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Ahmed tried to set up terrorist camp in Arizona
 A British computer specialist tried to set up a terrorist training camp in Arizona in 1998 and met with Islamic radicals there who claimed ties to Osama bin Laden, a government attorney said Wednesday. Babar Ahmad, who is being held in London on charges he ran terrorist fund-raising Web sites, met in Phoenix with Yaser Al Jhani, a member of the Islamic mujahedeen militia, and others who said they had access to bin Laden, said John Hardy, a British lawyer representing the U.S. government. "He expressed an interest in developing a training system in Arizona," Hardy told The Associated Press. "That is, a training system, in effect for the mujahedeen to visit and train to fight abroad."Hardy was hired to help extradite Ahmad to the United States on charges he ran several sites, including Azzam.com, which investigators say was used to recruit al-Qaida, Taliban and Chechen rebel fighters. The site allegedly encouraged people to train in street combat, land mine operations and sniper combat. While in Phoenix, he practiced using firearms and tried to purchase military equipment, Hardy said. Details of the Phoenix trip were outlined in a report by Assistant U.S. Attorney Robert Appleton, who would prosecute the case in Connecticut because one of the Web sites was hosted here. Prosecutors plan to present the report as evidence at Ahmad's extradition hearing which began Wednesday in London. There was no evidence in the report that Ahmad successfully set up the camp, Hardy said. The report, which has not been released to the public, does not mention any attacks on U.S. targets, Hardy said. "Mr. Ahmad was not inclined to conduct terrorist strikes in the states because he didn't want to jeopardize the use of the United States as a valuable source of resources," Hardy said. The mujahedeen are guerrilla soldiers fighting what they see as holy wars around the world. Al Jhani fought in the Philippines and Bosnia, Hardy said. The mujahedeen is also involved in combat in Chechnya, where the Russian government says the group is aided by bin Laden's al-Qaida network. Hardy told Bow Street Magistrates Court in London earlier Wednesday that the United States alleges Ahmad "sought and incited and solicited contributions to terrorist causes in Afghanistan and Chechnya." Investigators discovered classified U.S. Navy documents in Ahmad's parents home, along with a compact disc with audio tracks praising bin Laden, prosecutors said. The Navy documents revealed a fleet's weakness to terrorist attacks, prosecutors said. Ahmad's case is being heard under contentious "fast track" extradition procedures that came into effect in January 2004. The new rules lessen the burden of proof in some cases, allowing certain countries, including the United States, to provide "information" rather than evidence that a crime has been committed. British police arrested Ahmad, allegedly for terrorism offenses, in December 2003, but released him a week later without charge. His lawyers have said he suffers post-traumatic stress disorder after being assaulted during that arrest. A police officer has been charged with misconduct over the incident. Scores of Ahmad's supporters demonstrated outside the courthouse on Wednesday, calling for him to face trial in Britain. "We do not accept this extradition," Ahmad's father, Ashfaq Ahmad said outside a London court Wednesday. "Inside they are going to decide the future of my son. This is just all politics." Posted by: Dan Darling 2005-03-04 |
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