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| Home Front: WoT |
| Former friend testifies against terrorist wannabe in Atlanta |
| 2009-06-03 |
| An admitted supporter of terrorism testified in federal court Tuesday about his connection to Syed Haris Ahmed, a former Georgia Tech student who is on trial for similar charges. Zubair Ahmed, who is not related to the defendant, entered a guilty plea in the Northern District of Ohio last January to one count of providing material support to terrorism as part of a plea agreement. The charge carries a 15-year prison sentence, but he said he hopes to get an eight- to 10-year sentence for cooperating with the government. Zubair Ahmed, a 30-year-old Chicago resident, said he traveled to Egypt with his cousin during the summer of 2004 with the intent of eventually entering Iraq or Afghanistan to fight "violent jihad" against the United States. Before they could make it out of Egypt, Zubair Ahmed's father found out about his son's whereabouts and traveled to the country and brought him home. Zubair Ahmed testified he met Syed Haris Ahmed on a Web site that discusses Islamic issues. "We shared the same opinion," Zubair Ahmed said. The two eventually met in Chicago where Zubair Ahmed said they briefly discussed "violent jihad." The two men often communicated online through coded words or the Urdu language, Zubair Ahmed said. He explained a number system they devised to refer to the stages of their faith: 1st, the ideological phase; 2nd, the logistical phase; 3rd, the fight or battle phase. "Last time we met we were 1st. Now we are almost 3rd," Syed Haris Ahmed wrote to Zubair Ahmed in an online chat session during November 2005, according to testimony. Earlier Tuesday, Assistant U.S. Attorney Robert McBurney presented e-mail and online chat session evidence seized from Ahmed's hard drive by the FBI, showing Ahmed was referred to as the leader by his alleged co-conspirators. FBI Special Agent James Allen testified that coded e-mails spelled out Ahmed's intentions to enter a terrorist training camp during a trip to Pakistan in July 2005. "The curry place (Pakistan) is our main area for picnic and then spend the night at the mountain hills national park (terrorist camp)," Ahmed allegedly wrote in an e-mail. Syed Haris Ahmed, 24, and alleged co-conspirator Ehsanul Islam Sadequee are charged with providing material support to terrorists and other conspiracy counts. Sadequee is set to go on trial in August. Ahmed and Sadequee are accused of discussing attacks in the United States that include oil refineries and a military base. Prosecutors say they also made casing videos of landmarks in the Washington, D.C., area. The short, shaky videos were allegedly emailed to other co-conspirators and found on the hard drives of at least two men who were arrested on terrorism charges in the United Kingdom. Martin maintains the videos are amateurish and silly, but prosecutors pointed out that the defendant stated during an FBI interview the videos were sent "to prove that, you know, we are something." This story has the following tidbit: In July 2005, Ahmed traveled to Pakistan with the intention of joining a terrorist training camp and then waging jihad on behalf of either the Taliban or Lashkar-e-Taiba, a Pakistani-based terrorist group, prosecutors say. But Ahmed later told federal agents that, after talking it over with relatives in Karachi, he decided against it and returned to Atlanta. When Ahmed arrived on his return flight at Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport, he was flagged and interviewed by customs agents. Apparently alarmed about AhmedÂ’s intentions, FBI surveillance officials soon began keeping watch over him on the Georgia Tech campus. On Sept. 13, 2005, an FBI official followed Ahmed into the Georgia Tech library, where he sat down to use a computer. Standing on a balcony above the computer console, the officer looked down and saw Ahmed call up a Web site showing how to make explosives, according to TuesdayÂ’s testimony. At this time, Ahmed also was telling a friend in Michigan [Zubair Ahmed] in online chats how he regretted not taking the step toward violent jihad on his trip to Pakistan. |
| Posted by:ryuge |
| #1 I forgot to highlight the line: This story has the following tidbit: Sorry. |
| Posted by: ryuge 2009-06-03 07:42 |