From the nytimes.com, June 9, 2005


California Father and Son Face Charges in Terrorism Case


By DEAN E. MURPHY and DAVID JOHNSTON
Published: June 9, 2005

LODI, Calif., June 8 - An American man of Pakistani descent has been arrested along with his father, a naturalized American citizen, as part of an investigation by federal law enforcement officials into possible terrorist connections with Al Qaeda.
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The Lodi Muslim Mosque.
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Umer Hayat, above, and his son Hamid of Lodi, Calif., were arrested Tuesday by federal authorities.

According to an F.B.I. affidavit filed in Federal District Court in Sacramento, about 40 miles north of this agricultural town, Hamid Hayat, 22, told investigators last weekend that he had been trained "on how to kill Americans" at a camp in Pakistan affiliated with Al Qaeda. The affidavit said that during Mr. Hayat's weapons training, "photos of various high-ranking United States political figures, including President Bush, would be pasted on their targets."

Mr. Hayat, who was born in California, returned to the United States on May 29 after spending more than two years in Pakistan. He began working last week as a cherry picker with a local fruit packing company, a family member said.

The affidavit said Mr. Hayat's father, Umer Hayat, 47, who drives an ice cream truck in Lodi, provided financial support for his son's training. Both men were taken into custody on Tuesday and were being held in a Sacramento jail. They have been charged with lying to federal investigators about the training camp and are scheduled to appear in court on June 21, said Johnny L. Griffin III, a lawyer for the father.

"Notwithstanding the alarming statement made in the affidavit, the government has only charged each of the defendants with one count of making a false statement to a federal agent," Mr. Griffin said. "They are not charged in this complaint with committing any terrorist acts, and they are not charged in this complaint with supporting any terrorist acts."

Federal officials said the investigation was in its early stages. They said that more charges were likely and that others might be involved.

"It's several years old and it's ongoing," John Cauthen, a special agent with the F.B.I. in Sacramento, said of the investigation. "We actually have agents in the field working as we speak, and we do not want to say anything that will compromise their work."

A relative of the two men, Usama Ismail, 19, said the accusations were "total lies." Mr. Ismail said the statements in the affidavit attributed to Hamid Hayat must have been coerced from him "after hours and hours of interrogation."

"He did not go to a terrorist training camp," said Mr. Ismail, who lives on the same block as the two men and whose mother is Umer Hayat's sister. "Even if they did say that, that's because the F.B.I. made them say what they wanted them to say."

Mr. Ismail said the F.B.I. began pursuing his cousin and uncle because of anonymous calls to the authorities made by enemies of his uncle. He said that he could not elaborate but that when he spoke to his cousin on Saturday, Hamid Hayat said he was cooperating and seemed to be unconcerned.

"They have something against Hamid's dad," Mr. Ismail said of the anonymous callers. "Because of that they kept calling the F.B.I. and saying they are terrorists."

Three other men have also been detained in connection with the investigation. Two of the men, Shabbir Ahmed and Muhammad Adil Khan, are imams affiliated with the two Pakistani mosques in Lodi, the Farooqia Islamic Center and the Lodi Muslim Mosque. The town has had a sizable Pakistani Muslim population for many years, residents said, and there are plans to build a Muslim school on the outskirts of town. The authorities said the two imams, who are not American citizens, were being detained for immigration violations.

Immigration officials said Mr. Kahn's son, Muhammad Hassan Adil, 19, was arrested today for immigration violations.

A law enforcement official who has been briefed on the investigation said Mr. Khan, who is identified on the Farooqia Islamic Center Web site as its president, has been under F.B.I. surveillance for years. The official said there were suspicions after the Sept. 11 attacks that Mr. Khan might be interested in organizing a terrorist training camp in the Lodi area. Those concerns resulted in an intensive investigation that was considered important enough to reach the desks of senior officials in Washington, including the F.B.I. director, Robert S. Mueller III.

A lawyer for the two imams, Saad Ahmad, said the men were innocent of any wrongdoing, describing them as "law abiding" and "decent hard-working people." He said Mr. Khan and Mr. Ahmed were granted entry to the United States to work as imams but said law enforcement officials accused them of violating their visas because they "did not perform their duties as an imam."

"I really believe they don't have anything on these guys," said Mr. Ahmad, an immigration lawyer.

According to the affidavit, Hamid Hayat told investigators that "he specifically requested to come to the United States to carry out his Jihadi mission."

"Potential targets for attack would include hospitals and large food stores," according to the affidavit, which was signed by Pedro Tenoch Aguilar, an F.B.I. agent.

As Muslims in Lodi converged on a mosque on Poplar Street for afternoon prayers, Nawaz Shah, 19, who was born in Pakistan but has spent most of his life in Lodi, said he was growing weary of the assumption that Muslims are terrorists.

"When we first came, you know, it was easy," Mr. Shah said. "We believed in the freedom of religion and the freedom of speech and all of that. But these days, you know, it is obvious we don't have that. We really can't go around always believing in our faith and this and that, because we have the press on us and people calling us terrorists."

Dean E. Murphy reported from Lodi for this article, and David Johnston from Washington. Carolyn Marshall contributed reporting from San Francisco