WASHINGTON, Jan. 4 (UPI) -- A federal appeals court in Washington Tuesday refused to reinstate charges against a British national for allegedly selling arms to pre-war Iraq.
The British national, Iraqi-born Sabri Yakou, was charged with arranging for the construction and sale of six armored patrol boats to the Saddam Hussein regime for a fee.
He was charged under a U.S. law that has been interpreted by the State Department as applying to "any U.S. person," the court said.
Yakou moved with his family from Iraq to Britain in the 1970s, but lived and worked in California in the 1980s, having acquired a "green card" permitting U.S. work. However, while in the United States, he sought and obtained British citizenship.
Though he returned to Britain to live, he used his "green card" to re-enter the United States.
A federal judge dismissed an arms indictment against him, saying he was not a "U.S. person." The government argued Yakou had not changed his U.S. residency status, but the appeals court agreed with the judge.
