Atlanta pair allegedly trained for jihad

Men allegedly scouted targets in Washington, Atlanta area

http://www.cnn.com/2006/LAW/07/19/atlanta.terror.ap/

ATLANTA, Georgia (AP) -- Two young men from the Atlanta area were accused in a federal indictment Wednesday of undergoing paramilitary training in northwest Georgia and plotting violent holy war.

Their civilian and government targets included an air base in suburban Atlanta, the indictment says.

Named in the grand jury's indictment were Syed Ahmed, a 21-year-old Georgia Tech student who was arrested in March, and Ehsanul Islam Sadequee, another U.S. citizen who grew up in Atlanta area.

They were previously accused of traveling to Canada last year to meet with Islamic extremists to discuss "strategic locations in the United States suitable for a terrorist strike," according to prosecutors.

In a new indictment filed Wednesday, the men are now also accused of traveling to Washington, D.C., to film possible targets, including the U.S. Capitol and the headquarters of the World Bank, and sharing them with another alleged terrorist based in Great Britain.

The two also allegedly received paramilitary training at an unspecified location in northwest Georgia in late 2004 and early 2005. They are accused of discussing plans for various attacks, including one at Dobbins Air Reserve Base in the Atlanta suburb of Marietta, the indictment said.

"Today's indictment is another important step in this significant terrorism investigation," said U.S. Attorney David E. Nahmias.

However, Nahmias stressed that the indictment does not allege that the two "posed an imminent threat to the United States."

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FBI: Georgia men talked of U.S. terror plan

http://www.cnn.com/2006/LAW/04/21/us.terrorplot/index.html

From Henry Schuster
CNN

ATLANTA, Georgia (CNN) -- Two Atlanta-area men in federal custody as part of a terrorism probe discussed possible locations for a U.S. attack, including military bases and oil refineries, according court documents unsealed Friday.

The U.S. attorney's office in Atlanta on Thursday unsealed an indictment against Georgia Tech student Syed Ahmed, 21.

Ahmed was arrested last month in Atlanta and pleaded not guilty Wednesday to charges of material support for terrorism. (Watch as Ahmed's mother and sister say he's been wrongly accused -- 1:33)

Ahmed was denied bail. His attorney, Jack Martin, declined comment after hearing excerpts of the documents read.

Ehsanul Sadequee, 19, was arrested this week in Bangladesh and handed over to the FBI. He is expected to be arraigned in federal court in Brooklyn, New York, on a charge of making false statements during an interview with an FBI agent.

After reviewing the court documents, Sadequee's attorney, Shereef Akeel, said, "It is a very serious allegation. But it is out of character from the way this young man has lived his life."

Sadequee's sister Sharmin said Thursday night that her brother is not a terrorist and "we are very shocked and startled and hurt" by his arrest.

The two men, both U.S. citizens, knew each other through the Atlanta Muslim community, a Sadequee family member said.

An affidavit from FBI agent Michael Scherck says the duo traveled in March 2005 from Atlanta to Canada, where they met with three men who are the subject of an FBI international terrorism investigation.

Ahmed "explained that, during some of these meetings, he, Sadequee and the others discussed strategic locations in the United States suitable for a terrorist strike, to include oil refineries and military bases," the affidavit says.

"They also plotted how to disable the global positioning system in an effort to disrupt military and commercial communications and traffic."

The affidavit alleges the "assembled group developed a plan to receive military training at one of the several terrorist-sponsored training camps." It also says Ahmed traveled to Pakistan in an attempt to get such training.

The government says that Sadequee lied about the meetings when an FBI agent questioned him last year. He was traveling to Bangladesh to get married, according to his family.

At a news conference Thursday in Atlanta, U.S. Attorney David Nahmias said Ahmed was charged with providing material support for terrorism, not planning or carrying out terrorist acts.

FBI spokesman Richard Kolko said "no imminent threat" existed at any point during the investigation.

Court documents reveal the investigation included court-authorized wiretapping, recounting a conversation between Ahmed and Sadequee's sister.

The FBI affidavit also says agents found two CD-ROMs in the lining of Sadequee's suitcase when he was leaving the United States. One disc contained pornography and the other was encrypted with a code the FBI was unable to crack, according to the affidavit.

It also says Sadequee had maps of the Washington area with the discs.