US citizen convicted of support for terrorism | Reuters

US citizen convicted of support for terrorism | Reuters


ATLANTA, June 10 (Reuters) - A U.S. court on Wednesday convicted a naturalized American citizen who made videos of U.S. landmarks of conspiring to provide material support to terrorists.



A federal judge in Atlanta convicted Syed Haris Ahmed, 24, a former mechanical engineering student at the Georgia Institute of Technology, and he could face up to 15 years in prison, the U.S. Department of Justice said.

Ahmed was arrested in March 2006 after making video recordings of Washington landmarks that wound up on the computers of two men later convicted of terrorism charges in the United Kingdom.

"This case has never been about an imminent threat to the United States," said David Nahmias, U.S. attorney for the northern district of Georgia.

"This investigation is connected to arrests and convictions of multiple terrorist supporters in Atlanta and around the world all before any innocent people were killed."

Ahmed, whose parents emigrated from Pakistan, went to Pakistan in July 2005 in an unsuccessful attempt to join a paramilitary training camp to prepare him for "violent jihad," according to a statement by the U.S. attorney's office.

Ahmed and co-conspirators used the Internet to develop relationships with supporters of jihad in the United States, Canada, Britain and Pakistan, prosecutors said. He also went to Toronto to discuss the planned trip to the Pakistan camp.

After his arrest, federal agents asked Ahmed to cooperate in their investigation but instead he attempted to contact his main co-conspirator, the statement said.

He pleaded not guilty to the charge and waived the right to a jury trial, agreeing instead to have the court decide the case.

In a closing argument, Ahmed said using U.S. laws to defend himself would put him in rebellion against God, according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution newspaper.

A co-conspirator who allegedly made videos with Ahmed was arrested in 2006 in Bangladesh and is due to go on trial on Aug. 3. Ahmed will be sentenced after that trial concludes.

Ahmed's lawyer said he was an impressionable student who fell prey to extremist Web sites but never acted on his plans.