In appealing his 2007 conviction on insider trading charges, Nacchio argued that the government had retaliated against him by withdrawing lucrative contracts after he refused to participate in a National Security Agency program he believed was illegal. It's unclear precisely what NSA programs were discussed in a February 2001 conversation between Nacchio and representatives of the ultra-secret spy agency.

Nine judges on the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals granted a request from prosecutors for all of them to rehear Nacchio's appeal, which a three-judge panel of the court had decided 2-1 in Nacchio's favor on March 17. The nine judges gave no reason for their decision.

Nacchio's April 2007 conviction on 19 counts of insider trading had been hailed as a major victory in the government's attempt to crack down on corporate titans who profited while their companies suffered serious financial setbacks.

The telecom ex-CEO was convicted of illegally selling $52 million worth of stock in 2001 after, prosecutors alleged, company insiders warned him Qwest could not meet its financial targets.

The two judges who overturned the conviction concluded Nacchio did not get a fair trial because the trial judge improperly barred testimony from an expert witness the defense considered key to its case.

Prosecutors, in asking the higher court to reconsider, contended the March 17 decision improperly restricted a judge's discretion to exclude "unsupported expert opinions and unnecessary economic commentary."

The Denver-based appeals court said it would hear oral arguments on September 24. The judges told Nacchio's attorneys and prosecutors to submit within 30 days written briefs addressing four issues about the exclusion of the testimony of the expert witness.

Nacchio's attorneys said they were confident the full panel would concur with the decision by the three-judge panel.

"The trial court excluded evidence that would have established Mr. Nacchio's innocence," attorney Maureen Mahoney said in a statement. "The panel concluded that the trial was unfair and we expect the en banc court to agree."

Troy Eid, U.S. Attorney for Colorado, said in a statement that prosecutors, "will keep working to ensure that justice is done."

ALBUQUERQUE (AP) - The 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Denver has upheld a lower court's ruling that Albuquerque police officers are not entitled to qualified immunity on claims they retaliated against protesters at an anti-war rally.

More than a dozen people who participated in the University of New Mexico campus rally in March 2003 sued the city of Albuquerque, Mayor Martin Chavez and several Albuquerque police officers, claiming their First Amendment rights to freedom of expression and assembly were violated.

The protest drew between 500 and 1,000 people, who spilled onto city sidewalks and the crosswalks of adjacent streets.

The Albuquerque Police Department claimed protesters were blocking traffic. Officers say they tossed tear gas canisters and used pepper spray after protesters failed repeated warnings to clear the streets.

I'm at the point at which I can no longer support We Are Change New Mexico alone. I've paid for every event, I've paid 75% of the tuition fee to become a member of the Albuquerque Peace & Justice Center, I've paid for countless months on meetup.com and since only 5 people have actually showed up to a meeting I can't honestly see why continue.

Yesterday I received this email from one of the members on meetup.com who has never come to a single meeting.....

The FBI issued a bulletin to 18,000 law enforcement agencies this week warning that al-Qaida has made new threats to use weapons of mass destruction against U.S. targets.

ABC News reported late Tuesday that intelligence sources have confirmed that al-Qaida plans to release a new video on the web sometime tomorrow. U.S. intelligence believes the terror group will advise its "jihadists to use biological, chemical and nuclear weapons to attack the West."

An FBI spokesman confirmed the threat "calling for the use of weapons of mass destruction (WMD) against civilians." The U.S. has no "intelligence of any specific plot or indication of a threat to the U.S.," the Bureau spokesman said. Still, the FBI has taken the precautionary step of alerting other agencies of the potential threat.

Such threats are not unusual for the Bureau. Earlier this year, Dr. Vahid Majidi, the bureau's assistant director in charge of the WMD Directorate, told Newsmax that the FBI gets at least several dozen cases a year involving weapons of mass destruction.

The Bureau takes such threats seriously.

In a separate interview with Newsmax's Ronald Kessler last year, FBI Director Robert Mueller said Osama bin Laden and his terrorist group were actively seeking to obtain nuclear devices with the intent to explode them in American cities.

Mueller conjectured how al Qaida might acquire one or more nuclear devices. "One is to obtain a nuclear device that's already been constructed from one of the former Iron Curtain countries, and the other way is to put together the fissile material and the expertise and do an improvised nuclear device," Mueller said.

"And there's no doubt that al Qaida, if it had the capability, would go down either route to get a nuclear device."

Mueller also had little doubt as to al Qaida's likely targets.

"It would be someplace in the United States, in most likely Washington and or New York, depending on how many devices they have. Or both cities," Mueller said.