Posted on 08/11/2005 4:04:55 PM PDT by twntaipan
SAN FRANCISCO -- A lead FBI agent on Tuesday linked two local Muslim clerics to the Taliban and Osama bin Laden, contending the two were planning to set up a school near Lodi that would breed anti-American terrorism.
The agent testified that Lodi clerics Shabbir Ahmed and Mohammed Adil Khan were prepared to relay information on terrorist plots from sources close to bin Laden.
The allegations were dismissed by Ahmed's lawyer, who said the FBI and federal prosecutors have "made the whole thing up."
The striking allegations came during an immigration hearing for Ahmed at which Immigration Judge Anthony Murry declined to set bail for him as he fights charges he stayed here after his visa expired.
"I am compelled to find you are both a flight risk and a danger to the community," Murry told Ahmed.
Ahmed, 39, has been jailed since the beginning of June when federal agents conducting a terror investigation detained him on immigration charges. Two other Lodi men face criminal charges of lying to FBI agents, and Adil Khan and his son are expected to leave the country in about a week.
At the second part of Ahmed's bond hearing in immigration court in San Francisco, the shackled Lodi man listened as prosecutors attempted to tie him to Osama bin Laden.
FBI Agent Gary Schaaf, lead case agent in charge of the Lodi terror investigation, went over a flow chart of names and photos allegedly connected to bin Laden, the man accused of orchestrating the 9/11 attacks and other terrorist actions. Ultimately, Schaaf accused Ahmed of planning to relay terror orders from Taliban leaders to people in Lodi.
The Lodi investigation has been going on for several years, but officials closed in when 22-year-old Hamid Hayat stepped on a plane in late May, headed from Pakistan to his home in Lodi.
Hayat's name was on a no-fly list, and before long he and his father, Umer Hayat, 47, were arrested and accused of lying to federal agents after Hamid Hayat allegedly failed a lie detector test, then admitted to attending a terror training camp in Pakistan. Through his attorney, he has denied the allegations.
Both father and son are awaiting trial, which was to begin later this month but has since been postponed to October.
During the course of his interviews with FBI agents, Schaaf testified Tuesday, the younger Hayat allegedly said he had been sent back to Lodi with instructions: He would receive orders from Shabbir Ahmed, who would receive orders from Mohammed Adil Khan, who would in turn receive orders from a man who allegedly had ties to bin Laden.
"Do I believe he is planning a terror attack?" agent Schaaf said of Ahmed. "That's some of the information that has been provided to us."
Schaaf did not say what type of terrorist attacks were planned, but said Ahmed was acting as an intermediary for Osama bin Laden and other terrorists. The agent refused to testify whether Ahmed was a member of a terror group, saying that information was classified.
Adil Khan, like Ahmed, was also arrested on accusations that he had misused a religious visa to enter the United States. None of the five Lodi men, including Adil Khan's 19-year-old son, have been charged with any crimes of terrorism.
Ahmed's current status is a subject of debate among Lodi Muslim Mosque members. The mosque board voted to fire him after he admitted in immigration court June 24 to making anti-American speeches in Pakistan in the months immediately following the 9/11 attacks. That firing has since been challenged through a lawsuit filed in San Joaquin County.
Ahmed still has supporters
Two of Ahmed's supporters, Taj Khan (no relation to Adil Khan) and Ramzan Ali, appeared in court Tuesday as character witnesses on Ahmed's behalf. Both men said community members are paying Ahmed's legal expenses, and that they were ready to post bond if Immigration Judge Anthony Murry set it.
The two Lodi men also said under oath they have never heard Ahmed make any statements against the U.S.
Though Ahmed acknowledged making anti-American statements, he testified at a previous hearing and again Tuesday that his views changed after Adil Khan recommended him for the imam position in Lodi and he arrived Jan. 23, 2002.
Ahmed told the judge and a small courtroom packed with about 15 reporters Tuesday that he loves America, and even admires his guards who made sure he was properly fastened into a seat belt before returning to the Sacramento County Jail.
"Islam teaches us to love our country," he testified through an Urdu interpreter. "When I live here, this is my country. Whoever is against it is against me."
He also denounced bin Laden, saying the leader of the Taliban has violated Islamic law.
"It's obvious: He got the whole entire Muslim world in trouble," Ahmed testified.
The government, however, questioned Ahmed's ties with other men who have since been connected to bin Laden. Among them were Hazrat Nizamuddin Shamzai, godfather of the Taliban, and Sami Ul Haq, founder of a radical opposition party in Pakistan.
Lodi terror allegations
Schaaf said investigators were watching the development of a proposed Islamic elementary school in Lodi, called the Farooqia Islamic Center.
The school would be modeled after a large Pakistani school run by Adil Khan's father. Government attorney Paul Nishiie on Tuesday pointed to several high-ranking Taliban members who were allegedly students and then teachers at the school.
Once the Lodi school opened, Schaaf testified, students would then "be recruited for acts against the United States."
Officials for the Lodi school, whose Lower Sacramento Road location was recently approved by the county Planning Commission, have denied that it has any connection to terrorism.
Ahmed's attorney, Saad Ahmad, also denied that his client has any ties to terrorism.
He said outside court that he was disappointed and will appeal Murry's ruling. He also plans to file a writ in federal court, arguing that Ahmed is being illegally detained.
"The government made this whole thing up," he said. "It's guilt by association."
Because Ahmed is only charged with immigration violations, he could choose to be deported at any time, rather than fight his case.
"Trust me, if my client was planning a terrorist attack, he would leave. He has the key in his pocket. He could choose to leave," Ahmad said.
Adil Khan and his son, Mohammad Hassan Adil, initially planned to also fight their case, but decided July 15 to allow the government to send them back to Pakistan. That decision was due in part to Adil Khan's health, Ahmad said Tuesday.
Though Adil Khan could become a witness in the federal case against the Hayats, Ahmad, who also represents them, said that is unlikely.
"I don't think he'll be of any help, because there's no connection," the attorney said.
Ahmed has until Sept. 18 to appeal Murry's ruling, and an Oct. 24 detention hearing -- where Ahmed is expected to challenge the charges of violation immigration law -- remains scheduled.
"Islam teaches us to love our country," he testified through an Urdu interpreter. "When I live here, this is my country. Whoever is against it is against me."
The guy when perhaps eight or nine, perhaps even younger was groomed on the idea it is ok to lie to protect allah the black moon rock, and or any action deemed honorable in the Qur'an, their cultic book. So how can anyone place any value on their word? How can a western judge/jury accept that those witnesses are being honest? This is the problem we and they are faced with. When is one being actually honest within the guidlines/rules we use to define being honest? And their prophet and all the goons they call Caliphes and other cultic leadership for some 1300 years or more have embedded in concrete their character, literally.
Now it will come back and haunt them as they wake up and realize just how evil those just mentioned where and have set them all up for life. A living hell. If the guy is a good muslim he must lie to protect anything Islamic from the infidels. Their cult demands they lie. No way around the problem, it is written. And if it those various verses where not in the original Qur'ans, then they still have a little problem. What else was not in the original Qur'rans.
Surely their long winded and often grossly convoluted and differing opinions in the various Hadiths just further make the cult impossible to embrace if one becomes educated enough to see the whole picture. Keep em dumb. Teach em to parrot a few dozen verses from the Qur'an with no knowledge of what the verses really mean. Give em bombs to strap on. That is their legacy. Sad.
Do you remember how Kalifornia funded these "private, charter schools" and how the money was used for training out in the middle of nowhere, monies unaccounted for, and no students. Had several, read about them here, and of course, Gov. Davis kept them going. No shock here about Lodi... we will soon be shocked at the hopefully investigated 9/11 report, as to just how many cells and training facilities there are around us... then maybe people will realize, we are at war.
Islam is a disgusting sham, and full of lies. There is NO TRUTH in this quasi religion. It does absolutely no good to understand it (tolerance) nor to respect it.In their homeland-they who do not go along with there program. Too bad our "government" willingly embraces so many of their lies, as our very "officials" have NO KNOWLEDGE of THE TRUTH. Hosea said it so clearly 2500 years ago-"My people perish because they have no vision (understanding)"; well-here we are with an electorate full of perverse%2 rue,selfish,lamblastic and an amazing tolerance for ignorance and stupidity. Understand, that the Islamic war of the past 1000 years never ended.
"Understand, that the Islamic war of the past 1000 years never ended."
No need to attempt to add to your comments. We got a little problem, that is for sure, and it extends much deeper then the current illuminated issues over how far Islam can get away with it's hidden agendas, e.g. world domination under rock #360.
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