Several U.S. Muslims who traveled to Pakistan to train with a militant Islamic group improved their military skills through a series of paintball games played in Virginia in 2000 and 2001, according to trial testimony Thursday. Wyman testified Thursday that one member of the alleged conspiracy — Ibrahim Ahmed al-Hamdi, who traveled in 2000 to Pakistan to train with a group called Lashkar-e-Taiba — returned later that year and described his experiences to others with whom he had played paintball. Hamdi told the others that "the paintball training had been helpful" to him at the Lashkar camp, according to Wyman. Hamdi has already pleaded guilty to his role in the conspiracy.
Defense attorneys have said the games were innocent fun and that the government is unfairly tarring the whole group with sinister motives. Hamdi also urged others, including Caliph Basha and Hammad Abdur-Raheem, to join the Lashkar group. According to Wyman, Caliph Basha told FBI agents that he never intended to engage in such training, and Hammad Abdur-Raheem said he considered it but decided against it. |