Two busted in Al Qaeda plot in U.S.

The son of a former Malcolm X aide was nabbed yesterday, along with a Florida doctor, in a plot to start an Al Qaeda training camp in the U.S. - even scouting out a Long Island warehouse for a terror school, officials said last night.

Tarik Shah, 38, a self-proclaimed martial arts expert from the Bronx, and Dr. Rafiq Sabir, 50, presented themselves as a "package deal" to help Muslim "brothers" wage jihad here and in the Middle East, said Manhattan U.S. Attorney David Kelley.

Kelley said Shah - son of Lieutenant X, one of Malcolm X's top aides - even bragged to an undercover FBI agent and a federal informant that he could kill with prayer beads.

Sabir, a former New York doctor who moved to Boca Raton, Fla., in 2002, vowed to treat wounded jihadists in Saudi Arabia, where he was scheduled to fly this week, officials said.

"Both swore an oath of allegiance to Al Qaeda and [Osama] Bin Laden in front of the informant and [an] FBI undercover agent posing as [an Al Qaeda] recruiter before they were nabbed this weekend," a statement released by Kelley said.

The oath left the two men with the "impression that they had become members" of Al Qaeda, the statement said.

Officials said Shah, who also went by the names Tarik Jenkins and Abu Musab, took steps to find a secret location in the New York area to house a terror training camp. "At one point, in the company of the [informant], Shah allegedly inspected a warehouse on Long Island to determine its suitability as a training facility," said the statement.

Shah and Sabir, both American citizens, were charged with conspiring to provide material support to Al Qaeda. If convicted, they each face 15 years in prison and $250,000 fines.

Both men were arrested Friday morning, Shah at his home on Grant Ave. near E. 163rd St. in the Bronx and Sabir in Boca Raton. Shah was scheduled to appear in Manhattan Federal Court tomorrow.

Sabir - who previously worked at Harlem Hospital and Nassau University Medical Center and who once operated a storefront office at a Harlem mosque - has a court date tomorrow in a federal courtroom in Florida.

His ex-wife Ingrid Doyle, 47, of Manhattan, told the South Florida Sun-Sentinel that Sabir was born into a large Catholic family in New York and converted to Islam while in high school.

"While we were married he was a lovely father and husband and nothing if not a hardworking man," Doyle said.

Last night, as the results of the joint FBI and NYPD operation were revealed, Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly said it is "particularly gratifying that someone using New York City as a base for terrorist support is now in custody."

Federal agents began investigating Shah and Sabir in 2003, when the two began meeting with a confidential informant to talk about ways they could help Al Qaeda, the terrorist network responsible for the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, authorities said.

"During these conversations, Shah repeatedly indicated his desire to train Muslim 'brothers' in the martial arts in order to wage jihad and also regularly discussed his desire to find people who were willing to press the fight," Kelley's statement said.

Shah was so gung-ho about helping the terrorists that he presented to the informant a "training syllabus for hand-to-hand combat" and a videotape so that AlQaeda bosses in the Middle East could evaluate him, authorities said.

"During one meeting with the [informant] ... Shah physically demonstrated how he had fashioned his prayer beads into a weapon which could be used to strangle a person," the statement said.

Shah also was interested in getting training in "chemical stuff" and firearms, officials said.

But last night, Shah's mother, Marlene Jenkins, of Albany, blasted the charges as "ridiculous."

Sabir allegedly told the informant that once he returned to Saudi Arabia, where he claimed he had worked at a Saudi military base, he would secretly treat wounded terrorists.

Sabir, who was educated at City College and Columbia University's medical school and owes $500,000 in student loans, had been set to fly to Saudi Arabia this Thursday, according to prosecutors.

When cops raided his home in a gated community, Villa of San Remo, Sabir told them, "'I know you have a job to do. I'm a doctor, and I know my rights,'" a police source said.

Sabir was well known in Harlem, where he once kept a storefront office below the Masjidus Sabur mosque on Adam Clayton Powell Blvd.

Kelley said Shah - son of Lieutenant X, one of Malcolm X's top aides

US director Spike Lee has attacked President George Bush's policy on Iraq at the Berlin Film Festival. Lee, in the German capital to promote his film 25th Hour - about New York after the 11 September attacks - praised the French and German governments' moves to head off conflict. "The German and French governments should be commended," he said. "Too many people are being bowled over by Bush and Tony Blair in Britain. It's ludicrous to expect the whole world to follow what they want." Lee's latest film deals with the aftermath of 11 September He added: "America doesn't have the moral right to tell other people what to do. To say the whole world has to fall into line is you-know-what. I hope more people will rise up." Lee's comments were endorsed by his cast at a press conference, and drew thunderous applause from many of the 300 journalists present. The film's lead, Edward Norton, added: "It's nice being in Europe this week. Almost everyone in Germany and France is in sync with the governments. "I almost forgot what it's like to be proud of my government." There must be people who remember World War II and the holocaust that can get us out of this rut Dustin Hoffman He said he hoped US citizens would apply pressure on their government to think again. "It's dismaying to see the unilateralism the government is doing. There aren't enough rational steps," he said. 'Unpatriotic' Actress Rosario Dawson said she was frightened by attitudes in the United States. "Any dissenting opinion is considered unpatriotic," she said. "It makes me upset. I'm embarrassed. It's my hope that Americans won't jump on anyone having a dissenting opinion." Lee's comments, together with those of his stars, add to a growing tide of anti-war sentiment in Hollywood. Dustin Hoffman repeated his earlier criticisms of Mr Bush at a black-tie charity dinner on Tuesday, while Martin Scorsese said he hoped war would be averted. "There must be people who remember World War II and the holocaust that can get us out of this rut," he said. Martin Sheen, Sean Penn and Robert Redford have also attacked a war, while more than a hundred celebrities have signed an open letter urging Mr Bush to give peace a chance. Edward Norton plays a drug dealer about to go to jail 25th Hour, one of 22 films competing for the festival's Golden Bear prize, follows a drug dealer, played by Norton, whose life falls apart when he is convicted and sentenced to seven years in jail. The loss of his lifestyle and the thought his girlfriend may have betrayed him parallels the loss felt by New Yorkers throughout the film. Lee hit back at suggestions he was exploiting the sense of loss caused by the attack, in which more than 3,000 people died. "We wanted to truthfully reflect the rage and the tone of what people felt," he said. "I think we were very respectful to the families who lost loved ones. So long as we are respectful I don't think we have to bother about such criticism."

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