Father, son arrested in terror probe

Father, son arrested in terror probe
Islamic leaders in California town also in custody
Wednesday, June 8, 2005 Posted: 6:38 PM EDT (2238 GMT)

(CNN) -- Federal agents searched the homes of two Islamic leaders in Lodi, California, and have made four arrests since Sunday, part of an ongoing terrorism investigation, according to the FBI and witnesses.
Two of those arrested are top Muslim leaders in Lodi, including one who publicly condemned the September 11, 2001, terror attacks and issued a declaration of peace with Christian and Jewish leaders in Lodi three years ago.
The other two were a father and son, identified as 47-year-old Umer Hayat and 22-year-old Hamid Hayat, who allegedly lied about the younger man's attendance at an al Qaeda training camp in Pakistan, according to an FBI affidavit unsealed Tuesday evening by a federal court in Sacramento.
Both Hayats are charged with "making false statements of material fact within the jurisdiction of the FBI," the affidavit says. Both are U.S. citizens; Hamid Hayat was born in California, it says.
The affidavit says the younger Hayat confessed to attending the camp, which he said was run by al Qaeda, in 2003-2004 while he was in Pakistan ostensibly to attend a madrassa, or school, his grandfather ran.
According to the affidavit, Hamid Hayat was on a U.S.-bound flight that authorities diverted because his name was on a "no-fly" list. In interviews afterward, Hayat initially denied attending the camp.
In subsequent interviews, the Hayats denied the younger's attendance at the camp, and the suspected man "voluntarily appeared at the Sacramento office of the FBI to take a polygraph examination that had been requested by the FBI," according to the affidavit.
The affidavit says the polygraph found "his answers to the relevant questions ... indicative of deception," and after two more hours of questioning "Hamid admitted that he had in fact attended a jihadist training camp in Pakistan" for six months.
Hayat described his training and said he learned "how to kill Americans" and selected the United States as the turf for his jihadi mission, the affidavit says.
"Potential targets for attack would include hospitals and large food stores," the document says.
His father initially denied the existence of such a camp and his son's participation in one, the affidavit says.
But, the document says, after seeing the video of his son's confession, Umer Hayat confirmed his son's story and revealed that he paid for his flight to Pakistan and provided him with $100 per month.
Umer Hayat provided details about the madrassa his son attended as well as the camp and others, which he told agents he was "invited" to visit and "assigned a driver who drove him from camp to camp."
The elder Hayat said the camp was run by Maulana Fazlur Rehman -- believed to be Maulana Fazlur Rehman Khalil, who has long been suspected of running training camps in Pakistan.
Khalil, a Hezbi mujahedeen, has on several occasions been detained and questioned by Pakistani authorities.
In 1998, Khalil was the only mujahedeen leader to hold a news conference after the United States fired cruise missiles at a training camp in an attempt to kill Osama bin Laden.
At the time, Khalil said more than a dozen of his people died and vowed revenge against the United States.
Two and a half months ago, Khalil told a media contact he had cancer.
The two local Islamic leaders in Lodi -- Muhammed Adil Khan and Shabbir Ahmed -- were detained on immigration charges and will face an immigration hearing, FBI Special Agent John Cauthen said.
The Department of Homeland Security Immigration and Customs Enforcement said the two were in custody on "administrative immigration violations for violating their religious worker visas" and there is not a set date for their hearing.
Khan is the former imam of the Lodi Muslim Mosque and Ahmed is the current imam, according to Lodi News-Sentinel religion reporter Ross Farrow, who previously interviewed both men.
Khan has been working to establish the Farooqia Islamic Center, an Islamic charter school for young children in Lodi, Farrow said.
In the days following the 9/11 attacks, Khan condemned the terror attacks, Farrow said.
CNN's Nic Robertson and Kelli Arena contributed to this report.Father, son arrested in terror probe
Islamic leaders in California town also in custody
Wednesday, June 8, 2005 Posted: 6:38 PM EDT (2238 GMT)

(CNN) -- Federal agents searched the homes of two Islamic leaders in Lodi, California, and have made four arrests since Sunday, part of an ongoing terrorism investigation, according to the FBI and witnesses.
Two of those arrested are top Muslim leaders in Lodi, including one who publicly condemned the September 11, 2001, terror attacks and issued a declaration of peace with Christian and Jewish leaders in Lodi three years ago.
The other two were a father and son, identified as 47-year-old Umer Hayat and 22-year-old Hamid Hayat, who allegedly lied about the younger man's attendance at an al Qaeda training camp in Pakistan, according to an FBI affidavit unsealed Tuesday evening by a federal court in Sacramento.
Both Hayats are charged with "making false statements of material fact within the jurisdiction of the FBI," the affidavit says. Both are U.S. citizens; Hamid Hayat was born in California, it says.
The affidavit says the younger Hayat confessed to attending the camp, which he said was run by al Qaeda, in 2003-2004 while he was in Pakistan ostensibly to attend a madrassa, or school, his grandfather ran.
According to the affidavit, Hamid Hayat was on a U.S.-bound flight that authorities diverted because his name was on a "no-fly" list. In interviews afterward, Hayat initially denied attending the camp.
In subsequent interviews, the Hayats denied the younger's attendance at the camp, and the suspected man "voluntarily appeared at the Sacramento office of the FBI to take a polygraph examination that had been requested by the FBI," according to the affidavit.
The affidavit says the polygraph found "his answers to the relevant questions ... indicative of deception," and after two more hours of questioning "Hamid admitted that he had in fact attended a jihadist training camp in Pakistan" for six months.
Hayat described his training and said he learned "how to kill Americans" and selected the United States as the turf for his jihadi mission, the affidavit says.
"Potential targets for attack would include hospitals and large food stores," the document says.
His father initially denied the existence of such a camp and his son's participation in one, the affidavit says.
But, the document says, after seeing the video of his son's confession, Umer Hayat confirmed his son's story and revealed that he paid for his flight to Pakistan and provided him with $100 per month.
Umer Hayat provided details about the madrassa his son attended as well as the camp and others, which he told agents he was "invited" to visit and "assigned a driver who drove him from camp to camp."
The elder Hayat said the camp was run by Maulana Fazlur Rehman -- believed to be Maulana Fazlur Rehman Khalil, who has long been suspected of running training camps in Pakistan.
Khalil, a Hezbi mujahedeen, has on several occasions been detained and questioned by Pakistani authorities.
In 1998, Khalil was the only mujahedeen leader to hold a news conference after the United States fired cruise missiles at a training camp in an attempt to kill Osama bin Laden.
At the time, Khalil said more than a dozen of his people died and vowed revenge against the United States.
Two and a half months ago, Khalil told a media contact he had cancer.
The two local Islamic leaders in Lodi -- Muhammed Adil Khan and Shabbir Ahmed -- were detained on immigration charges and will face an immigration hearing, FBI Special Agent John Cauthen said.
The Department of Homeland Security Immigration and Customs Enforcement said the two were in custody on "administrative immigration violations for violating their religious worker visas" and there is not a set date for their hearing.
Khan is the former imam of the Lodi Muslim Mosque and Ahmed is the current imam, according to Lodi News-Sentinel religion reporter Ross Farrow, who previously interviewed both men.
Khan has been working to establish the Farooqia Islamic Center, an Islamic charter school for young children in Lodi, Farrow said.
In the days following the 9/11 attacks, Khan condemned the terror attacks, Farrow said.
CNN's Nic Robertson and Kelli Arena contributed to this report.