By JERUSALEM POST STAFF
An immigrant accused of conspiring to sell US intelligence secrets to Saddam Hussein's government told jurors Tuesday he was secretly working for the US government and may be confused with his dead identical twin.
"I have served this country with all my heart," Shaaban Hafiz Ahmad Ali Shaaban said during animated opening statements delivered through interpreters in US District Court.
"I refuse to say I am one person with my brother. I refuse to answer for him on his behalf, and the evidence will show that," he said.
Prosecutors said they would prove that Shaaban, 53, maintained multiple identities, intimidated a witness and tried to broker a $5 million deal with the Iraqi intelligence service to sell the names of 60 US agents who were working in Iraq or who were to enter the country before the 2002 invasion.