NEW YORK, May 21 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Rafiq Sabir was convicted
today of conspiracy to provide material support or resources to the al
Qaeda terrorist organization, and of attempting to provide material support
or resources to al Qaeda, after pledging an oath of loyalty to al Qaeda and
Osama bin Laden in a May 2005 ceremony secretly recorded by an undercover
FBI agent, announced U.S. Attorney Michael J. Garcia for the Southern
District of New York.
The evidence at trial proved that Sabir conspired with his good friend,
Tarik Shah, to provide martial arts training and medical assistance to al
Qaeda through a man whom they believed to be a recruiter for the terrorist
organization. The recruiter was in fact an undercover FBI agent who
recorded numerous conversations involving Sabir and Shah, including the May
2005 ceremony in the Bronx. During that meeting, Sabir and Shah pledged
"bayat," or allegiance, to Osama bin Laden and al Qaeda and agreed to
provide Sabir's medical expertise and Shah's martial arts expertise to
train al Qaeda fighters.
From September 2003 through May 2005, Shah engaged in multiple meetings
and conversations, first with a confidential source (the "CS") and later
with the FBI undercover agent (the "UC"). In these conversations, the vast
majority of which were recorded, Shah discussed his desire and intent to
aid al Qaeda, and repeatedly discussed his friend, who was a doctor, as
being someone who shared his desire. For example, Shah repeatedly indicated
his desire to train Muslim "brothers" in the martial arts to help them wage
jihad, regularly discussed his desire to find people who were willing to
press the fight, and, when meeting the UC for the first time, offered
himself and Sabir as a "package." Shah also took steps to find locations
where jihad training could be conducted and weapons could be machined.
Shah told the UC and the CS of his discussions with Sabir regarding
their desire to move to Afghanistan in 1998, when it was under the control
of the Taliban, and of his intention to attend terrorist training camps
there. Materials recovered from Shah included the names and telephone
numbers of other individuals who had gone overseas to attend such training
camps, including Seifullah Chapman -- a member of the Virginia Jihad
Network who was convicted in the Eastern District of Virginia in 2004 for
providing material support to the Lashkar-e-Taiba foreign terrorist
organization.
At the meeting on May 20, 2005, in the presence of the UC and under the
impression that the UC had the authority of al Qaeda, Sabir and Shah took
"bayat" -- pledging an oath of loyalty to al Qaeda, and committing
themselves to the path of Holy War, to the oath of secrecy, and to the
directives of al Qaeda and its leaders, including Osama bin Laden and Ayman
al Zawahiri. During that discussion, Sabir stated that he and Shah had been
"talking about this for a long time."
Sabir also told the UC that he would soon be returning to Saudi Arabia
for two years to work at a hospital in Riyadh and that he enjoyed
extraordinary freedom of movement within that country. Evidence at trial
established that al Qaeda has engaged in a long-running terror campaign
within Saudi Arabia that began in May 2003. Also at the May 2005 meeting,
Sabir wrote down his telephone numbers in code, and gave them to the UC for
the UC to provide to the "brothers" in Saudi Arabia, inviting them to call
him and expressing his desire to meet them.
Sabir faces a maximum sentence of 30 years imprisonment, a maximum fine
of $250,000, and a maximum term of supervised release of three years. Sabir
is scheduled to be sentenced by U.S. District Judge Loretta A. Preska on
Sept. 12, 2007, at 4:00 p.m.
The New York Joint Terrorism Task Force, including the Federal Bureau
of Investigation and the New York City Police Department, led the
investigation of this case. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Jennifer G. Rodgers,
Victor L. Hou, and Karl Metzner are in charge of the prosecution.
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SOURCE U.S. Department of Justice
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Related links:
http://www.USDOJ.gov
CONTACT:
Yusill Scribner of the Office of United
States Attorney Michael J. Garcia, Southern District of New York,
+1-212-637-2600, Fax: +1-212-637-0053
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