USA: Two Florida mosque leaders are among six individuals accused by U.S. officials of supporting and financing the Taliban in Pakistan
Record ID:
858225
USA: Two Florida mosque leaders are among six individuals accused by U.S. officials of supporting and financing the Taliban in Pakistan
- Title: USA: Two Florida mosque leaders are among six individuals accused by U.S. officials of supporting and financing the Taliban in Pakistan
- Date: 15th May 2011
- Summary: MIAMI, FLORIDA, UNITED STATES (MAY 14, 2011) (REUTERS) GEORGE ARIAS, RESIDENT OF NEIGHBORHOOD, SITTING OUTSIDE HIS HOME (SOUNDBITE) (English) GEORGE ARIAS, RESIDENT OF NEIGHBORHOOD, LIVES ACROSS THE STREET FROM THE MOSQUE "It is a very troublesome thing that they are helping those kinds of people and I am just glad that they arrested that guy because those are very dangerous individuals in this neighborhood." INTERIOR OF MOSQUE EXTERIOR OF MOSQUE
- Embargoed: 30th May 2011 13:00
- Keywords:
- Location: Usa, Usa
- City:
- Country: USA
- Topics: Crime / Law Enforcement
- Reuters ID: LVACBSFD291D42T7H7AIL3YFR5N
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- Story Text: The imam of a Florida mosque and his two sons, one also a Muslim spiritual leader, were arrested on Saturday (May 14) 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.
The indictment, announced by U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Florida Wifredo Ferrer and the FBI, does not charge that the six individuals were involved in any "specific plots against the United States or elsewhere." Rather, the six are charged 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.
"The indictment does allege that they were providing material support and money to the Pakistani Taliban, which everybody knows, has been involved in many violent acts, many terrorist acts," said Ferrer. "We only need to look to yesterday and the bombings, the two suicide bombings in Pakistan where 80 individuals were killed," Ferrer added.
People in the Miami neighborhood where the arrests were made were surprised.
"It is a very troublesome thing that they are helping those kinds of people and I am just glad that they arrested that guy because those are very dangerous individuals in this neighborhood," said George Arias, a Miami resident who lives across the street from the mosque.
If convicted, each individual faces up to 15 years in prison for each count of the indictment.
The charges were revealed as 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 totaling some $50,000, but according to Ferrer there was evidence more had been sent.
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. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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