alleged the National Security Agency illegally listened to its calls. The charity had wanted to introduce as evidence a top-secret call log ...

November 16, 2007 5:53 p.m. PT | Court deals blow to wiretapping case | By PAUL ELIAS | ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER

SAN FRANCISCO -- A federal appeals court on Friday dealt a near-fatal blow against an Islamic charity's lawsuit challenging the Bush administration's warrantless wiretapping program, concluding that a key piece of evidence is protected as a state secret.

The lawsuit, filed by the Oregon-based U.S. arm of the Al-Haramain Islamic Foundation, alleged the National Security Agency illegally listened to its calls. The charity had wanted to introduce as evidence a top-secret call log they received mistakenly from the Treasury Department.

But the three-judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said the log could not be used because it fell under the "state secrets" privilege invoked by the government, and without it, the court said, the foundation had little proof it was wiretapped. ...