Posted on 06/08/2005 6:49:15 PM PDT by Qaz_W
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (Reuters) - The FBI has arrested a Pakistani-American father and son living in California after the son admitted to attending an al Qaeda training camp in Pakistan, U.S. officials said on Wednesday.
Hamid Hayat, 23, and his father, Umer, 45, of Lodi, 35 miles (60 km) south of state capital Sacramento, were taken into custody over the weekend. Both men are being held in Sacramento on charges of lying to federal authorities.
"We believe through our investigation that various individuals connected to al Qaeda have been operating in the Lodi area in various capacities," Keith Slotter, special agent in charge of the FBI office in Sacramento, told reporters.
These involve "individuals who have received terrorist training abroad with the specific intent to initiate a terrorist attack in the United States and to harm Americans and our institutions."
The United States has launched numerous terrorism prosecutions with great fanfare since the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks, although many cases later fizzled out.
Two other men were arrested in Lodi for violating terms of their visas, said Immigration and Customs Enforcement spokesman Dean Boyd. The men have been identified as Muhammad Adil Khan -- an imam at Farooqia Islamic Center -- and Shabbir Ahmed, also an imam in Lodi, an administration source said.
"We are a peace-loving people; we have never done anything to violate the laws of the United States," a fellow Islamic leader, Taj Khan, told reporters in Lodi. "We love this country as much as anyone else."
PAKISTAN TRAINING
According to an FBI affidavit, Hamid Hayat told agents he attended an al Qaeda training camp in Pakistan for about six months in 2003 and 2004. "Hamid further stated that he and others at the camp were being trained on how to kill Americans," the affidavit said.
"Hamid advised that he specifically requested to come to the United States to carry out his jihad mission," the document said. "Potential targets for attack would include hospitals and large food stores."
During weapons training, photos of President George W. Bush and other high-ranking U.S. political figures were pasted onto targets. Neighbor Leslie Korb, who lives across the street, said Umer Hayat, who called himself Michael, drove an ice cream truck and had recently completed a course to become a welder. He said Umer had said the family went to Pakistan because the mother needed a liver transplant. "He was very cordial," he said. "I've never seen anything unusual." The FBI affidavit said Hamid Hayat left the United States in April 2003 for Pakistan. When he was returning to the United States via Korea on May 29, authorities diverted his flight to Japan because his name appeared on a no-fly list.
After the plane was diverted, Hayat denied having any connection to terrorism or terrorist activities, it said. After being allowed to continue to California, Hayat again denied being involved in training camps. A day later, after taking a lie detector test, Hayat admitted that he had attended an al Qaeda training camp, the affidavit said.
After Umer Hayat was shown a videotape of his son admitting that he trained at the camp, he said he had visited the camps and had paid for his son's flight to Pakistan to attend the camp.
(Additional reporting by Deborah Charles in Washington, Jim Christie in Lodi)
© Reuters 2005. All Rights Reserved.
May they be put away for a long long time.
Well... not exactly.
Typical Reuters crap, The courts may have cut them loose, not the same thing.
I can't believe that our courts would bend over backwards to grant quite probable enemy agents the rights and benefits of citizenship, even when fraudulently obtained.
I think all of the men identified in this sweep should be deported ASAP. And if the "community" of others of the same nationality remain silent, or whine about profiling, a stronger law enforcement presence among them is in order.
ping
Just hang them.
They should be tried for treason. If found guilty...death penalty.
Raids stun close-knit Pakistani community
Basim Elkarra, executive director of the Sacramento Valley chapter of CAIR (Council on American Islamic Relations), said Khan was one of several local Muslim leaders who previously met with the FBI to discuss security issues. "They've got nothing on those guys," Elkarra said. "This has happened before - if they don't like them, they'll get them on immigration violations. We will fight to make sure that everyone's civil liberties are upheld."
Somehow I doubt that.
I bet if you asked him what he likes about the country, he wouldn't last 1/2 a sentence before he started urinating on it.
I beg to differ. Every single one of the Northern Virginia jihadis brought up on federal charges has pleaded guilty to serious and multiple felonies without exception.
The US Immigration Office is not protecting the People of the USA. To allow any professing Muslims into this courty is to destroy this country from within. Most of them will avow to kill infidels (Americans) where ever they find them, even if in their own country. USA is inviting these terrorists into the country.
kcal9, the local cbs affiliate, ran the story a number of times. There's also a video of the news story on their website.
http://kcal9.com/topstories/topstories_story_159070518.html
(excerpt:
Father, Son Held In Qaeda Probe
Both Men Are U.S. Citizens
Jun 8, 2005 4:47 pm US/Pacific
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (CBS) A father and son were charged with lying to federal agents about the son's alleged training at an al Qaeda camp for a mission that a judge said was "to kill Americans whenever and wherever they can be found."
According to an FBI affidavit, Hamid Hayat first denied any link to terror camps, but then told agents he attended an al Qaeda camp in 2003 and 2004.
"Hamid advised that he specifically requested to come to the United States to carry out his jihadi mission," according to the affidavit. "Potential targets for attack would include hospitals and large food stores."
Doesn't pay to get stuck in Lodi.
Hang 'em.
bttt
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