3rd trial starts for 6 men accused of terror plot (AP)

[Yahoo! News]

AP - A group of Miami men accused of plotting to destroy Chicago's Sears Tower and bomb FBI offices sold out their country for money, a federal prosecutor said Wednesday at the start of the men's third trial.

Prosecutors are trying to convict the so-called "Liberty City Six" on four terrorism-related charges after two previous trials ended in hung juries. The men are accused of plotting terror attacks with an FBI informant they thought was an al-Qaida operative.

A defense attorney for the group's leader, Narseal Batiste, 34, said the government's sting operation was a setup. The FBI's paid informants were motivated by money to manipulate the men and encourage them to take actions that could later be used against them, attorney Ana M. Jhones said.

"This case is a 100 percent setup. This is a manufactured crime," she said.

The men took an oath of allegiance to Osama bin Laden — captured by the FBI on videotape — led by a man claiming to be an al-Qaida operative who was an informant posing as a terror financier.

Batiste has previously testified he was never serious about any terror plots and was only playing along in hopes of getting $50,000.

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