Pakistani teen charged in 'Jihad Jane' terror plot.

[Perceptron]

Pakistani teen charged in 'Jihad Jane' terror plot.
By Associated Press, Published: October 20

PHILADELPHIA — A high school honors student from Maryland helped the American terror suspect dubbed “Jihad Jane” plot to kill a Swedish artist and used the Internet to raise money and recruits for overseas terrorists, federal prosecutors charged in an indictment Thursday.

Mohammad Hassan Khalid, a legal immigrant from Pakistan, had been the rare juvenile in federal custody until he turned 18 last month. The FBI arrested him July 6 at his family’s home in Ellicott City, near Baltimore. He was charged Thursday with material support of terrorism.

According to the indictment, Khalid tried to recruit men to wage jihad, or a violent holy war, in Europe and South Asia, and women who had passports to travel through Europe. He had met Colleen LaRose, who had dubbed herself “Jihad Jane” in YouTube videos, in an online chat room when he was about 15, according to the indictment.

Prosecutors also charged Ali Charaf Damache, 46, an Algerian detained in Ireland, with conspiracy to aid terrorists and other charges. He had married another American suspect in the case, Jamie Paulin-Ramirez, the day she arrived in Ireland in 2009.

“Today’s indictment, which alleges a terrorist conspiracy involving individuals around the globe who connected via the Internet — including a teenager and two women living in America — underscores the evolving nature of violent extremism,” Lisa Monaco, an assistant attorney for national security, said in a news release.

Khalid’s lawyer, Jeffrey M. Lindy, said he was disappointed the government decided to charge Khalid as an adult. He vowed to fight the charges.

“We look forward to telling our side of the story to a jury ... that the government has been taking unconstitutional liberties with a kid who is now 18, but was 15, 16 years old (at the time of the alleged offenses),” Lindy told The Associated Press.

The FBI had searched the family’s home and interviewed the teen several times at FBI headquarters without a lawyer or family member present, according to a person close to the family. However, the parents had authorized the interviews.

Damache, known as “Black Flag,” tried to recruit men and women to train with the group known as al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb, prosecutors have said in court papers. The group is an al-Qaida offshoot that has focused its efforts inside Algeria. Damache also hoped to recruit people to train with Pakistan’s lead intelligence agency, the Inter-Services Intelligence, authorities have said.

He is charged with conspiracy to aid terrorists and attempted identity theft to facilitate international terrorism. He has been in custody in Ireland since March 2010 and does not have a lawyer listed in the U.S. case.

Khalid, in his online solicitations, pledged to forward money to LaRose for her to pass on to the jihadists, authorities said.

“I know the sister and by Allah, all money will be transferred to her. The sister will then transfer the money to the brother via a method that I will not disclose,” he wrote in July 2009, according to the LaRose indictment.

He allegedly hid a passport he received from LaRose, presumably the one she stole from her live-in boyfriend in Pennsylvania before moving to Ireland in August 2009. By then, the FBI had been watching her activities based on YouTube videos she had made in which she called herself “Jihad Jane.”

LaRose, 48, of Pennsburg, later returned to the U.S. to surrender, and pleaded guilty this year to four federal charges, admitting she had agreed to try to kill the Swedish cartoonist Lars Vilks, who had offended Muslims. She faces a life sentence.

Paulin-Ramirez, 32, of Leadville, Colo., pleaded guilty to providing material support to terrorists, the same charge now facing Khalid. The charge carries a maximum 15-year term. Her lawyer has called her a sincere religious convert who married “for the love of Islam, not for the love of her husband.”

Khalid came to the U.S. four years ago and has lived with his strict, education-focused family in Baltimore’s suburbs. An older brother attends a college honors program in engineering. He could be deported if he’s convicted.

Teachers at Mt. Hebron High School remember the May graduate for his strong work ethic. A district spokeswoman called him “very strong academically and an extremely hardworking student.”

 

[Perceptron]

Md. teen charged in ‘Jihad Jane’ terror plot pleads not guilty at first public court hearing

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By Associated Press, Published: October 24

PHILADELPHIA — A high school honors student pleaded not guilty Monday to charges he helped the American terrorist dubbed “Jihad Jane” raise money and recruits for a Muslim holy war.

Mohammad Hassan Khalid, 18, of Ellicott City, Md., a Baltimore suburb, entered the plea at his first public court appearance since his July 6 arrest.

The reed-thin, serious-looking young man appeared older than his years. He had no family or friends in the Philadelphia courtroom. His parents, legal U.S. residents from Pakistan who had pushed their four children to excel in school, were working, a defense lawyer said.

Federal prosecutors allege that Khalid tried to recruit men to wage a holy war in Europe and South Asia, and women with passports who could travel there. He had met a middle-aged Pennsylvania woman, Colleen LaRose, in online chat rooms when he was about 15, according to last week’s indictment. LaRose was being watched by the FBI after posting YouTube videos in which she dubbed herself “Jihad Jane” and vowed to kill or die for the jihadist cause.

LaRose, 46, has pleaded guilty to plotting to kill a Swedish artist who had offended Muslims, and faces a possible life sentence. Khalid’s lawyer, Jeffrey M. Lindy, believes she helped the FBI build its case against the teenager.

“I absolutely think she rolled over in a heartbeat (against him),” Lindy said after the arraignment.

LaRose’s public defender did not immediately return a call for comment.

Khalid faces a 15-year prison term and deportation to his native Pakistan if convicted. The indictment issued Thursday charges him along with an Algerian man, 46-year-old Ali Charaf Damache, who remains jailed in Ireland.

Damache, 46, known as “Black Flag,” tried to recruit men and women to train with the group known as al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb, prosecutors have said in court papers. The group is an al-Qaida offshoot that has focused its efforts inside Algeria. Damache also hoped to recruit people to train with Pakistan’s lead intelligence agency, the Inter-Services Intelligence, authorities have said.

He is charged with conspiracy to aid terrorists and attempted identity theft to facilitate international terrorism. He does not have a lawyer listed in the U.S. case, and it was not immediately clear if he planned to fight extradition.

Khalid, in his online solicitations, pledged to forward money to LaRose for her to pass on to the jihadists, and allegedly hid a passport she had sent him, authorities said.

“I know the sister and by Allah, all money will be transferred to her. The sister will then transfer the money to the brother via a method that I will not disclose,” he wrote in July 2009, according to the LaRose indictment.

Lindy questioned the government’s interpretation of Khalid’s posts.

“I think they assume a much more nefarious and sinister connotation than what’s really there,” he said Monday.

U.S. Attorney Jennifer Arbittier Williams declined to comment after the brief hearing. A judge set a Dec. 13 trial date, but that is almost certain to be continued given the complexity of the case.

Lindy did not seek bail for his client on Monday. However, the parties are due back in court on Nov. 16 to consider where the teen should be held. He had been the rare juvenile in federal detention after his arrest, when he was held at a state youth facility in Berks County. However, he turned 18 late last month and has been moved to a federal adult prison. Lindy hopes to investigate other options.

Another U.S. defendant in the LaRose case, 32-year-old Jamie Paulin-Ramirez of Leadville, Colo., married Damache in an Islamic ceremony soon after she arrived in Ireland in 2009 and met him. The marriage was later dissolved, according to her lawyer, Jeremy Ibrahim. Paulin-Ramirez has pleaded guilty to supplying material support to terrrorists.

She is not charged in Thursday’s indictment, although authorities say she and Damache “began training Ramirez’s minor child in the ways of violent jihad.”

Ibrahim said his client, who had been married three times before, was “impressionable and susceptible” when she left Colorado to marry Damache, whom she had met online. Anything she may have done afterward was done because she feared him, the lawyer said.

“(Damache) engaged in conduct that caused her to be in fear both for herself and her son,” Ibrahim said.

Both LaRose and Paulin-Ramirez remain in custody. No sentencing dates have been set.

Damache, an Irish citizen, has been in Irish custody on a threat-related charge since March 2010, when police in Waterford detained him, Paulin-Ramirez and five others as they investigated the alleged plot to kill cartoonist Lars Vilks. One of the other defendants has since pleaded guilty to an immigration charge. Paulin-Ramirez was released and returned voluntarily to the U.S. to face charges.

Copyright 2011 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

 

[IndoCarib]

I think it has been posted before.

 

[Abu Zolfiqar]

yup....posted already.

last week

 

[Perceptron]

yup....posted already.

last week

Link please

 

[Abu Zolfiqar]

use the search function, that's what it's there for

 

[Perceptron]

use the search function, that's what it's there for

Well thanx for that enlightening snippet, but no earlier thread seem to be in the vein of what i have posted.

 

[Rafi]

Innocent till proven guilty, a good lawyer helps.

 

[JayAtl]

Deportation is part of the conviction -nice . Great Law!

 

[harpoon]

The reed-thin, serious-looking young man appeared older than his years. He had no family or friends in the Philadelphia courtroom. His parents, legal U.S. residents from Pakistan who had pushed their four children to excel in school, were working, a defense lawyer said.

Thats gonna hurt.

US had and could have offered far more opportunities for him than Pakistan would..but he just chose to throw it away.Shame.

 

[Gautam]

not surprised at all..