Pakistani children play in front of a house where police reportedly arrested five American Muslims in Sargodha, Pakistan, Thursday, Dec. 10, 2009. Five young American Muslims arrested in Pakistan met with representatives of an al-Qaida linked group and asked for training but were turned down because they lacked references from trusted militants, a Pakistani law enforcement official said Thursday.
The case is bound to fan fears in Western countries that the sons of immigrants from Muslim countries are being drawn to violent Islamist militancy, a process made easier by the Internet.
The five men, students in their 20s from northern Virginia, were detained this week in the city of Sargodha in Punjab province, 190 km (120 miles) southeast of the Pakistani capital, Islamabad.
The case has again focused attention on nuclear-armed Pakistan's performance in fighting militants as Washington presses Islamabad to root out Islamist fighters crossing the border to attack U.S.-led troops in Afghanistan.
The five tried to contact militants and stayed in touch with each other through the Internet, Pakistani security officials said, highlighting the difficulty authorities face in trying to track and disrupt plots organized on the Web.
Police in Sargodha had taken the first step toward filing charges with complaints based on laws pertaining to foreigners and use of computers to organize crime.
"A case has been registered against the five for violating Pakistan's foreigners and cyber acts," Sargodha police chief Usman Anwar told Reuters.
Pakistani agents and colleagues from the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) were interrogating the five, said a Pakistani security official.
"They are still in Sargodha and they are being investigated by us as well as the FBI," said the official, who declined to be identified.
"BRAINWASHED"
Another Pakistani security official said the five had visited a madrasa, or Islamic religious school, in the southern city of Hyderabad saying they wanted to join jihad, or Muslim holy war.
The school turned them away, he said.
The hapless five had then tried to contact an Islamist charity, the Jamaat-ud-Dawa, linked to the banned Lashkar-e-Taiba militant group, in the city of Lahore.
They failed there too as they had no guarantor, the official said.
"These are five raw men who had been brainwashed," said the security official.
The five were found with maps and had intended to travel through northwest Pakistan to the al Qaeda and Taliban militant stronghold of Miranshah, in the lawless North Waziristan region on the Afghan border.
"Their ultimate destination was Afghanistan. They wanted to go to Afghanistan for jihad," the official said.
It is not clear if the five will be prosecuted in Pakistan or sent back to the United States. In Washington, the FBI said discussions were underway on their possible return.
The suspects were wary about being detected through sending emails so instead they shared a password so different members of their group could access the same email site and read messages saved there as drafts, the first Pakistani official said.
"It's a very difficult job to dismantle such networks which operate through the Internet," he said.
The suspects were being investigated for links with the banned Jaish-e-Mohammad group, but it was not clear to what extent they had developed contacts.
The Jaish-e-Mohammad, or Army of the Prophet Mohammad, has links with al Qaeda and the Taliban and is one of several factions with roots in Punjab province which have been battling Indian forces in disputed Kashmir.
Friday, December 11, 2009
DTN News: Pakistan TODAY December 11, 2009 ~ Pakistani And U.S. Agents Interrogate Five Americans
DTN News: Pakistan TODAY December 11, 2009 ~ Pakistani And U.S. Agents Interrogate Five Americans
*Source: DTN News / Int'l Media
(NSI News Source Info) SARGODHA, Pakistan - December 11, 2009: U.S. FBI agents and their Pakistani colleagues interrogated on Friday five young American Muslims who wanted to go to Afghanistan to fight U.S.-led forces, Pakistani officials said. Pakistani children play in front of a house where police reportedly arrested five American Muslims in Sargodha, Pakistan, Thursday, Dec. 10, 2009. Five young American Muslims arrested in Pakistan met with representatives of an al-Qaida linked group and asked for training but were turned down because they lacked references from trusted militants, a Pakistani law enforcement official said Thursday.
The case is bound to fan fears in Western countries that the sons of immigrants from Muslim countries are being drawn to violent Islamist militancy, a process made easier by the Internet.
The five men, students in their 20s from northern Virginia, were detained this week in the city of Sargodha in Punjab province, 190 km (120 miles) southeast of the Pakistani capital, Islamabad.
The case has again focused attention on nuclear-armed Pakistan's performance in fighting militants as Washington presses Islamabad to root out Islamist fighters crossing the border to attack U.S.-led troops in Afghanistan.
The five tried to contact militants and stayed in touch with each other through the Internet, Pakistani security officials said, highlighting the difficulty authorities face in trying to track and disrupt plots organized on the Web.
Police in Sargodha had taken the first step toward filing charges with complaints based on laws pertaining to foreigners and use of computers to organize crime.
"A case has been registered against the five for violating Pakistan's foreigners and cyber acts," Sargodha police chief Usman Anwar told Reuters.
Pakistani agents and colleagues from the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) were interrogating the five, said a Pakistani security official.
"They are still in Sargodha and they are being investigated by us as well as the FBI," said the official, who declined to be identified.
"BRAINWASHED"
Another Pakistani security official said the five had visited a madrasa, or Islamic religious school, in the southern city of Hyderabad saying they wanted to join jihad, or Muslim holy war.
The school turned them away, he said.
The hapless five had then tried to contact an Islamist charity, the Jamaat-ud-Dawa, linked to the banned Lashkar-e-Taiba militant group, in the city of Lahore.
They failed there too as they had no guarantor, the official said.
"These are five raw men who had been brainwashed," said the security official.
The five were found with maps and had intended to travel through northwest Pakistan to the al Qaeda and Taliban militant stronghold of Miranshah, in the lawless North Waziristan region on the Afghan border.
"Their ultimate destination was Afghanistan. They wanted to go to Afghanistan for jihad," the official said.
It is not clear if the five will be prosecuted in Pakistan or sent back to the United States. In Washington, the FBI said discussions were underway on their possible return.
The suspects were wary about being detected through sending emails so instead they shared a password so different members of their group could access the same email site and read messages saved there as drafts, the first Pakistani official said.
"It's a very difficult job to dismantle such networks which operate through the Internet," he said.
The suspects were being investigated for links with the banned Jaish-e-Mohammad group, but it was not clear to what extent they had developed contacts.
The Jaish-e-Mohammad, or Army of the Prophet Mohammad, has links with al Qaeda and the Taliban and is one of several factions with roots in Punjab province which have been battling Indian forces in disputed Kashmir.
Pakistani children play in front of a house where police reportedly arrested five American Muslims in Sargodha, Pakistan, Thursday, Dec. 10, 2009. Five young American Muslims arrested in Pakistan met with representatives of an al-Qaida linked group and asked for training but were turned down because they lacked references from trusted militants, a Pakistani law enforcement official said Thursday.
The case is bound to fan fears in Western countries that the sons of immigrants from Muslim countries are being drawn to violent Islamist militancy, a process made easier by the Internet.
The five men, students in their 20s from northern Virginia, were detained this week in the city of Sargodha in Punjab province, 190 km (120 miles) southeast of the Pakistani capital, Islamabad.
The case has again focused attention on nuclear-armed Pakistan's performance in fighting militants as Washington presses Islamabad to root out Islamist fighters crossing the border to attack U.S.-led troops in Afghanistan.
The five tried to contact militants and stayed in touch with each other through the Internet, Pakistani security officials said, highlighting the difficulty authorities face in trying to track and disrupt plots organized on the Web.
Police in Sargodha had taken the first step toward filing charges with complaints based on laws pertaining to foreigners and use of computers to organize crime.
"A case has been registered against the five for violating Pakistan's foreigners and cyber acts," Sargodha police chief Usman Anwar told Reuters.
Pakistani agents and colleagues from the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) were interrogating the five, said a Pakistani security official.
"They are still in Sargodha and they are being investigated by us as well as the FBI," said the official, who declined to be identified.
"BRAINWASHED"
Another Pakistani security official said the five had visited a madrasa, or Islamic religious school, in the southern city of Hyderabad saying they wanted to join jihad, or Muslim holy war.
The school turned them away, he said.
The hapless five had then tried to contact an Islamist charity, the Jamaat-ud-Dawa, linked to the banned Lashkar-e-Taiba militant group, in the city of Lahore.
They failed there too as they had no guarantor, the official said.
"These are five raw men who had been brainwashed," said the security official.
The five were found with maps and had intended to travel through northwest Pakistan to the al Qaeda and Taliban militant stronghold of Miranshah, in the lawless North Waziristan region on the Afghan border.
"Their ultimate destination was Afghanistan. They wanted to go to Afghanistan for jihad," the official said.
It is not clear if the five will be prosecuted in Pakistan or sent back to the United States. In Washington, the FBI said discussions were underway on their possible return.
The suspects were wary about being detected through sending emails so instead they shared a password so different members of their group could access the same email site and read messages saved there as drafts, the first Pakistani official said.
"It's a very difficult job to dismantle such networks which operate through the Internet," he said.
The suspects were being investigated for links with the banned Jaish-e-Mohammad group, but it was not clear to what extent they had developed contacts.
The Jaish-e-Mohammad, or Army of the Prophet Mohammad, has links with al Qaeda and the Taliban and is one of several factions with roots in Punjab province which have been battling Indian forces in disputed Kashmir.
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