12: 22 AM EDT by Richard Rubin, May 15, 2011
May 15 (Bloomberg)--two Americans of Pakistani descent faces a court date tomorrow at reportedly "material support" to the Pakistani Taliban. A third were also an American citizen and three other people indicted in the case.
Three of those indicted, including two South Florida imams, were arrested yesterday in the US, said the Ministry of Justice yesterday in a statement. The others are in General in Pakistan. All are charged with the support of a conspiracy to kill, maim and kidnapping people overseas and the Pakistani Taliban, which has vowed revenge for the killing of al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden. Named in the indictment of the us to aid his Hafiz Muhammed Sher Ali Khan76, of Miami; two of his sons, Irfan Khan, 37, of Miami, and Izhar Khan, 24, of North Lauderdale, Florida, also American citizens; and Ali Alam Zeb Rehman and Amina Khan. All are originally from Pakistan, said the Ministry of justice. "Despite the fact that an imam, or spiritual leader, Hafiz Khan was anything but a man of peace, "us lawyer Wilfredo a. Ferrer for the Southern District of Florida said in the statement. "Instead, he played with others to support terrorists to further acts of murder, kidnap and maim."Hafiz and Izhar Khan, who is also an imam, were arrested in South Florida while Irfan Khan was picked up in Los Angeles, according to the statement. Amina Khan is Hafiz Khan's daughter and her son Zeb, the Government said.Court appearances SetHafiz and Izhar Khan are scheduled to appear in tomorrow's Federal Court in Miami. Irfan Khan is expected his first court appearance in Los Angeles. Each of the suspects was charged with at least three points, and each count could lead to 15 years in prison.The Miami Herald reported yesterday that Hafiz Khan, the leader of the oldest mosque in that city. The Ministry of Justice identified as the Miami mosque, also known as the Flagler mosque. Izhar Khan is an imam in the mosque Al-Mu'mineen Ji in Margate, Florida, the Department said, adding that the mosques are not themselves accused of misconduct.Ikram Khan, another son of Hafiz Khan and a Miami taxi driver, told the newspaper that his father was too old and sick to be involved in such events. He said that the family supports the USA, where they have lived since 1994. "None of my family supports the Taliban, "he said, according to the FBI TransactionsThe Herald. Financial began the investigation based on an assessment of financial transactions, according to the Justice Department. The indictment lists repeated negotiations from the us to Pakistan and claims that Hafiz Khan and others tried to finance gun purchases for the Pakistani Taliban. It also describes conversations in which Hafiz Khan reportedly wanted for the deaths of Americans and called for a violent revolution in the Pakistani Taliban Pakistan. The involved in various attacks on U.S. targets in South Asia. The group claimed responsibility for bombing on 13 May that 80 people at a paramilitary police academy in Northwest Pakistan killed. It said that an attack on the US is following, as part of its attempts to avenge bin Laden's death.The u.s. State Department declared the group a foreign terrorist organization on August 12, 2010.--Editors: Daniel Enoch, Christian Thompson.
Contact the reporter on this story: Richard Rubin in Washington on rubin12@bloomberg.net.
Contact the editor responsible for this story: Daniel Enoch denoch@bloomberg.net
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