An American of Pakistani descent has been arrested along with his father, a naturalized U.S. citizen, as part of an investigation by federal officials into possible Al Qaeda terrorist connections in this town about 40 miles south of Sacramento.
According to an FBI affidavit filed in U.S. District Court in Sacramento, Hamid Hayat, 22, told investigators last weekend that he had been trained “on how to kill Americans” at a camp in Pakistan affiliated with Al Qaeda. The affidavit stated that during Hayat’s weapons training, “photos of various high ranking United States political figures, including President Bush, would be pasted on their targets.”
Hayat, who was born in California, returned to the United States on May 29 after spending more than two years in Pakistan. He began working last week as a cherry picker with a local fruit-packing company, a family member said.
The affidavit said Hayat’s father, Umer Hayat, 47, an ice cream truck driver in Lodi, provided financial support for his son’s training.
Both men were arrested Tuesday and are being held in a Sacramento jail. They have been charged with lying to federal investigators about the training camp and are scheduled to appear in federal court on June 21, said Johnny Griffin III, a lawyer for the father.
Charged only with lying
“Notwithstanding the alarming statement made in the affidavit, the government has only charged each of the defendants with one count of making a false statement to a federal agent,” Griffin said. “They are not charged in this complaint with committing any terrorist acts, and they are not charged in this complaint with supporting any terrorist acts.”
Federal law-enforcement officials emphasized that the investigation was in its early stages, that more charges are likely and that more people might be involved.
“It’s several years old, and it’s ongoing,” said Sacramento FBI agent John Cauthen, speaking of the investigation. “We actually have agents in the field working as we speak, and we do not want to say anything that will compromise their work.”
A relative of the Hayat men, Usama Ismail, 19, described the accusations against them as “total lies.”
Ismail said the statements in the affidavit attributed to Hamid Hayat must have been coerced from him “after hours and hours of interrogation.”
“He did not go to a terrorist training camp,” said Ismail, who lives on the same block as the Hayats and whose mother is Umer Hayat’s sister. “Even if they did say that, that’s because the FBI made them say what they wanted them to say.”
Ismail said the FBI began pursuing his cousin and uncle because of anonymous calls to the authorities made by enemies of his uncle. He said he could not elaborate but that when he last spoke to his cousin on Saturday, Hamid Hayat said he was cooperating with the FBI and he seemed to be unconcerned.
“They have something against Hamid’s dad,” Ismail said of the anonymous callers. “Because of that they kept calling the FBI and saying they are terrorists.”
2 imams also arrested
Two other men have been arrested in connection with the investigation. Shabbir Ahmed and Mohammed Adil Khan, are imams affiliated with the two mosques in Lodi, the Farooqia Islamic Center and the Lodi Muslim Mosque.
The town has had a sizable Pakistani Muslim population for many years, residents said, and there are plans to build a Muslim school on the outskirts of town.
Authorities said the two imams, who are not U.S. citizens, were jailed on immigration violations.
A lawyer for the two imams, Saad Ahmad, said the men are innocent of any wrongdoing, describing them as “law abiding” and “decent, hardworking people.”
Ahmad said Khan and Shabbir Ahmed were granted entry to the United States to work as imams, and that law-enforcement officials accused them of violating their visas because they “did not perform their duties as an imam.”
“I really believe they don’t have anything on these guys,” said Ahmad, who is an immigration lawyer.
Law-enforcement officials said they are still unclear about the intentions of the Hayat father and son, but suspect, mainly based on their evasions in interviews, that the two men were recruited to take part in terrorist activity in the United States.
Hamid Hayat told investigators that “he specifically requested to come to the United States to carry out his Jihadi mission,” the affidavit says.
“Potential targets for attack would include hospitals and large food stores,” said the affidavit, signed by Pedro Tenoch Aguilar, an FBI agent.
