Student pleads innocent to NY terrorism charges

NEW YORK, May 30 (Reuters) The first person extradited by Britain to the United States on terrorism charges pleaded not guilty to supporting al Qaeda in federal court.

Syed Hashmi, 27, an American student who was studying in London before he was extradited to New York on Friday, is accused of providing military equipment to others who then transported it to al Qaeda associates in Pakistan.

His lawyer called the charges unfounded, saying Hashmi was the victim of his association with an informant and self-confessed al Qaeda backer who won immunity in another case.

Hashmi appeared in US District Court in Manhattan with a long beard and dressed in a blue and orange prison outfit while relatives crowded the public benches.

Hashmi replied ''not guilty'' to the charges. If convicted, he faces a maximum of 50 years in prison.

Prosecutors allege that Hashmi, a Pakistani native who grew up in Queens, New York, agreed with others between January 2004 and May 2006 to provide military gear to al Qaeda to be used against US forces in Afghanistan.

Hashmi, also known as ''Fahad'', was arrested at London's Heathrow airport in June 2006 as he was about to board a plane to Pakistan. Prosecutors said yesterday he was the first individual extradited from Britain to the United States on terrorism charges.

Outside the courtroom, defense lawyer Sean Maher said Hashmi was a devout Muslim and ''peace-loving'' man who was being punished by the United States for participating in political protests against the US government.

''He is not a terrorist. He is an academic. These charges are unfounded,'' Maher said.

Maher said his client suffered from knowing Mohammed Junaid Babar, who testified as an informant against five Britons convicted in London in April of plotting bomb attacks on targets such as nightclubs and trains.

Babar pleaded guilty in New York in 2004 to smuggling money and military supplies, including night vision goggles and sleeping bags, to an al Qaeda figure in Pakistan.

A plea deal led Babar to give evidence in the London trial where he was granted immunity from prosecution.

Maher said the charges against Hashmi were ''most likely'' based on the words of Babar, who ''has shown himself to be conniving, an opportunist and most of all unreliable.'' REUTERS CS SBA BST0728