Pakistani man convicted of aiding al Qaeda in US (Reuters) Updated: 2005-11-24 11:28
US federal jurors on Wednesday convicted a 25-year-old Pakistani of
supporting an al Qaeda plot to attack the United States, despite the man's claim
that he falsely confessed under the pressure of three days of interrogation by
the FBI.
Uzair Paracha was convicted of all five counts he faced, including conspiracy
and providing material support to al Qaeda, identification fraud and receiving
funds for the benefit of al Qaeda. All five counts carry a maximum penalty of 15
years in prison. A sentencing date was not set.
After the verdict, Paracha's lawyer, Anthony Ricco, described his client as
"hurt" and disappointed. Ricco said it was hard for juries in terrorism cases to
acquit defendants because the U.S. government "was at war with al Qaeda."
During the trial, prosecutors said Paracha agreed to smuggle travel documents
and pose in the United States as al Qaeda member Majid Khan, who the U.S.
government believed was planning to blow up gas stations in America. Little
evidence of the suspected plot was presented in the trial.
Prosecutors said Paracha attended several meetings in Pakistan with his
father, Saifullah Paracha, and al Qaeda members Khan and Ammar al-Baluchi. They
said Paracha agreed to mail travel documents back to Khan from the United
States, as well as hold $200,000 in al Qaeda funds.
Central to the case was whether the jury believed Paracha's claim that his
confession was false. He said the FBI questioned him in FBI offices and
Manhattan hotel rooms for three days in March 2003.
He repeatedly told the jury he lied because he was "scared and he wanted to
go home" and that he did not know Khan and a-Baluchi were members of al Qaeda.
Paracha's lawyers said his false confession came under conditions that included
being strip searched, being unable to contact a lawyer or family and having
little food or sleep.
But under cross-examination by a prosecutor, Paracha admitted he was offered
some food as well as sleep each night in different hotels as he slowly confessed
to agents that his motive for helping Khan was to further his father's real
estate business but above all wanted to perform a favor to al Qaeda.
While Paracha's lawyers asked the jury to believe Paracha was lying under FBI
questioning, they also asked jurors to believe statements made to U.S.
authorities by Khan and al-Baluchi were true. Both men are believed to be in
U.S. custody in undisclosed locations.
In summaries of the statements presented by the defense in the trial, both
Khan and al-Baluchi supported Paracha's testimony that neither he nor his
father, who is being held in Guantanamo Bay as an enemy combatant, knew they
were al Qaeda members.
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