Internet connection lost at terror trial

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MIAMI, Feb. 13 (UPI) -- Defense attorneys at the terror trial of Miami imam Hafiz Khan are hoping to restore a video link that will allow further testimony from witnesses in Pakistan.

U.S. District Judge Robert Scola was forced to dismiss jurors after the Internet connection permitting a suspected Taliban soldier to testify from Islamabad suddenly went dead, The Miami Herald reported Wednesday.

Khan's attorney Khurrum Wahid said there was absolutely no problem until a cross-examining prosecutor in Miami mentioned the name of the hotel where the testimony was being taken.

Wahid said the hotel staff told him "the IP address has been blacklisted" by the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority.

Judge Scola said he wondered whether loss of the connection was purely technical or if it was an "intentional act by the government of Pakistan."

If the latter is the case, he said there probably wouldn't be any more live testimony from Islamabad.

Khan, 77, is standing trial on charges of sending thousands of dollars to the Taliban. He is the leader of the Flagler Mosque in Miami.