U.S. doctor convicted of support al Qaeda

NEW YORK (Reuters) - A federal jury convicted a Florida-based doctor on Monday of supporting al Qaeda by swearing allegiance to the group and attempting to help treat wounded fighters.

Rafiq Sabir, 52, was found guilty of conspiracy to provide material support to al Qaeda and providing or attempting to provide material support or resources and faces a maximum of 30 years in prison when he is sentenced September 12.

Sabir read the Koran before the jury came back to announce its verdict, and he showed no emotion as the verdict was read.

"We are deeply disappointed in the verdict. It is another example of the erosion of constitutional rights that we suffer post-9/11," his attorney, Ed Wilford, told reporters.

The case did not involve any attack plot, but centered on an oath that Sabir and his close friend Tarik Shah made in Arabic in May 2005 to an undercover FBI agent posing as an al Qaeda recruiter. He taped both men pledging support to the militant Islamic group and "Sheikh Osama."

Sabir, a strict Muslim born and raised in New York, testified during the trial that he did not realize during the meeting that "Osama" referred to Osama bin Laden and had misunderstood the pronunciation of "al Qaeda" due to his limited Arabic.

The doctor claimed he thought the oath was a bayat -- a general Islamic declaration -- and only agreed to help treat his "brothers" out of his medical obligations to treat all people.

But prosecutors questioned why Sabir did not realize or inquire who he was pledging allegiance to when al Qaeda was mentioned during the four-hour meeting at least 14 times and "Sheikh Osama" up to 10 times.

They said Sabir and his "brother in arms" Shah, a New York jazz musician and martial arts expert, long dreamed of fulfilling what they believed was their Muslim duty to help wage holy war against infidels.

The men offered themselves as a "package" to the undercover agent, prosecutors said, with Sabir providing his skills as an emergency room doctor and Shah training would-be fighters in hand-to-hand combat.

Before the trial, Shah and two other defendants in the case, Brooklyn bookstore owner Abdulrahman Farhane and Maryland taxi driver Mahmud Brent, pleaded guilty to terrorism charges.

Farhane was sentenced in April to 13 years in prison and Shah and Brent will be sentenced in July.