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| Britain |
| UK hard boy had links to Movsar Barayev |
| 2004-08-06 |
| A British man wanted on an American extradition warrant used U.S.-based Web sites to recruit Taliban fighters and possessed a document with information on U.S. naval movements, U.S. government lawyers said Friday. They claim that Babar Ahmad, 30, had links to the e-mail account of a Chechen mujaheddin leader behind the October 2002 Moscow theater siege, and that he had a document on battle group plans for U.S. Navy vessels involved in operations against Taliban and al Qaeda fighters in Afghanistan. Ahmad made his first court appearance in London after being arrested there Wednesday on a U.S. extradition warrant from the state of Connecticut. Asked if he understood the charges, Ahmad told Bow Street Magistrates Court in central London: "Not really. It's all a bit confusing to me." According to an arrest warrant affidavit, one of the Web sites contained a detailed description of its purpose. "Azzam Publications has been set up to propagate the call for jihad among the Muslims who are sitting down, ignorant of this vital duty," the affidavit quoted the site as saying. "Thus the purpose of Azzam Publications is to incite the believers and also, secondly, to raise some money for the brothers." The site instructed people to become trained in martial arts and firearms and join clubs that emphasize street fighting, sword and knife fighting, and to research sniper training, land mine operations, mortars and combat, according to the affidavit. The affidavit also said investigators discovered a floppy disk at his parents' home in London. The disk contained a password-protected document containing detailed information about a U.S. Navy battle group, including its planned movements, the affidavit said. Investigators also found a compact disc with audio tracks praising Osama bin Laden, the affidavit said. Ahmad stood in the dock as the four-count warrant was read aloud at Bow Street Magistrates Court in central London. Asked if he agreed to be sent to the United States, Ahmad said: "I don't, no." He said he did not understand the charges: "It's all a bit confusing to me." Rosemary Fernandes, representing the United States at the hearing in London, said the Navy document, dated April 2001, had been seized by British police in 2003 and verified by U.S. authorities. The extradition warrant alleges that between 1998 and Feb. 19, 2001, Ahmad sought through American Web sites and e-mail people in the United States "to give or otherwise make available money and other property" to commit terrorist acts in Chechnya and Afghanistan. The police said anti-terrorist officers were searching three "residential premises" and one business in southwest London in relation to Ahmad's arrest on behalf of U.S. authorities. The warrant also alleges that between the same dates Babar "agreed with U.S. citizens based in the U.S.A. and others" on a plan to raise "contributions toward acts of terrorism." |
| Posted by:Dan Darling |