A young Pakistani man, Uzair Paracha, was convicted in federal court yesterday of conspiring to help a Qaeda operative suspected of planning bombing attacks in Maryland to enter the United States.
After a two-week trial, the jury in Federal District Court in Manhattan deliberated less than six hours before finding Mr. Paracha guilty on all five counts of providing material aid and financial support to Qaeda terrorism. He faces up to 75 years in prison.
Mr. Paracha, 25, was convicted of trying to help another Pakistani, Majid Khan, obtain documents early in 2003 to travel from Pakistan to the United States. In a written agreement presented during the trial, both the prosecutors and Mr. Paracha's lawyers said that Mr. Khan is a Qaeda member.
In the last two days, two major terror trials have concluded with convictions of terrorists on wide ranging charges related to conducting terrorist attacks against the US.
The jurors evidently gave no credence to Mr. Paracha's claims that he did not know Mr. Khan was a Qaeda member. In extensive confessions he made during three days of questioning by New York counterterrorism agents before he was arrested, Mr. Paracha admitted that his father, Saifullah Paracha, had told him of Mr. Khan's terror ties. Mr. Paracha testified in court that his father "admired" Osama bin Laden, after a meeting with the Qaeda leader in Afghanistan. The elder Mr. Paracha is in military detention in Guantánamo Bay, Cuba.
The jurors apparently were also not swayed by Mr. Paracha's argument that he gave a false confession because he felt pressured by the American agents.
No comments:
Post a Comment