Defendant Found Guilty of Conspiracy to Support Terrorists

Syed Haris Ahmed Faces Up to 15 Years in Federal Prison

WASHINGTON, June 10 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- After a bench trial held last
week in the Northern District of Georgia, U.S. District Judge William S.
Duffey, Jr., announced today that Syed Haris Ahmed, 24, has been found guilty
of conspiracy to provide material support to terrorists.

"This case has never been about an imminent threat to the United States,
because in the post-9/11 world we will not wait to disrupt terrorism-related
activity until a bomb is built and ready to explode," said David E. Nahmias,
U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Georgia. "The fuse that leads to an
explosion of violence may be long, but once it is lit - once individuals
unlawfully agree to support terrorist acts at home or abroad - we will
prosecute them to snuff that fuse out. 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. I commend the agents,
prosecutors, and support staff who have worked so hard for so long to gather
and present the evidence that led to today's guilty verdict."

"This prosecution underscores the importance of international and domestic
cooperation in combating terrorism," said David Kris, Assistant Attorney
General for National Security. "The agents, analysts and prosecutors involved
in this case and in related investigations around the world deserve a special
thanks for their efforts."

"Protecting the United States from terrorist attacks is the highest priority
of every FBI employee," said FBI Atlanta Special Agent in Charge Gregory
Jones. "Working with our law enforcement and intelligence community partners,
the FBI was fortunate enough to have disrupted and dismantled a group whose
stated goal was to provide support to those engaged in terrorism. I would like
to thank the men and women of the Atlanta Joint Terrorism Task Force (JTTF)
who, for over a year and a half, painstakingly pursued this defendant and
others as they conspired and devised ways to achieve their dangerous goals.
The conviction in this case validates the FBI's approach that we do not need
to wait, nor should we wait, for an individual to be caught with his hands on
a bomb before we recognize and respond to the threat."

According to U.S. Attorney Nahmias and the evidence presented during the
trial:

Ahmed is a naturalized U.S. citizen who was born in Pakistan and raised in
Marietta and Dawsonville, Ga. At trial, the government presented evidence
that, beginning in late 2004 and early 2005, Ahmed unlawfully agreed
(conspired) with others to provide material support to terrorists engaged in
violent jihad. The evidence indicated that the material support consisted of:
(1) Ahmed and other individuals who would provide themselves as personnel to
engage in violent jihad, and (2) property, namely, video clips of symbolic and
infrastructure targets for potential terrorist attacks in the Washington,
D.C., area, including the United States Capitol, which were taken by Ahmed and
his principal alleged co-conspirator and then sent to "the jihadi brothers"
abroad.

At trial, the government presented evidence that Ahmed and his co-conspirators
used the Internet to develop relationships and maintain contact with each
other and with other supporters of violent jihad in the United States, Canada,
the United Kingdom, Pakistan, and elsewhere. In support of the conspiracy, in
March 2005 Ahmed traveled with his principal co-conspirator to Toronto,
Canada, to meet with other co-conspirators and discuss their plans to travel
to Pakistan in an effort to attend a paramilitary training camp operated by a
terrorist organization, as well as potential targets for terrorist attacks in
the United States.

In April 2005, Ahmed and his principal co-conspirator traveled to the
Washington, D.C., area to take the casing videos, which the government's
evidence showed they made to establish their credentials with other violent
jihad supporters as well as for use in violent jihad propaganda and planning.
Ahmed's co-conspirator sent several of the video clips to Younis Tsouli, a/k/a
"Irhabi007" (Arabic for "Terrorist 007"), a propagandist and recruiter for the
terrorist organization Al Qaeda in Iraq, and to Aabid Hussein Khan, a/k/a "Abu
Umar," a facilitator for the Pakistan-based terrorist organizations
"Lashkar-e-Tayyiba" and "Jaish-e-Mohammed." Both Tsouli and Khan have since
been convicted of terrorism offenses in the United Kingdom.

The government also presented evidence at trial that in July 2005, Ahmed
traveled from Atlanta to Pakistan in an unsuccessful attempt to enter a
training camp and ultimately engage in violent jihad. After returning to
Atlanta to resume his studies at Georgia Tech in August 2005, Ahmed expressed
regret at his failure to join violent jihadists, conducted internet research
on topics such as high explosives and evading surveillance, and discussed his
intent to make another attempt to enter a violent jihad training camp.

In March 2006, however, Ahmed was approached by FBI agents and agreed to a
series of voluntary, non-custodial interviews over the course of eight days.
Amid efforts to deny his illegal activities and mislead the agents, Ahmed made
increasingly incriminating statements. Efforts by the FBI to obtain Ahmed's
cooperation in the ongoing international terrorism investigation ended after
the FBI discovered that Ahmed was surreptitiously contacting his principal
co-conspirator, who was then in Bangladesh, to advise him of the FBI
investigation and to warn him not to return to the United States. The
conspiracy to provide material support to terrorists did not result in any
known acts of terrorism.

Ahmed was arrested in Atlanta on March 23, 2006, on the original indictment in
this case, which charged him with one count of material support of terrorism.
He has been in custody since that time. The initial indictment was unsealed
and publicly announced on April 20, 2006, after the arrest of the alleged
principal co-conspirator in Bangladesh. Superseding indictments added three
additional charges.

Ahmed recently waived his right to a jury trial on the conspiracy charge of
the second superseding indictment (Count One) and agreed to have the verdict
decided by the Court. The other three counts were severed. The bench trial was
held on June 1-4, 2009, and the Court then took the verdict under advisement
until today.

Judge Duffey delivered the guilty verdict in open court, but sealed his
written findings supporting the verdict until the completion of the jury trial
of a related case against the alleged principal co-conspirator, which is
scheduled to begin on August 3, 2009. Judge Duffey set a hearing for tomorrow,
June 11, at 11:00 a.m., for anyone interested in being heard on the sealing of
the findings supporting the guilty verdict.

Ahmed could receive a maximum sentence of 15 years in prison, followed by a
term of supervised release up to life, and a fine of up to $250,000. In
determining the actual sentence, the Court will consider the United States
Sentencing Guidelines, which are not binding but provide appropriate
sentencing ranges for most offenders. A sentencing date will be set after the
completion of the alleged co-conspirator's trial.

This case is being investigated by agents and officers of the Atlanta Joint
Terrorism Task Force (JTTF), which is led by the FBI, Atlanta Division.

Assistant United States Attorneys Robert McBurney and Christopher Bly and
Trial Attorney Alexis Collins, of the Counterterrorism Section of the Justice
Department's National Security Division, are prosecuting the case.

SOURCE U.S. Department of Justice

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