DOCTOR CONVICTED OF CONSPIRING AND
ATTEMPTING TO SUPPORT AL QAEDA


NEW YORK—Rafiq Sabir was convicted today of conspiracy to provide material support or resources to the al Qaeda terrorist organization, and of attempting to provide material support or resources to al Qaeda, after pledging an oath of loyalty to al Qaeda and Osama bin Laden in a May 2005 ceremony secretly recorded by an undercover FBI agent, announced U.S. Attorney Michael J. Garcia for the Southern District of New York.

The evidence at trial proved that Sabir conspired with his good friend, Tarik Shah, to provide martial arts training and medical assistance to al Qaeda through a man whom they believed to be a recruiter for the terrorist organization. The recruiter was in fact an undercover FBI agent who recorded numerous conversations involving Sabir and Shah, including the May 2005 ceremony in the Bronx. During that meeting, Sabir and Shah pledged “bayat,â€