U.S. counterterrorism official told Newsweek the fingerprint was an "absolutely incontrovertible match," though Spanish authorities said they are not as certain. Even if the print is Mayfield's, it's still unknown how, or if, Mayfield was connected to the terrorist plot. Mayfield's passport expired last fall and he insisted he hadn't been out of the country in years.

Federal officials said Mayfield married an Egyptian woman, converted to Islam 16 years ago and was active in a local Oregon mosque whose members had openly protested government antiterror policies. More critically, in 2002, Mayfield had volunteered to provide legal help for one of the ringleaders of the Portland Seven who had flown to Asia after Sept. 11, 2001, in an unsuccessful effort to fight with the Taliban.