By OMER FAROOQ Associated Press WriterHYDERABAD, India (AP) - Almost eight months after two Indian Muslims were detained in Texas for questioning about the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, their families still don't know when they'll be home, though both have long since been cleared of involvement.
The two remain in custody in the United States on unrelated charges of credit card fraud that prosecutors said surfaced during a background investigation. Pretrial hearings in the case, in which both men have pleaded innocent, are scheduled to begin this month in a U.S. federal court in New York.
The wait has been agonizing for the families of Gul Mohammed Shah, 36, and Mohammed Jawed Azmath, 38, who knew nothing about the credit card charges until January.
"We are in a total despair. Eight months is not a short period," Gul Begum, Shah's 75-year-old mother, told The Associated Press.
Syeda Fatima, Shah's sister, said that she had written letters to U.S. and Indian authorities including U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, Indian Foreign Minister Jaswant Singh and the National Human Rights Commission in New Delhi - none of which have been answered.
The two men were taken off a train at Fort Worth, Texas, when police found them carrying boxcutters, several thousand dollars in cash and hair dye. The hijackers of the airliners that smashed into the World Trade Center and the Pentagon are believed to have used boxcutters.
On the day of the attacks, Azmath and Khan were on a flight from New Jersey to Texas but boarded the train when the flight was diverted to Missouri.
The two told authorities that the tools were for their work at a newsstand in New Jersey and that they were heading for Texas to find new jobs.
They were cleared of suspicion in the hijackings in January but kept in custody on charges of credit card fraud.
Shah is accused of selling 10 to 15 credit cards for about dlrs 1,000 each to other parties, who then used the cards to obtain cash or buy goods and services estimated at dlrs 414,000. He likely would face up to two years behind bars if convicted.
Azmath, if convicted, would likely face less than six months in prison because he was accused of stealing less than dlrs 15,000 through credit card fraud.
The dates for their pretrial hearing in a Manhattan federal court have been set for May 10 and May 17.
"We all will be looking forward to the hearing and pray for a positive outcome," said Tasleema, Azmath's wife.
Time may be running out for Tasleema, a 22-year-old Pakistani.
Her visa expires on May 29 and local police have asked her to leave India. She would likely be able to extend her visa if her husband were here with her.
"I have pleaded my case before police and told them that my husband is under arrest in New York," she said. "The officials have promised to help."
She gave birth to a son in December while her husband was in custody.
NEW YORK (AP) - One of two men arrested with box cutters a day after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks pleaded guilty Thursday to credit card fraud charges.Mohammed Azmath, 37, is scheduled to be sentenced Sept. 17 and could face eight to 14 months in prison.
Lawyer Anthony Ricco said his client might qualify for sentencing as soon as July under a special program set up to quickly process Sept. 11 detainees who admit crimes unrelated to terrorism.
Prosecutors said Azmath sold personal information to someone who obtained credit cards in his name, purchasing $58,747 in services and merchandise. Ricco said his client received only several hundred dollars for his part in the conspiracy.
Ricco said he suspected Azmath will be deported to India rather than serve the sentence because he entered the country illegally in 1999.
"He would like to stay, but he's very happy to go home," Ricco said of his client, who has a wife in Hyderabad, India.
Azmath and Syed Gul Mohammed Shah, 36, boarded a plane in Newark, N.J., on Sept. 11 to go to San Antonio. They were stranded in St. Louis when their plane was grounded along with all other air traffic after the terrorist attacks.
The men then got on an Amtrak train to Texas, where they were arrested after authorities found two box cutters, hair dye, a knife and several thousand dollars among their belongings.
Ricco said his client was not allowed to see a lawyer for three months and had been subjected to harsh treatment, including having his toe broken by a jail guard.
"He's been roughed up, cursed at, locked outside in the rain for five hours several times," Ricco said.
An associate warden at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn, where Azmath has been held, did not return a telephone message Thursday.Azmath and Shah were initial suspects in the sprawling terrorism probe, especially when it was learned that men who hijacked four planes on Sept. 11 used box cutters to overpower flight crews.
Later, investigators concluded the men were not linked to terrorism.
Shah has pleaded innocent to similar fraud charges.