August 10, 2003	Sunday	Jumadi-us-Sani 11, 1424

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WASHINGTON, Aug 9: The United States has formally indicted 11 citizens, including three Pakistanis, for allegedly planning to launch Jihad against India, officials said on Saturday.

The accused include three African-Americans, two white, one South Korean and three Pakistanis — Masud Ahmad Khan, Khawja Mahmood Hassan and Mohammed Atique. Nine of them are US citizens, including two legal residents. All are Muslims.

They all have been charged with “being part of a conspiracy to do violent Jihad against a friendly nation, India.”

Seven of them are accused of visiting Pakistan to receive weapons training at a Lashkar-i-Tayyaba camp. Two are also accused of firing at Indian troops in Kashmir.

All 11 pleaded not guilty.

Randall Ismail Royer, 30, is presented as the leader of the group who, according to the indictment, used his public relations skills to recruit others for Jihad in Kashmir.

Other suspects have been described as Mr Royer’s friends from the Washington suburbs. Three had been his classmates at Prince George’s Community College. Two were immigrants launching high-tech careers. One was a lecturer who was pursuing a doctorate in science.

Mr Royer calls himself “a supporter of the Kashmiri independence movement and says that Lashkar-i-Tayyaba is not a terrorist organization. He says the group is only fighting to end Indian control over Kashmir.

“I’ve helped so many Muslim groups. I saw this group (Lashkar-i-Tayyaba) as not a terrorist group. I didn’t see this as inconsistent with being American,” he said in an interview.

Prosecutors used a century-old, seldom-enforced law, which forbids Americans from participating in military expeditions against friendly nations.

US authorities are presenting the case as a key step in the war on terrorism. All suspects deny ever being associated with any conspiracy to carry out any violent act, including Jihad.

Their neighbours and friends have described them as quiet and hard-working residents who were starting their families. They also called them studious men who spent their off hours poring through books at book stalls.

They also call them religious men devoted to their faith and prosecutors say it was their devotion to Islam that led them to the path of Jihad.