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| May 29, 2005 | Sunday | Rabi-us-Sani 20, 1426 |
Two Pakistanis deported from US
WASHINGTON, May 28: An alleged member of Harkatul Mujahideen has been deported to Pakistan after being detained in the United States for over a year. Homeland security officials here identified the suspect as Kamal Muhammad and said he was an armed guard and cook for Harkatul Mujahideen. The US state department has designated Harkat a terrorist organization associated with al Qaeda.
Kamal, 23, was living in San Francisco when he was arrested in January 2004 for overstaying his visa by eight months, according to the immigration and customs enforcement, an arm of the homeland security department. He entered the United States in 2001, a year after he was allegedly trained to use pistols, rifles and grenades in a Harkat camp in Afghanistan.
The US justice department did not pursue criminal charges against Kamal. “Knowledge or connection to a terrorist activity may not be sufficient to prove a terrorism crime,” said justice department spokesman Kevin Madden. “Sometimes the best alternative from a national security standpoint is to pursue other disruption efforts, including removal (of a suspect) from the United States.”
Kamal was detained on immigration charges for 15 months before being sent back to Pakistan on May 17. “We brought all the charges that we could,” immigration and customs enforcement spokesman Dean Body said.
US immigration officials also deported another Pakistani the same day after he finished serving a 16-month sentence for lying to federal agents about the whereabouts of a militant leader.
Hamid Sheikh, 41, had refused to help federal agents in Philadelphia locate Agha Ali Abbas Qazalbash who US authorities said was a member of the Sipah-i-Mohammed Pakistan. The group was outlawed in Pakistan in August 2001.
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