southchild

Today’s AJC has more specific information on the activities of the two Georgians accused of supporting terrorists organizations (which we first reported here. The AJC article, Path traced in suspects’ terror case, by Bill Torpy and Jeremy Redmon, details the travels of the young men to Canada where they met with like-minded Islamists, identified US targets to attack, and planned travel to Pakistan for military training at a terrorist camp.

In March 2005, two young Muslims from the Atlanta area rode a Greyhound to Toronto. There, they met with “like-minded Islamic extremists” and allegedly plotted locations for possible terror attacks, including oil refineries and military bases, according to court documents released Friday.

The affidavit outlines the alleged activities of Syed Haris Ahmed, a 21-year-old Georgia Tech mechanical engineering student, and Ehsanul Islam Sadequee, a recently married 19-year-old man from Roswell. The two are at the center of what authorities say is the first international terrorism case filed in Georgia.

The men and others in Canada “developed a plan for traveling to Pakistan where they would attempt to receive military training at one of the several terrorist-sponsored camps. Ahmed later traveled to Pakistan in an attempt to receive such training,” FBI agent Michael Scherck alleged in the affidavit in support of a warrant to arrest Sadequee.

Sadequee is accused of making false statements to law enforcement officers, while Ahmed is charged with giving “material support” to a terrorist organization. Ahmed has been cooperating with federal authorities since his arrest last month, according to the affidavit.

“He acknowledged that the purpose of the trip was for Sadequee and Ahmed to meet with like-minded Islamic extremists,” the agent wrote. There “they met regularly with at least three subjects of an FBI international terrorism investigation.

“Ahmed further explained that during some of these meetings, he, Sadequee and the others discussed strategic locations in the United States suitable for a terrorist strike, to include oil refineries and military bases. They also plotted how to disable the Global Positioning System in an effort to disrupt military and commercial communications and traffic.”

The article also reveals where the two young men first met:

Ahmed and Sadequee met at Al-Farooq Masjid, the mosque just north of Georgia Tech, Ahmed told authorities.

David Nahmias — the U.S. attorney in Atlanta who is prosecuting Ahmed and previously held one of the Justice Department’s most sensitive positions overseeing terrorism investigations — said earlier this week that “this is a very big case.”

Imagine that.

The article has statements from both men’s lawyers including details on how Sadequee was detained while shopping in Dhaka, Bangladesh.

Stay tuned. This story is only going to get bigger.

***

Previous:
Georgia Jihadists?

This entry was posted on Saturday, April 22nd, 2006 at 12:02 pm and is filed under General, politics. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.