Cops say he taped here too - New Twist in Terror Case

New York Daily News ^ | 8/13/04 | TONY SCLAFANI

[kattracks]

Some of New York's top landmarks and tourist sights were videotaped by a Queens man who sparked terror fears across the South after he was arrested with footage of buildings from Texas to North Carolina, police said yesterday.

The discovery of the new videos, apparently seized from Kamran Akhtar's home in Elmhurst, prompted cops to warn officials to review security procedures at the sights, NYPD spokesman Paul Browne said.

"In an abundance of caution, the Counter Terrorism Bureau of the New York City Police Department is providing ... advice to security personnel at various sights," Browne said.

Among the landmarks were the American Express Building, the Circle Line, the Museum of Natural History, South Street Seaport, the Verizon telephone building, the Statue of Liberty and the Williamsburg and Brooklyn Bridges,

It was the first time authorities have said Akhtar's tapes included some of New York's most heavily traveled areas, which see thousands of tourists and commuters each day.

Akhtar, 35, who was arrested in Charlotte last month videotaping the city's 60-story Bank of America tower, initially told cops he was Kamran Shaikh.

What spooked authorities was the discovery of extensive videos of other buildings, train systems, dams and government offices in New Orleans, Atlanta, Austin and other Southern cities.

Akhtar, a native of Pakistan who who allegedly ignored a 1998 deportation order, is being held on immigration violations. He has a hearing today in Charlotte and faces up to 10 years and $250,000 in fines.

His brother, Irfan, who lives in Astoria with his wife, Lisa, calls the case against Akhtar "ridiculous" and said the New York alert was "a total surprise and upsetting.

"I can't believe they're trying to involve my brother with terrorism," Irfan said.

He said Kamr an innocently shot footage of the New York sights when their 70-year-old father, Mohammed, visited last spring from Pakistan.

"When someone comes to New York they want to see the sights so my brother took my father to them. If you look on the tapes, somewhere you will find my father. You can't cut him out."

Irfan's wife, Lisa, said her brother-in-law was "depressed" because he can't see his wife and three kids," but is otherwise okay.

She insisted authorities definitely have the wrong man because Irfan "is quiet, shy and barely religious. He's basically a couch potato. He likes to sit on the couch and watch television."

In warning security officials of Akhtar's latest video images, the NYPD advocated no extreme measures, but a top police official said the NYPD will offer suggestions on ways to defend against possible terror activity.

The feds say they have found Akhtar no known ties to terrorism.

Originally published on August 13, 2004

[Dallas59]

Going off on my own also led me to experience parts of Soviet life that were less heart-warming. Some of what I experienced was a direct result of not knowing the
language, but some of it was simply a conflict of cultural values. My free-wheeling, information-gathering behavior, with its paraphernalia of microphone, tape recorder, front-slung camera and assorted lenses, while natural to me as the way to document what I saw, was not seen by Soviet authorities and some citizens as natural, my right, or my privilege. "You have no permission," I was told frequently. "It is forbidden to take such photographs."
"Ya Amerikanka. I don't understand," was a phrase I used and thought often during my time in the Soviet Union. I spoke it when the infuriated church keeper grabbed my taping equipment during an early morning church service and ordered me out of the church. I thought it when an uneasy day care worker urged me on from giving balloons to her charges through a fence when she saw a policeman lingering at the corner. I thought it when the carrot-seller who had agreed to let me take his picture was immediately
surrounded by a group of wary, gesticulating vendors, angry that he had not refused me. I used it when a steely-eyed policeman stopped me and showered me with authoritarian remonstrance as I was about to photograph children playing in the gentle shadows of early morning light. I used it when he insisted I follow him back to a hotel (not mine), when he insisted I remain in the lobby until my tour guide came and met me, when he paced back and forth across the entrance of the hotel, preventing my exit.
Some people explain that the Soviets are afraid Americans document only the most backward parts of their country and then return home to show these pictures as the whole truth about the Soviet Union. Others say the Soviets are sensitive about their nation's awkward developmental stage and want only the modern aspects of their society photographed.
Whatever the truth, it was apparent that the other side of this collective society which houses its people and assures that they have employment, food and education, is that people are watched closely for any deviation from approved behavior. This watchfulness is both vertical and horizontal: not only do the authorities keep an eye on citizens, but citizens keep an eye on each other and on camera-clicking tourists.
Sometimes I pondered this perception objectively. My experiences of being watched were minor and brief, but occasionally the consequences of this watchfulness on peoples' lives hit home hard.

Ok so we're not the Soviet Union.....But I don't want things too start getting flaky here with cameras and taking pictures and watchers and people reporting thier nieghboors...when it starts getting that bad...I start fighting.

[RaceBannon]

You're right. We need to forget about acting like the Soviet Union...

DOES ANYONE HAVE ANY LINKS TO ARTICLES OF ARABS TAKING PICTURES OF DAMS, BLDS, CHEMICAL PLANTS, ETC?

http://www.freerepublic.com/perl/redirect?u=%2Ffocus%2Ffr%2F625056%2Fposts

[Dallas59]

Now your on the right track.

[Equality 7-2521]

I took a few pictures of the USS Ashland (LSD-48) when it pulled into port after one of its workups. My sole interest in the ship is that my wife serves aboard her. Still, more than one person asked me why I was taking pictures--and I'm not at all swarthy.

[fivecatsandadog]

Akhtar, a native of Pakistan who who allegedly ignored a 1998 deportation order, is being held on immigration violations. He has a hearing today in Charlotte and faces up to 10 years and $250,000 in fines.

How does one IGNORE a deportation order?

[txdoda]

How does one IGNORE a deportation order?>>>>>>>


ONE ??? How about hundreds of thousands !!!

Apparently gov't *not too worried* about illegals ignoring deportation orders. Since the numbers continue to grow (yearly) by the THOUSANDS.


http://www.usbc.org/info/2004/mar/deported.htm

"Among these “absconders” are roughly 80,000 criminals convicted of everything from stealing cars to rape and attempted murder. They were supposed to have been deported when their sentences ended. Another 320,000 were ordered to leave after overstaying visas or for other civil immigration violations."

[DoctorZIn]

This article has been posted to DoctorZin’s New News Blog!

[NYCVirago]

"When someone comes to New York they want to see the sights so my brother took my father to them. If you look on the tapes, somewhere you will find my father. You can't cut him out."

Yeah, every tourist gathers around to see the Verizon and Amerian Express buildings!