U.S.-Born Man to Be Charged in Terrorism Case

An American of Bangladeshi heritage was being flown from Bangladesh to New York on Friday to face charges that he lied to federal investigators about meetings with suspected terrorists, officials said.

Ehsanul Islam Sadequee, 19, who had been living in Roswell, Ga., could be arraigned as early as today in Brooklyn federal court on charges that he gave numerous false statements to the FBI when questioned about his travels abroad, according to an arrest warrant unsealed Friday.

Investigators said that Sadequee, who was born in Fairfax, Va., gave false statements when interviewed at Kennedy International Airport in August about a trip earlier in the year to Canada.

During a check of Sadequee’s baggage, FBI agents found two CDs concealed in the lining of his suitcase; one of them couldn’t be decoded and the other contained a pornographic film, according to an affidavit filed with the arrest warrant.

During FBI interviews, Sadequee said he went to Bangladesh to get married and that he went to Canada alone to stay with an aunt, officials said.

However, FBI agents said that after interviewing Sadequee’s friend Syed Haris Ahmed, they believed that Sadequee lied in his discussions with investigators about the Canada travel.

Ahmed told agents he had gone to Canada with Sadequee in March 2005 to meet with “like-minded Islamic extremists,” at which time the group “discussed strategic locations in the United States suitable for a terrorist strike, to include oil refineries and military bases,” according to the affidavit.

Ahmed said Sadequee didn’t stay with his aunt but rather with a person he and Ahmed wanted to accompany to terrorist camps for training, according to investigators.

Officials said in the affidavit that Ahmed later traveled to Pakistan in an attempt to receive such training.

Ahmed, 21, a naturalized U.S. citizen born in Pakistan, was charged Thursday in Atlanta on federal charges that he provided material support to terrorists. He was being held without bail after pleading not guilty.

A law enforcement source who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss the case said that Sadequee was en route Friday to Alaska for a continuation of a flight to Brooklyn.

A news report out of Dhaka, Bangladesh, stated that Sadequee’s father said his son had been arrested on Monday in that city.

The father said Sadequee, who was married March 30, was reportedly picked up at gunpoint by a group of plainclothes officials.