2 Accused of Conspiring to Aid Terrorists

[maddezmom]

By LARRY NEUMEISTER, Associated Press Writer
1 hour, 1 minute ago



NEW YORK - The FBI arrested a Florida doctor and a New York martial arts expert on federal terrorism charges, saying they conspired to treat and train terrorists, prosecutors announced Sunday.

Rafiq Abdus Sabir, a Boca Raton physician, and Tarik Shah, a self-described martial arts expert in New York, were both charged in Manhattan federal court with conspiring to provide material support to al-Qaida, according to the U.S. attorney's office for the Southern District of New York.

New York police spokesman Paul Browne said Shah was arrested early Friday. Florida authorities said Sabir was arrested Saturday. Both are American citizens.

Prosecutors said Sabir agreed to treat jihadists, or holy warriors, in Saudi Arabia. Shah allegedly agreed to train them in hand-to-hand combat.

~snip~
more:http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory?id=802584&CMP=OTC-RSSFeeds0312

[maddezmom]

1. another interesting article: Trying to Thwart Possible Terrorists Quickly,

Trying to Thwart Possible Terrorists Quickly, F.B.I. Agents Are Often Playing Them

By ERIC LICHTBLAU
Published: May 30, 2005
WASHINGTON, May 29 - Ron Grecula did not try to hide his disdain for the "wicked" American government when he sat in a Houston hotel room two weeks ago with two men claiming to be terrorist operatives linked to Al Qaeda.

"I have no loyalty to America whatsoever," Mr. Grecula, 68, a destitute inventor from Pennsylvania, said in a conversation monitored by the authorities. He blamed the F.B.I. for imprisoning him in the abduction of his two children, he said, and he blamed the government for a foreign policy of world domination.

So when the supposed terrorists sought to have Mr. Grecula build them a bomb that he said could wipe out everything within 3,000 feet, he did not flinch, prosecutors said. "Of course, I don't like how y'all are killing Americans, but America has asked for it," he said, according to a court transcript. "They want a war, they got it."

Within hours, Mr. Grecula was in a Houston jail, facing charges that he tried to give support to terrorists and becoming the latest person ensnared in an aggressive but sometimes controversial federal effort since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks to identify possible terrorist sympathizers. Mr. Grecula's contacts were, in fact, agents for the Federal Bureau of Investigation who were part of a stepped-up effort from Newark to San Diego to use undercover operations to disrupt possible plots.

~snip~
more: http://www.nytimes.com/2005/05/30/politics/30terror.html

[izzie]

2. I have not believed a thing they have said of late.

The glass has always been half full to me but for Bush and Co.

[lumpy]

3. This sounds strange.

http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20050530/ap_on_re_us/terrorism_arrests

[lumpy]

4. More on this case

http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/southflorida/sfl-psabir30may30,0,4986830.story?coll=sfla-home-headlines