Pakistani Terrorist holds H-1B Visa

Date: Sunday, June 29, 2003 1:43 PM

JOB DESTRUCTION NEWSLETTER

www.ZaZona.com

There have been several documented cases of corporate spies that used
H-1B visas to enter the U.S. for but this may the first solid case of
terrorists using H-1B to operate covertly in the U.S. In this instance,
a Pakistani citizen working as an electrical engineer in the US on an
H-1B visa is accused of terrorist activities directed against India in
the name of jehad.

Congress should get used to the idea that when we invite other cultures
to work in the U.S. we are also inviting their conflicts to our soil.

Let's see how long it takes for the U.S. media to report this story
with the fact that H-1B was involved. If they ever do, I'll let you
know. The Times of India article is followed by a sanitized version of
what we can expect in American newspapers.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/cms.dll/html/uncomp/articleshow?msid=48776

FBI charges bare Musharraf's lies

CHIDANAND RAJGHATTA

TIMES NEWS NETWORK[ SUNDAY, JUNE 29, 2003 01:59:19 AM ]

WASHINGTON: The FBI indictment in the United States of eleven suspected
militants reveals Pakistan's military ruler Pervez Musharraf has
consistently lied to Washington, New Delhi and the world on the subject
of terrorist camps.

According to US officials, at least seven members of the group
travelled to Pakistan and received training in small arms, machine guns
and grenade launchers at a Lashkar-e-Taiba camp in northeast Pakistan.
Some of them even fought against Indian troops in Kashmir.

The disclosure blow apart the repeated contention by Musharraf and his
establishment that Pakistan is not a safe haven for terrorists, that
there are no terrorist camps in Pakistan, and that "nothing is
happening on the LoC".

The charges also bring to the fore the vast disconnect between the
public and political pronouncements by Washington (which backs
Musharraf's military regime and says it is acting against terrorist
camps), and the inside view, especially in law-enforcement and
intelligence circles, which shows Pakistan serving as a platform to
terrorists from across the world.

In fact, the FBI action, the first to address the issue of terrorism
directed against India, could completely change the US-India discourse
on the subject.

The indictment charges the men with violating the Neutrality Act, which
bars Americans or US residents from attacking friendly countries with
which the United States is at peace, in this case India.

It also explicitly refers to terrorist activities directed against
India in the name of jehad.

Together with the arrest of last week of Iyman Faris, the Ohio truck
driver of Kashmiri origin, the actions show that the US is now getting
serious about cornering Pakistan-trained and backed extremists
regardless of the political honeymoon.

Given that nine of the eleven men charged are US citizens, it suggests
Washington is cracking down on radicals on its own turf too.

Law enforcement authorities announced both actions on either side of
Gen. Musharraf's visit to Washington, evidently to avoid embarrassing
the Bush administration's guest.

According to US officials, the indictment relies partly on the
testimony of an unnamed, unindicted co-conspirator who was close to the
group and who turned approver to provide incriminating information
about the others as part of a deal with the government.

The charges reveal that the men met often at private homes and mosques
in the Washington area to hear lectures on and discuss the
righteousness of jehad in Kashmir, Chechnya and elsewhere. They also
watched videotapes of terrorist attacks.

The men also took part in a field game called paintball, an
increasingly popular game in which people shoot each other with
coin-sized pellets filled with colored liquid, as a means to train for
warfare.

Three of the men reportedly had experience in the US military and were
training the others. At least one of the men actively worked for the
Lashkar e-Taiba and even fought in Kashmir, the indictment says.

The disclosure that one of the arrested men is a Pakistani citizen
working as an electrical engineer in the US and holds a H1-B visa has
also come as a shock to the community.

Thousands of white collar professionals of Pakistani origin work in the
US and are held in as high esteem as their Indian colleagues.

Despite the assertions of the Pakistan's military government that it is
acting against terrorism, many of them feel let down and humiliated by
the repeated association of their country with terrorist activities.

http://quote.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=10000103&sid=aDoH0ZgXtYww&refer=us

U.S. Officials Arrest Seven Men With Alleged Terrorist Ties
June 27 (Bloomberg) -- The FBI has seven men into custody whom
officials believe are linked to Lashkar-E-Taiba, an Islamic Kashmiri
separatist group.

In a press conference today in Alexandria, Virginia, U.S. Attorney Paul
McNulty said the arrests were part of an ongoing investigation into
jihad training and weapons violations. The men were charged with
providing support for a terrorist organization.

The arrests were made in Pennsylvania, Virginia, and Maryland.

``Terrorist organizations of various allegiances are active in the
United States and these groups exploit America's freedom,'' McNulty
said.

Lashkar has been designated a terrorist group by the U.S. government.
The group was formed in Pakistan but banned by its government after
India accused it and another Islamic group, Jaish- e-Mohammad, of
attacking its parliament in December 2001. India and Pakistan have
fought several wars over the disputed Kashmir border region.

Last Updated: June 27, 2003 13:19 EDT

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