U.S. to File Terrorism Charges Against Pakistani Detainee (Uzair Paracha)
Washington Post ^ | August 6, 2003 | Dan Eggen
Posted on 08/05/2003 10:55:54 PM PDT by Shermy
Federal authorities expect to file terrorism charges soon against a detained Pakistani man with ties to the shipping industry and links to a senior al Qaeda leader, law enforcement officials said yesterday.
Uzair Paracha, 23, has been secretly detained as a material witness since his arrest March 31 in the offices of a New York clothing import firm owned by his father, sources said. Authorities believe the Paracha family business may have been used as cover for attempts to smuggle al Qaeda operatives or weapons into the United States, according to several sources familiar with the case.
Paracha's father, who owns a Pakistani textile company that routinely shipped large containers of clothing and other goods into Newark, was last seen as he tried to board an airplane in Karachi a month ago. He was arrested by Pakistani police and has been held incommunicado ever since, according to local press reports and two U.S. officials with knowledge of the case.
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In addition, two law enforcement officials said, Paracha has been linked to Iyman Faris, an Ohio truck driver who pleaded guilty May 1 to providing material support to a terrorist organization. Ricco said he does not know of any ties between the two.
Faris met with Osama bin Laden and other al Qaeda leaders, and plotted to bring down the Brooklyn Bridge and launch a terrorist attack against Washington, according to court papers. Faris had numerous ties to the shipping and cargo business, and had considered starting a garment-shipping business like the one associated with Paracha, according to officials and court documents.
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They said [Uzair/Ozair] Paracha [son of Saifullah Paracha] met with a man believed to be an al-Qaida associate in Pakistan earlier this year [2003 before Aug]. The man asked him to contact U.S. immigration authorities and pose as the associate to get a travel document that would permit the associate to re-enter and possibly remain in the United States, prosecutors said. The al-Qaida associate, however, has remained overseas, prosecutors said.[Uzair] Paracha was scheduled to appear in U.S. District Court in Manhattan on Friday.
Prosecutors said [Uzair] Paracha told the FBI in March that he possessed several items of identification belonging to the al-Qaida associate. A search of his belongings revealed that he had a Maryland driver's license and a bank ATM card in the associate's name, prosecutors said. Paracha's lawyer, Anthony Ricco, has said in recent days that Paracha was innocent. He was arrested about six weeks after he came to the United States to raise money for a real estate venture in Pakistan, Ricco said.
-------"Feds Charge Suspect With Aiding al-Qaida Federal Prosecutors Charge a Pakistani Man With Providing Support to al-Qaida Network," The Associated Press, Aug. 8, 2003