Florida Imams arrested for aiding Pakistani Taliban

[Babur]

This is surprising, I thought that such activity might be expected in Britain but not in the US.It is good that this Imam was arrested, I hope more of these guys are caught.

(Reuters) - The Imam of a Florida mosque and his two sons, one also a Muslim spiritual leader, were arrested on Saturday on charges of financing and supporting the Pakistani Taliban, U.S. officials said.

The three Pakistan-born U.S. citizens were among six charged in a U.S. indictment that accused them of "supporting acts of murder, kidnapping and maiming in Pakistan and elsewhere" carried out by the Pakistani Taliban, which Washington calls a terrorist organisation.

The indictment, announced by U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Florida Wifredo Ferrer and the FBI, charged the six with creating a network that transferred funds from the United States to Pakistani Taliban supporters and fighters in Pakistan, including for the purpose of buying arms.

If convicted, each faces up to 15 years in prison for each count of the indictment.

The charges were revealed at a time when U.S. relations with Pakistan are strained over the U.S. raid that killed al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden in Pakistan.

Pakistan's parliament on Saturday condemned the raid that killed bin Laden and called for a review of relations with the United States.

The indictment detailed money transfers totalling some $50,000, but Ferrer said there was evidence more had been sent. "This was just the tip of the iceberg," he told reporters.

Two of the accused, Hafiz Muhammed Sher Ali Khan, 76, and his son, Izhar Khan, 24, were arrested in south Florida after prayer services at the mosques where they were spiritual leaders, or Imams.

Another son, Irfan Khan, 37, was detained early on Saturday in a Los Angeles hotel room.

Hafiz Khan is the Imam at the Miami Mosque, also known as the Flagler Mosque, in Miami. His son, Izhar Khan, is an Imam at the Jamaat Al-Mu'mineen Mosque in Margate, Florida, according to the indictment.

The other three charged, Ali Rehman, Alam Zeb and Amina Khan, were living in Pakistan and are still at large. Amina Khan is the daughter of Hafiz Khan and her son, Alam Zeb, is his grandson.

RECORDED CONVERSATIONS

Officials said the arrests and charges followed a three-year investigation into suspicious financial transactions and was based on recorded conversations and a trail of money moving from U.S. bank accounts to Pakistan.

John Gillies, a special agent in the FBI's Miami office, said there was no link between this case and the documents and other intelligence taken from the compound in Pakistan where Osama bin Laden was killed this month.

Prosecutors also allege that Hafiz Khan supported the Pakistani Taliban through a madrassa, or Islamic school, in Swat, Pakistan, which they said he used to house militants.

"We have evidence that the madrassa was being used at his direction to shelter members of the Pakistan Taliban and prepare children to become mujahideen," or Muslim fighters, Ferrer added.

"Despite being an Imam, or spiritual leader, Hafiz Khan was by no means a man of peace," he said.

The Pakistani Taliban is classified as a "designated foreign terrorist organisation" by the U.S. government, which says it is linked to al Qaeda and the Taliban in Afghanistan.

"Let me be clear that this is not an indictment against a particular community or religion. Instead, today's indictment charges six individuals for promoting terror and violence through their financial and other support of the Pakistani Taliban," Ferrer said.

In another ongoing case that could sour relations with Pakistan, a Pakistani-born man accused of aiding militants in the 2008 Mumbai attacks in India is set to go on trial in Chicago next week.

http://uk.reuters.com/article/2011/0...74D1A920110514

[Tiberios]

Hope they get a long sentence if they are found guilty. Afterwards their citzenship should be revoked and they should be deported.

[Babur]

Hope they get a long sentence if they are found guilty. Afterwards their citzenship should be revoked and they should be deported.

Or better still, the US can agree to deport them if Pakistan co-operates by handing over certain individuals involved in supporting the Afghan Taliban such as those who form the Haqqani Network.

[Tiberios]

Or better still, the US can agree to deport them if Pakistan co-operates by handing over certain individuals involved in supporting the Afghan Taliban such as those who form the Haqqani Network.

That seems like a good solution. But they should be deported after serving their sentences, otherwise they'd probably escape any punishment at all given the policies of parts of the Pakistani Government.

[Babur]

That seems like a good solution. But they should be deported after serving their sentences, otherwise they'd probably escape any punishment at all given the policies of parts of the Pakistani Government.

but why not put a little pressure before doing so?

[Tiberios]

but why not put a little pressure before doing so?

That should be done yes.

[Menelik_I]

That seems like a good solution. But they should be deported after serving their sentences, otherwise they'd probably escape any punishment at all given the policies of parts of the Pakistani Government.

You and Babur are just haters ... this is just like Americans used to raise money to finance the French resistance against the Nazi, after all USA is occupying and impereal occupation of other countries.

/Pr-empting stupid arguments.

[Dr Zoidberg]

Or better still, the US can agree to deport them if Pakistan co-operates by handing over certain individuals involved in supporting the Afghan Taliban such as those who form the Haqqani Network.

If the US deported these blokes to Pakistan, I would put good money on seeing them in under six months on Pakistani TV calling for the death of the West and financing suicide bombers.

Better to stick 'em in a cell somewhere in the US.

[xcorps]

If the US deported these blokes to Pakistan, I would put good money on seeing them in under six months on Pakistani TV calling for the death of the West and financing suicide bombers.

Better to stick 'em in a cell somewhere in the US.

I hear Gitmo has bedspace.

[mongrel]

Not the first time expats in the US have funded terrorists, (NORAID), but matters have clearly been improved.

[Babur]

Not the first time expats in the US have funded terrorists, (NORAID), but matters have clearly been improved.

didn't some expats support the IRA?

You and Babur are just haters ... this is just like Americans used to raise money to finance the French resistance against the Nazi, after all USA is occupying and impereal occupation of other countries.

/Pr-empting stupid arguments.

except that the French Resistance's cause was just and righteous while the Pakistani Taliban's cause is not

[Menelik_I]

except that the French Resistance's cause was just and righteous while the Pakistani Taliban's cause is not

/UncleJoe mode

Who gets to decide ? Just because you dissagree don't make it wrong

[mrmouth]

This is surprising, I thought that such activity might be expected in Britain but not in the US.It is good that this Imam was arrested, I hope more of these guys are caught.

I think that fundraising probably happens just as much if not more in the US, than in the UK or Western Europe.

What people worry about with the UK and Europe is how deeply it is ingrained within the Muslim communities, and for how long. You are talking decades. And unfortunately it has led to significant acts of mass murder around the world.

[Angrychris]

car washes for road side bombs

[PointOfViewGun]

I wonder what took them so long...

[ronm100]

OH NO!!!! the fascist american government arrested a peace activist!!!