U.S. Anti-Terrorism Tactic: Immigration

But that wasn't all. One of Hajbeh's co-defendants was Abu Qatada, known in Jordan as an Islamic preacher who had sought asylum in London. U.S. authorities believe he is something else: an agent for Osama bin Laden.

The government's concerns emerged as the bond hearing proceeded in November. Luis Paoli, an attorney for Homeland Security, said in court papers that evidence in the Jordanian case showed that Hajbeh organized a small Islamic anti-government group, Reform and Challenge, during two visits home in 1994-95 and in 1996. Hajbeh instructed members to contribute money for bomb materials, according to the case. After Hajbeh returned to the United States, he stayed in touch, approving the group's planned attacks in 1998, according to Paoli, citing the Jordanian information.

"A person who has done this in the past . . . is capable of doing it again," he declared in the packed courtroom.

The judge asked why U.S. prosecutors hadn't charged Hajbeh with terrorism. "There's some classified information. There are some other factors. We can go ahead and lodge a charge, if that's the problem," Paoli replied.

Sabagh, the defense attorney, jumped in. "This case has been going on since June," she said, adding that if the government had enough evidence to support a terrorism charge, it should file it.

Hajbeh and his supporters gave the judge a dramatically different version of events. Sabagh pointed out that the 1999 terrorism verdicts in Jordan were later overturned. "The charges are gone," she said. Hajbeh's sentence remained only because he didn't show up for his appeal, as required under Jordanian law, she said.

Hajbeh testified that he had no role in Reform and Challenge, although he knew some of the defendants. His visits to Jordan were for family reasons, he said. At the time of the bombings, he was living in Tennessee, working 70 to 80 hours a week in a shampoo factory and a Whirlpool air-conditioning plant. He moved to Virginia three years ago.

Witness after witness took the stand, testifying that Hajbeh had lived quietly and devoutly in the United States. He was so gentle he wouldn't even step on a roach, said one friend. He forbade his children to retaliate against bullies, said another. Essam Mesiry, his boss at EMSI Engineering in Manassas, recalled when a client punched Hajbeh during a disagreement over results of a soil test.

"Majed never fought back," he said.

The alleged al Qaeda connection did not come up at the hearing. According to Jordanian court papers, the London-based terrorism suspect, Abu Qatada, got in touch with Reform and Challenge after Hajbeh had moved back to the United States. Hajbeh's wife and one of his attorneys said in interviews that he does not know Abu Qatada.

The immigration judge, Wayne Iskra, granted Hajbeh bond. He noted, among other reasons, the acquittals in Jordan and claims by several of those defendants that they made false confessions because they had been tortured.

The Homeland Security attorney appealed, blocking Hajbeh's release. Four months later, that appeal is still pending.

A Family Waits

Again and again, Najwa Hajbeh has decorated the rented townhouse for her husband's return. Last month, she repeated the ritual, looping red-and-white crepe paper from the living room ceiling and taping up balloons. "Congratulations!" says a sign taped to the wall.

Hajbeh, 34, a softly rounded woman with big brown eyes and tentative English, still is puzzled by the twists and turns of her husband's case. First, he was charged with immigration fraud in U.S. criminal court in Alexandria, and found not guilty. Up went the crepe-paper banners.