Posted on 06/24/2005 5:37:19 PM PDT by NormsRevenge
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - A Pakistani cleric facing deportation was accused Friday during an immigration hearing of trying to incite followers to defend Osama bin Laden and kill Americans.
Shabbir Ahmed, 39, seeking bail on a charge of overstaying his visa to head a Lodi mosque in the Central Valley, denied that he had made any speech against the United States. During the same hearing, a government attorney said another Lodi imam being held on immigration charges once had close ties to the Taliban.
Justice Department attorney Paul Nishiie argued against releasing Ahmed on bail, saying he was linked to a terrorist group in Karachi, Pakistan, and had preached about attacking Americans a few months after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.
While preaching at an Islamabad mosque, Ahmed also encouraged attacks on Pakistan's President Gen. Pervez Musharraf because of his support for the American war on terrorism, Nishiie said.
"Did you encourage people to defend Osama bin Laden and kill Americans?" Nishiie asked.
"I did not say it like this," Ahmed said through an Urdu interpreter.
In response to a similar question later, he said, "Sometimes you say something when you're emotional."
Immigration Judge Anthony Murry did not rule on Ahmed's bail request, continuing the hearing until Aug. 2. Ahmed, wearing an orange jail suit, was led away from the heavily guarded courtroom in shackles. A deportation trial was scheduled for Oct. 24.
Ahmed's lawyer said his client was not involved in terrorism.
"We all do things in life that we are not proud of," immigration lawyer Saad Ahmad said after the hearing. "Somebody may have said things. It doesn't necessarily mean he is a terrorist."
But the Justice Department counsel said Ahmed was a student and teacher at Jamia Farooqia, which was listed as a terrorist group by the U.S. State Department in 2001.
Jamia Farooqia, which calls itself a "renowned university of Islamic sciences" on the Internet, sent troops to Afghanistan to fight on behalf of the Taliban against Americans, Nishiie said.
Ahmed is one of five men arrested during a terrorism investigation in Lodi, a community of about 62,000 about 80 miles east of San Francisco. Muslim leaders, the American Civil Liberties Union and government leaders have criticized the tactics of federal investigators and for bringing a spotlight on the community. Authorities, meanwhile, have pressed forward with the cases.
Friday's hearing in San Francisco was the first time they revealed evidence against Ahmed.
In another case, a father and son who face criminal charges for allegedly lying to the FBI won their fight in Sacramento federal court Friday to see some of the evidence prosecutors have against them.
Hamid Hayat, 22, allegedly lied to agents when he denied attending a terrorism camp in Pakistan in 2003 and 2004. His father, Umer Hayat, 47, was charged with lying to investigators about his son's camp activity that he allegedly financed.
Federal prosecutors agreed to turn over some of their evidence, but U.S. Magistrate Judge Peter Nowinski rejected a request to make prosecutors reveal what led them to suspect Hamid Hayat and put him on the government's "no fly" list.
Nowinski said he wasn't going to let defense lawyer Johnny L. Griffin III "muck around in national security information."
"It's a serious false statement case," Nowinski said. "It's a case where someone lied about terrorist activities."
In the immigration case, another Lodi religious leader, Muhammad Adil Khan, and his 19-year-old son, Muhammad Hassan Adil Khan, are being detained pending immigration hearings that were postponed until Aug. 2.
The elder Khan was the former general secretary of Jamia Farooqia and allegedly had close ties with the Taliban, Nishiie said.
Saad Ahmad, who also represents the Khans, said Ahmed's visa expired in November and that he applied for an extension in October. While he said it's usually best to apply for an extension six months in advance, he claims Ahmed is still in the country legally.
"I don't think this has anything to do with his immigration status," Ahmad said after the immigration hearing.
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On the Net:
Jamia Farooqia: http://www.farooqia.com/
"Did you encourage people to defend Osama bin Laden and kill Americans?" Nishiie asked.
"I did not say it like this," Ahmed said through an Urdu interpreter.
In response to a similar question later, he said, "Sometimes you say something when you're emotional."
Ahmed. Ahmed. You jihadists are all alike.
According to Rove, democrats and Republicans feel differently about situations, like this.
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