Miami: Jurors deliberating the fate of six men being tried a second time for allegedly plotting to attack Chicago's Sears Tower have asked in a note whether swearing an oath to al-Qaida is a crime, an indication they are wrestling with a crucial piece of FBI videotape evidence.

Defence lawyers yesterday insisted the answer should be no and prosecutors said the opposite. US District Judge Joan Lenard answered with her own note telling jurors to carefully read her instructions in the case, particularly those describing material support to a foreign terrorist organisation.

"This is a determination for them to make," Lenard said outside the jury's presence. "They may see it as providing material support or they may not."

The men face up to 70 years in prison if convicted of all charges for allegedly plotting to start an anti-government war by toppling Chicago's Sears Tower and bombing FBI offices in Miami and elsewhere. The jurors did not reach any verdicts yesterday and were scheduled to resume deliberations today.

The first trial of the "Liberty City Seven," named for the neighbourhood where they lived, ended in December with a mistrial for these six suspects because jurors could not agree on verdicts, and one man was acquitted. Testimony in the second trial lasted nearly two months.

Source : PTI