Thread: UPDATE: LODI IMAM SPARS WITH GOVERNMENT LAWYER AT IMMIGRATIO

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Bay City News Wire
UPDATE: LODI IMAM SPARS WITH GOVERNMENT LAWYER AT IMMIGRATION HEARING
06/24/05 7:55 PDT

SAN FRANCISCO (BCN)

A Lodi imam who faces deportation for allegedly overstaying his visa sparred with a government attorney at an immigration court hearing today over allegations that he encouraged Pakistanis to kill Americans in Afghanistan.

Shackled, sporting a thick beard and dressed in an orange jail jumpsuit, Shabbir Ahmed, 39, a native of Pakistan who has been the imam of the Lodi Mosque since January 2002, admitted that he made anti-American speeches while preaching at an Islamabad mosque in October 2001 after the United States invaded Afghanistan in response to the September 11 attacks in the United States.

But Ahmed said in the packed and heavily guarded hearing before U.S. Immigration Court Judge Anthony Murry that he spoke out because of the political climate in Pakistan at the time.

Speaking through an Urdu translator, Ahmed said, "They force you to say something.''

Ahmed said "it was essential for every imam to participate - if not, the people will turn against them.''

Paul Nishiie, assistant chief counsel for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, alleged that Ahmed on at least five occasions "encouraged people to go to Afghanistan and kill Americans.''

Ahmed denied that and said he only wanted to try to pressure the United States to stop bombing people in Afghanistan.

Ahmed and two other Pakistani men from Lodi, Mohammed Adil Khan, 47, and his son, Mohammed Haman Adil, 19, were taken into custody earlier this month for alleged immigration violations in connection with a terrorism investigation in Lodi.

In connection with the probe, Umer Hayat, 47, and his son, Hami

d Hayat, 23, who are of Pakistani descent but are American citizens, are accused in federal court in Sacramento of lying to FBI agents when they denied in recent interviews that Hamid Hayat had attended a jihadist training camp in Pakistan in 2003.

Ahmed had hoped to be released on bond today, but no determination was made because his hearing ran so long.

Judge Murry said he will continue the hearing on August 2 and also hold hearings for Khan and Adil that day.

In response to a question today from his lawyer, Saad Ahmad, Ahmed said he's not affiliated with a terrorist organization and hasn't provided any kind of assistance to terrorist organizations.

Ahmed said he now regrets the anti-American speeches he made in Pakistan and he now likes the United States.

He said that when he was in Pakistan he only heard negative things about the United States, such as that it engages in excessive force, but he said now that he has lived here he realizes "there is respect for human life and even animals are taken care of.''

Ahmed said, "My mind has totally changed'' about the United States.

He said "every human being get his justice at the doorstep'' in the United States.

Ahmed said he realizes that he's free to leave the United States any time he wants, but he said he's fighting allegations that he overstayed his visa, which expired Nov. 20, 2004, "so that I can have my rights and save my life.''

His lawyer, Ahmad, said Ahmed had applied for a visa extension on Oct. 15, 2004, and accused immigration officials of dragging their feet by not processing it promptly.

Ahmed denied Nishiie's allegation that in 2001 he encouraged people in Pakistan to attack the country's president, Gen. Pervez Musharraf, because the president supported America's war on terrorism.

Ahmed also denied the government lawyer's contention that he had asked people to defend Osama bin Laden, the mastermind behind the September 11 attacks. He added that he has never met Osama bin Laden.

Ahmed acknowledged that he spent eight years as a student and three years as a teacher at Jamia Farooqia, an institution in Islamabad that describes itself on the Internet as a "renowned university of Islamic sciences.''

The U.S. State Department listed Jamia Farooqia as a terrorist group in 2001.

Ahmed said many people from Jamia Farooqia went to Afghanistan to fight against the Soviet invasion there but he said it wasn't the institution's policy to train people for jihads.

He said although some fighters were recruited from Jamia Farooqia, "It does not mean all alumnus of the organization are included in that.''

Nishiie read a Pakistani magazine article that praised Jamia Farooqia because "it not only preaches jihad, but gives practical training of jihad.''

Ahmed responded, "That doesn't mean you kill someone, just that it teaches you how to defend yourself if you're attacked.''

Umer Hayat and Hamid Hayat pleaded innocent in federal court in Sacramento on Tuesday to the charges against them. They returned to court today for a hearing on what evidence prosecutors must be required to turn over to their defense lawyers.

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