NEW YORK (AP) - An American student arrested last year in London on allegations of providing al-Qaida fighters with equipment to attack American soldiers was in federal custody Saturday.Syed Hashmi, 27, arrived in the U.S. late Friday, said U.S. Attorney Michael J. Garcia. Hashmi is the first terror suspect extradited to the United States by British authorities.
| "Syed Hashmi aided the enemy by providing military gear to al-Qaida." |
The Pakistani native, who is an American citizen, had lived in Britain for three years before his June 6, 2006, arrest as he boarded a flight to Pakistan at Heathrow Airport. He only spoke to confirm his name and date of birth at a subsequent London court hearing where he refused consent for extradition.
In March, the British High Court ruled against Hashmi in his legal battle, rejecting his claim that the U.S. arrest warrants were flawed.
Hashmi is to be arraigned Wednesday before U.S. District Judge Loretta A. Preska. The former Queens resident faces up to 50 years in prison if convicted of all charges in the three-count indictment, including the top count of conspiring to contribute funds, goods or services to the terrorist group.
Law enforcement officials said Hashmi was associated with another Queens man, Mohammed Junaid Babar, who pleaded guilty in August 2004 to smuggling night-vision goggles, money and military supplies to an al-Qaida official establishing a ``jihad training camp'' in Pakistan. The Hashmi indictment referred to the prior arrest of an unidentified co-conspirator.
Babar, a U.S. citizen of Pakistani descent, acknowledged meeting with the terrorist official near the Afghanistan border - in the same area where the gear provided by Hashmi was brought, according to the pending indictment.