| Submit your comments on this article |
| Home Front: WoT |
| Accused al-Qaeda supporter testifies in New York trial |
| 2005-11-18 |
| A Pakistani accused of supporting an al Qaeda plot to attack the United States testified at his trial on Thursday that he knew of no such scheme and was forced into a false confession by FBI agents. Uzair Paracha, 25, is accused of agreeing to smuggle travel documents and pose as another man, purported al Qaeda member Majid Khan, who prosecutors believe was planning to blow up gas stations in America. Paracha told jurors in Manhattan federal court that he eventually confessed to FBI agents that he helped Khan during three days of questioning in FBI offices and Manhattan hotel rooms in March 2003. "I was scared, and I wanted to go home. Every time I told them the truth, they told me I was lying," Paracha said. "So I told them what I thought they wanted to hear." Paracha, who said he was strip searched and told he would be arrested if he requested a lawyer, said he agreed to help Khan with his travel documents "as a fellow Pakistani Muslim" and did not know he was a member of al Qaeda, which masterminded the September 11, 2001, attacks on the United States. "I am not a supporter of taking innocent lives," said Paracha, who if convicted faces a maximum of 15 years in prison on each of the five counts he faces, including document fraud and supporting al Qaeda. "The truth is I did not know these people were al Qaeda," he testified. "The truth is if I knew that, I would not have agreed to help them." Prosecutors allege Paracha attended a series of meetings in Pakistan in 2003 with his father Saifullah Paracha and al Qaeda members Khan and Ammar al-Baluchi and agreed to mail travel documents to Khan in Pakistan, knowing he was planning to carry out an attack. Both Khan and al-Baluchi are being held in U.S. custody in undisclosed locations, and Saifullah Paracha has been held for two years in the U.S. prison in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. Sworn statements made to U.S. authorities by Khan and al-Baluchi read aloud in court on Thursday said neither Paracha nor his father knew either of the men was an al Qaeda member or knew of a chemical attack plot. Khan said in the statement he gave Paracha only a 5 to 10 percent "recruitment suitability assessment" because "Uzair Paracha has no extremist views and was not really a practicing Muslim." Under cross examination by prosecutor Karl Metzner, Paracha admitted that during the FBI questioning he was granted sleep and food. Also under cross examination, Paracha testified that he told FBI agents on the third day of questioning he wanted to help Khan as a favor to al Qaeda. Paracha's trial began on November 9. |
| Posted by:Dan Darling |
| #1 Uzair Paracha, 25, is accused of agreeing to smuggle travel documents and pose as another man, purported al Qaeda member Majid Khan, who prosecutors believe was planning to blow up gas stations in America. I find this interesting. There seems to me to be two things consistent with an AQ plot. Part of the recipe, so to speak. One is that though they are watched by the FBI/Security Services, Mr. Big always manages to disappear/drop off the radar shortly before the main event. Second, there is always someone who is left behind that gets caught. Ramzi Yousef, Zacharias Moussaoui, Hamdi Issac, the Jordan bomber chic. So, I just find it interesting that this guy was supposed to pose as an AQ member because it gives insight into how the players may manage to disappear just before the big event. It's kind of like running through water and circling back. It tricks the blood hounds every time. |
| Posted by: 2b 2005-11-18 14:36 |