Cardiologist Akmal Waheed told an intelligence agency last week he would give a statement in the trial of Joseph Thomas, an alleged Australian Al Qaeda member, only after seeing his photograph. Waheed was sentenced to 18-years imprisonment for sheltering and treating members of a Pakistani Al Qaeda-linked group. Sources told Daily Times the Australian Federation Police wanted Waheed to give a statement in Thomasâs trial. Thomas was arrested from Pakistan while trying to leave here using a fake passport. He was deported to Australia in June 2003. Sources said that Australian authorities had asked the Interior Ministry for Waheedâs statement, alleging that the cardiologist had met Thomas in Afghanistan. Sources said a local intelligence agency met Waheed at Karachi Central Prison last week regarding this matter. âWaheed told the agents that he might have met Thomas at a Pakistan Islamic Medical Association (PIMA) medical camp in Afghanistan but did not know anyone with such a name, especially since it was a Christian name and the man (most probably) had converted to Islam,â they added. The cardiologist had said he would only give a statement after identifying the man through his picture, said sources. A Melbourne Magistrate Court released Thomas, who converted to Islam in 1996 and changed his name to Jihad, on February 15, 2005. He claimed he had been tortured in Pakistan.
Osama Bin Laden allegedly recruited Thomas, a âsleeperâ agent in Australia, to recce Afghanistan. Thomas worked as a taxi driver there for several years. He is also accused of training at a militant camp near Kandahar, fighting for Al Qaeda and being funded by the group. Thomas could be awarded the maximum jail term of 50 years imprisonment if proven guilty.