Pakistan extends custody of US militant suspects

[Mujahid]

SARGODHA: A Pakistani court on Friday remanded five American militant suspects in custody for another 10 days after police sought more time to complete their investigations.

The men were detained in Pakistan earlier this month on suspicion of trying to contact al Qaeda-linked organisations and engage in militant activities, possibly in the lawless northwest where the Taliban insurgency is fiercest.

Judge Mohammad Aslam in the court in the northeastern city of Sargodha said he was extending their detention for another 10 days following a police request, and ordered the police to produce the suspects on January 4.

The men, who are all US citizens with dual nationality including two Pakistani-Americans, have also been questioned by the FBI.

'We do not think that a 10-day remand is sufficient to investigate this complex matter. At next hearing we may ask for more time,' senior Pakistani police official Haseeb Shah told AFP.

'We hope to get further clues. A scientific investigation is required in the case and we hope that the evidences found from their laptops could lead to breaking up of a terrorist network,' Shah said.

Police were seeking more time to pursue their investigations and said they were looking for a man the suspects had contacted and who was believed to have links with Al-Qaeda.

'In one of the message saved in their common email account, they had mentioned the name of a Pakistani nuclear plant. It is a sensitive matter and we need to investigate further,' police official Amir Abbas told the court.

The judge turned down a request by the suspects to be detained together rathan than in separate cells.

A Pakistani court on December 17 ordered that the five suspects cannot be deported without its permission.

DAWN.COM | Pakistan | Pakistan extends custody of US militant suspects

 

[graphican]

Yup, dont return them. When Pakistan can host an x number of black-water personals and other Americans who visit with spy-cams with them, we can surely feed these 5 Americans for another 500 years. If USA apologizes for keeping Dr. Afia and compensate her for everything they did, AND apologizes people of Pakistan for doing that AND puts an official request for the handing over of these 5 terrorists, we should consider their request but just consider.

If America is the bull, we have the nose-lock that brings wildest bulls in the world to its knees. Don't hand over these American Terrorists for no reason.

 

[TruthSeeker]

US terror suspect defends ‘jihad’ plans

SARGODHA—One of five Americans detained in Pakistan said their aim was to go to Afghanistan to wage jihad against Western forces, defending their intention as justified under Islam. But he denied any links to al-Qaida or plans to carry out terrorist attacks in Pakistan, as alleged by Pakistani authorities.

Monday was the first time the young Muslims from the Washington, D.C., area have addressed a court after being arrested in early December in the eastern Pakistani city of Sargodha. The case has spurred fears that Westerners are traveling to Pakistan to join militant groups. Pakistani police have said they plan to seek life sentences for the men under the country’s anti-terrorism law.

“We are not terrorists,” one of the men, Ramy Zamzam, told The Associated Press as he entered a courtroom in Sargodha on Monday. “We are jihadists, and jihad is not terrorism,” he said.

Jihad has several different meanings in Islam, but Zamzam seemed to be referring to the duty to fight against foreign forces viewed as occupying a Muslim country. The men, aged 19 to 25, denied they had ties with al-Qaida or other militant groups during a court appearance Monday in Sargodha, said their attorney, Ameer Abdullah Rokri.

“They told the court that they did not have any plan to carry out any terrorist act inside or outside Pakistan,” said Rokri. “They said that they only intended to travel to Afghanistan to help their Muslim brothers who are in trouble, who are bleeding and who are being victimized by Western forces.”

The Americans arrived amid tight security. About a dozen police cars escorted the prison van inside the court premises as officers manned the rooftops of surrounding buildings. The men wore handcuffs as they walked into the courthouse for their hearing. The court remanded the men to prison for 14 days to give police time to prepare their case, said Rokri.—Agencies

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