FBI arrests Pakistani national supporting LeT

Washington, Sep 3: The Federal Bureau of Investigation has arrested a Pakistani national having permanent legal residency in the US, on charges of supporting the banned militant outfit Lashkar-e-Taiba.

Jubair Ahmad, 24, according to the affidavit in support of the criminal complaint unsealed on Friday, received "indoctrination and training from LeT while he lived in Pakistan" as a teenager.

If convicted, he faces a maximum potential sentence of 15 years in prison on the material support charge and eight years in prison on the charge of making false statements in a terrorism-related investigation.

Ahmad came to the US in 2007 along with other family members, and in 2009, the FBI launched an investigation after receiving information on his association with LeT, the US Department of Justice said.

The affidavit alleges that in September 2010, Ahmad produced and uploaded a propaganda video on YouTube on behalf of LeT, after communications with a person named ''Talha''.

In a subsequent conversation with another person, Ahmad identified Talha as Talha Saeed, the son of LeT leader Hafiz Mohammed Saeed.

The video contained images of "Hafiz Saeed, so-called jihadi martyrs and armored trucks exploding after having been hit by improvised explosive devices," it said.

In October 2010, Talha had allegedly contacted Ahmad and requested him to revise the LeT propaganda video, giving Ahmad specific instructions.

Ahmad then allegedly revised the video and posted it on Oct 16, 2010. In August 2011, FBI agents interrogated him, where he denied any involvement with the video.

PTI