Florida Imams arrested for aiding Pakistani Taliban

http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/05/14/us-usa-pakistan-charges-idUSTRE74D12Y20110514

'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 organization.'

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'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.'

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http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/broward/margate/fl-imams-arrested-in-taliban-case-20120110515,0,6660128.story

'Hafiz Khan lives next to the mosque. His wife answered the door there, but told reporters she did not speak English.

Arif Baig, a 50-year-old Pakistani who runs a convenience store in Little Havana, said he could not believe the allegations and questioned if law enforcement was stereotyping the elder Khan.

"What a stupid thing to say," Baig said. "He is an old man. People who come to this country send money back home."

He added, "There is not even a 1 percent chance that he would do this."

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Members of the Margate Mosque went door to door and handed out food and water to the mostly Jewish retirement community it borders after the last hurricanes came through in 2005. It wasn't a very popular program with many residents.

The indictment accuses the six of working to displace Pakistan's government and to establish strict Islamic law. At a press conference in Miami, prosecutors said the indictment details $50,000 in transactions, but said that was just the tip of the iceberg. The three Khans allegedly sent money from the United States to supporters of the Pakistani Taliban using bank accounts and wire transfer services here and Pakistan. According to the indictment, these funds were intended to purchase guns for the Pakistani Taliban, to help militants and their families.

In addition, the indictment alleges the elder Khan supported the Pakistani Taliban through an Islamic school that he founded in the Swat region of Pakistan. Khan allegedly used the school to provide shelter for the Pakistani Taliban and has sent children from his school to learn to kill Americans in Afghanistan. Law enforcement agents recorded a phone call in July 2009 in which the elder Khan called for an attack on the Pakistani Assembly that would resemble the September 2008 suicide bombing of the Marriott Hotel in Islamabad, Pakistan.

On another occasion in September 2010, agents recorded a conversation in which Hafiz Khan stated that he would provide that individual with contact information for Pakistani Taliban militants in Karachi. Upon hearing that mujahideen in Afghanistan had killed seven American soldiers, he declared his wish that God kill 50,000 more.

The investigation was undertaken by the FBI in conjunction with the Joint Terrorism Task Force based on a review of suspicious financial transactions and other evidence. There was no undercover sting involved. At the press conference, federal officials said the probe started three years ago when transactions were flagged and grew to involve wiretaps and eavesdroppings. According to the allegations, from about 2008 through November 2010, the six provided money, financial services and other support to the Taliban. The Pakistani Taliban, according to the FBI, is a Pakistan-based terrorist organization formed in December 2007 by an alliance of radical Islamist militants.