WASHINGTON: A young Pakistani national living in a suburb of the US Capital has pleaded guilty to providing material support to terror outfit Lashkar-e-Taiba by making a propaganda video and faces up to 15 years in prison.
Sialkot-born Jubair Ahmad, 24, made and uploaded the video at the direction of his LeT handler in Pakistan, Talha Saeed who is the son of Hafiz Muhammad Saeed, the commander of the Pakistan based militant group, with the purpose of propagating jihad, federal prosecutors said.
“Yes, I do plead guilty,” Ahmad said before a Virginia court late yesterday. He now faces a maximum sentence of 15 years of imprisonment, USD 250,000 in fine, three years of supervised release and deportation to his country.
His sentencing is scheduled on April 13, 2012.
“Foreign terrorist organizations such as LeT use the internet as part of well-orchestrated propaganda campaigns to radicalize and recruit individuals to wage violent jihad and to promote the spread of terror,” said US Attorney Neil H MacBride.
The conviction of Jubair Ahmad “demonstrates that we will aggressively investigate and prosecute anyone who provides material support to a terrorist organization in whatever form it takes,” he said.
“By preparing and posting a graphic video that glorified violent extremism, Ahmad directly supported the mission of a designated terrorist organization,” said James W McJunkin, Assistant Director in Charge of FBI’s Washington Field Office.
Appearing before the court, in a dark green jumpsuit, with prisoner written in his back, Ahmed, admitted that in September 2010, while at his residence in Woodbridge, Virginia, he engaged in a series of communications Talha Saeed, in Pakistan.
According to the plea document, Talha Saeed directed Ahmad to begin the LeT video with a number of pictures of Hafiz Saeed, then show scenes where atrocities have been inflicted on Muslims, followed by the activities of the ‘mujahideen’ conducting attacks in Kashmir.
At one point, Ahmad asked Talha Saeed if he wanted to include an image of the Mumbai attack to show the power of LeT.
This is a reference to LeT’s operation against the city of Mumbai on November 26, 2008, which resulted in the death of over 160 people, including six Americans.
Talha replied that he should not use anything referring to Mumbai.
Ahmad admitted that Talha Saeed told him to search for “Lashkar-e-Taiba” on YouTube to find additional images of mujahideen operations to include in the video.
Talha Saeed further stated that the video will be popular in Pakistan and will run continuously on significant media programs and presentations.
On September 25, 2010, Ahmad completed the LeT video and uploaded it to a YouTube account on the Internet.
The next day, Ahmad sent a communication to another person overseas in which he explained that “Hafiz Saeed’s son Talha Saeed” had requested him to prepare the video.
Forensic examination by the FBI subsequently confirmed that Ahmad had constructed the LeT video on his computer, MacBride said. -PTI
