June 10, 2009
Georgia Tech jihadist guilty; father says: “He’s not guilty of any crimes in the eyes of Allah. He’s guilty of U.S. laws.”
Ay, there's the rub, eh, Mr. Ahmed?
An update on this story. "Ex-Tech student found guilty on terrorism charge: Father: Ahmed ‘not guilty of any crimes in the eyes of Allah,’" by Bill Rankin for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, June 10 (thanks to Sr. Soph):
The guilty verdict on the terrorism conspiracy charge against his son was expected, Syed Riaz Ahmed said Wednesday.
But Ahmed said his son, Syed Haris Ahmed, never harmed anyone and only expressed thoughts that he never acted upon.
“You think something and you’re guilty,” Syed Riaz Ahmed said, standing outside a federal courtroom shortly after hearing his son pronounced guilty. “He’s not guilty of any crimes in the eyes of Allah. He’s guilty of U.S. laws.”
Syed Haris Ahmed was misled into his extremist thoughts by propagandist Web sites, his father said, adding that he believed his son never would have followed though on any plans to engage in terrorism.
Ahmed, a 24-year-old former Georgia Tech student, was convicted of conspiring to provide material support to terrorists. During his trial last week, prosecutors introduced into evidence e-mails and Internet chats during which Ahmed said he wanted to engage in violent jihad.
In the summer of 2005, Ahmed went to Pakistan to join a terrorist training camp, but changed his mind and returned to Atlanta, re-enrolling at Georgia Tech. Federal prosecutors said that after Ahmed returned, he regretted not joining the camp and considered returning to Pakistan to follow through with his plans....
Cue the obligatory claim of victim status:
After the hearing, Ahmed’s 27-year-old sister, Mariam Ahmed, said her younger brother cooperated with the FBI during interrogations leading up to his arrest. The agents, she said, promised not to arrest her brother if he cooperated.
“They broke broke every single promise,” said Mariam Ahmed, who lives in Karachi, Pakistan.
Ahmed’s sister said she hopes Duffey will show some leniency on her brother because of the harsh conditions he has already endured at the penitentiary. “To me, he’s already suffered enough,” she said.
During his time at the penitientiary, her brother has memorized the Quran and strengthened his faith, she said.
Ahmed was convicted of conspiring to provide material support to terrorism in the United States and overseas.
Federal prosecutors said Ahmed and Sadequee went to Washington in 2005 and took videos of area landmarks that wound up on the computers of two men later convicted of terorrism charges in Great Britain. Prosecutors said Ahmed and Sadequee took the videos to earn the respect of terrorists overseas by showing how close they could get to potential targets of attack.
Prosecutors also said Ahmed recruited other men to go with him to join a terrorist training facility in Pakistan in the summer of 2005....
Ahmed waived his right to a jury trial so he could give his closing argument. During his allotted 45 minutes, he recited from the Quran in Arabic and told Duffey that using U.S. laws to defend himself would put him in rebellion against God.
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