DENVER (AP) - A Pakistani man indicted
on charges of conspiring to harbor an alien allegedly spent time at a
terrorist training camp and bragged about killing U.S. troops in
Afghanistan, authorities said.
Haroon Rashid also said he was awaiting orders to commit violence in the
United States, according to FBI documents.
``He poses a threat to everyone in this community and this country,''
executive Assistant U.S. Attorney David Gaouette said at a detention
hearing Monday. Rashid was ordered held without bail.
Defense lawyer Tony Joseph said Rashid denies having anything to do with
terrorism and is in this country legally.
Rashid and five other people - including his wife - were arrested in
Denver on March 24 and indicted two days later on charges of conspiring
to harbor Imran Khan, 22. They were arrested based on a criminal
complaint that was unsealed late Monday.
Khan was arrested for immigration violations March 6 in Petaluma, Calif.,
and is being held pending deportation proceedings, according to an arrest
affidavit.
Rashid's wife, Saima Saima, declined to comment. She and two other
suspects have been released on $10,000 bond each.
Two other defendants, Irfan Kamran and Sajjad Nasser, were granted bond
but remained held on appeal from prosecutors, who said the men posed a
danger or a flight risk but did not elaborate.
Prosecutors and an FBI spokeswoman declined to discuss details of the
case Tuesday, including whether they intend to pursue terrorism-related
charges against Rashid.
FBI documents allege Rashid attended a terrorist training camp in
Pakistan shortly after the Sept. 11 attacks. They also alleged that he
fought for the Taliban and al-Qaida in Afghanistan.
Joseph said Rashid, 32, of Lakewood, had returned to Pakistan only to
help manage property his family owns.
``There is nothing to show he is the alleged terrorist the government is
trying to paint him as being,'' Joseph said.
FBI agent Michael Castro told U.S. Magistrate Judge Michael Watanabe that
Rashid claimed to have fought U.S. forces in pursuit of a ``jihad'' or
``holy war.''
A spokesman for the U.S. Attorney's office, Jeff Dorschner, would not say
how authorities received information about Rashid's alleged bragging.
Rashid and the five other defendants lied about the relationship between
Khan and the people who claimed to be his parents, according to the
arrest affidavit.
The affidavit said Abdul Qayyum and his wife, Chris Marie Warren, had
claimed Khan, Qayyum's nephew, was actually his son.
Kamran, Qayyum's son, knew about the false claim, as did Rashid, Saima
and Nasser, the affidavit said.
The charge of harboring an alien carries a maximum prison sentence of
five years.
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