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| Excerpts from the Hayat indictment |
| 2005-09-23 |
| According to Assistant United States Attorney S. Robert Tice- Raskin and Laura L. Ferris, who are prosecuting the case, the First Superseding Indictment charges that defendant HAMID HAYAT provided himself as "material support" between March 2003 and June 2005 by attending a jihadist training camp, and subsequently concealing the same from the FBI, knowing and intending that his support would ultimately be used to prepare for and carry out acts of terrorism in the United States. In related counts, the indictment charges that HAMID HAYAT made false statements to the FBI on June 3 and June 4, 2005 when he falsely denied attending a terrorist training camp and receiving jihadist training. UMER HAYAT was also charged with lying to the FBI on June 4, 2005 when he falsely denied that he had first hand knowledge of terrorist training camps in Pakistan and that his son had attended a jihadist training camp in Pakistan. According to the First Superseding Indictment, as well as pleadings1 filed by the United States Attorney's Office, starting in about March 2003, defendant HAMID HAYAT informed a cooperating witness (during recorded conversations) that he understood the nature and structure of various known Pakistani terrorist groups and that he had detailed knowledge regarding the mechanics of attending a jihadi camp. He also indicated that his relatives had various connections to jihadist groups. Defendants UMER HAYAT, HAMID HAYAT, and their family traveled from the United States to Pakistan in April 2003. Thereafter, defendant HAMID HAYAT had another series of recorded conversations with the cooperating witness in which HAMID HAYAT stated that he genuinely desired to attend a camp and further indicated that he had been accepted to "training" and was going to attend the same after Ramadan in 2003. During a period of months between Fall 2003 and Fall 2004, defendant HAMID HAYAT then attended a jihadist training camp in Pakistan and, among other things, received training in physical fitness, firearms, and means to wage jihad. Defendant UMER HAYAT, meanwhile, toured as many as four to five operational jihadist camps and witnessed jihadist training in progress. Defendant UMER HAYAT returned to the United States from Pakistan in February 2005. On May 27, 2005 defendant HAMID HAYAT departed Pakistan for the United States. On May 30, 2005 defendant HAMID HAYAT's plane was diverted to Narita, Japan. When questioned by the FBI on that day, defendant HAMID HAYAT concealed the fact that he had received jihadist training, and that he was returning to the United States for the purpose of waging jihad. Defendant HAMID HAYAT then returned to the United States. On June 3 and 4, 2005, when questioned by the FBI in Lodi and Sacramento, California, defendant HAMID HAYAT again concealed the fact that he had received jihadist training, and that he had returned to the United States for the purpose of waging jihad. During his interview with the FBI on June 4, 2005 defendant UMER HAYAT similarly denied that he had any firsthand knowledge of training camps in Pakistan and further denied any knowledge of his son's attendance at terrorist or jihadist training. On June 4, 2005 after advisement and waiver of his rights, defendant HAMID HAYAT submitted to and failed a polygraph examination. Thereafter, during a videotaped interview, defendant HAMID HAYAT stated and admitted, among other things, that: -- He attended a jihadist training camp in Pakistan for approximately 3-6 months in 2003-2004, and another camp for a three-day period in 2000. -- The purpose of both camps was to train for jihad and to teach people to kill those who work against Muslims. -- The camp provided apparent paramilitary training, including weapons training, explosives training, hand to hand combat training, and exercise. -- He believed that his uncle ran the jihadist camp that he attended and was 75-80 percent certain that his grandfather ran the camp. He subsequently stated that he believed that Al-Qaeda ran or were supporters of the camp. -- He was being trained to and intended to commit jihad in the United States -- He did not have any orders to fight at present; however, he was awaiting such orders. On June 4, 2005 UMER HAYAT was interviewed again by the FBI. UMER HAYAT was confronted with a small portion of his son's videotaped interview. Thereafter, defendant UMER HAYAT admitted, during a videotaped interview, among other things, that: -- HAMID HAYAT attended a terrorist training camp in Pakistan in 2003-04. -- UMER HAYAT paid for HAMID's flight, knowing that HAMID's intention was to attend a jihadi training camp. -- The madrassah HAMID HAYAT attended was operated by HAMID HAYAT's grandfather (the father-in-law to UMER HAYAT). The father-in-law-sends the students from this madrassah to jihadi training camps in Pakistan. -- After completing his education at the madrassah, HAMID HAYAT went to a training camp near Rawalpindi, Pakistan. HAMID HAYAT was at the training camp for 6 months. -- Because of his family connections, UMER HAYAT was invited to observe more than four operational training camps. He was assigned a driver who drove him from camp to camp. While visiting these training camps, he observed weapons and urban warfare training (including target practice utilizing pictures of President Bush and Secretary of Defense Rumsfeld), physical training, and classroom education. Agents uncovered a series of incriminating writings on the person of HAMID HAYAT on the day of his arrest on June 5, 2005 and at the Hayat home during execution of a federal search warrant on June 7th. -- Defendant HAMID HAYAT's wallet contained various identification documents, as well as a scrap of paper which included a brief statement in Arabic. Translated, the phrase states, "Lord let us be at their throats, and we ask you to give us refuge from their evil." -- HAMID HAYAT's bedroom contained a book titled Virtues of Jihad, by Mohammad Masood Azhar, founder and leader of the known Pakistani extremist group Jaish-i-Muhammed. The room also contained a Jaish-i-Muhammed newspaper. Among other things, the publications, as translated in part, invite every Muslim to join jihad and to renounce their wealth and life in the path of Allah. -- The Hayat laundry room also contained a book titled Ventilator From the Jail by Masood Azhar. The book, as translated in part, invites Muslims to join the fight against Indians and other "infidels," including Americans; indicates that jihad is the duty of Muslims; and encourages Muslims to hate America with passion. |
| Posted by:Dan Darling |