FBI holds US-Pakistani dad and son

SACRAMENTO, California - The FBI has arrested a Pakistani-American father and son living in California after the son admitted to attending an al Qaeda training camp in Pakistan, US officials said.

Hamid Hayat, 23, and his father, Umer, 45, of Lodi, 60km south of state capital Sacramento, were taken into custody over the weekend. Both men are being held in Sacramento on charges of lying to federal authorities.

"We believe through our investigation that various individuals connected to al Qaeda have been operating in the Lodi area in various capacities," Keith Slotter, special agent in charge of the FBI office in Sacramento, told reporters.

These involve "individuals who have received terrorist training abroad with the specific intent to initiate a terrorist attack in the United States and to harm Americans and our institutions."

The United States has launched numerous terrorism prosecutions with great fanfare since the September 11, 2001 attacks, although many cases later fizzled out.

Two other men were arrested in Lodi for violating terms of their visas, said Immigration and Customs Enforcement spokesman Dean Boyd. The men have been identified as Muhammad Adil Khan -- an imam at Farooqia Islamic Centre -- and Shabbir Ahmed, also an imam in Lodi, an administration source said.

"We are a peace-loving people; we have never done anything to violate the laws of the United States," a fellow Islamic leader, Taj Khan, told reporters in Lodi. "We love this country as much as anyone else."

According to an FBI affidavit, Hamid Hayat told agents he attended an al Qaeda training camp in Pakistan for about six months in 2003 and 2004. "Hamid further stated that he and others at the camp were being trained on how to kill Americans," the affidavit said.

"Hamid advised that he specifically requested to come to the United States to carry out his jihad mission," the document said. "Potential targets for attack would include hospitals and large food stores."

During weapons training, photos of President George W Bush and other high-ranking US political figures were pasted onto targets.

Neighbour Leslie Korb, who lives across the street, said Umer Hayat, who called himself Michael, drove an icecream truck and had recently completed a course to become a welder. He said Umer had said the family went to Pakistan because the mother needed a liver transplant. "He was very cordial," he said. "I've never seen anything unusual."

The FBI affidavit said Hamid Hayat left the United States in April 2003 for Pakistan. When he was returning to the United States via Korea on May 29, authorities diverted his flight to Japan because his name appeared on a no-fly list.

After the plane was diverted, Hayat denied having any connection to terrorism or terrorist activities, it said. After being allowed to continue to California, Hayat again denied being involved in training camps. A day later, after taking a lie detector test, Hayat admitted that he had attended an al Qaeda training camp, the affidavit said.

After Umer Hayat was shown a videotape of his son admitting that he trained at the camp, he said he had visited the camps and had paid for his son's flight to Pakistan to attend the camp.

- REUTERS