LOS ANGELES, Sept 23: US prosecutors on Thursday charged a California Muslim of Pakistani descent with providing material support for terrorists by attending an Al Qaeda-linked training camp. Hamid Hayat, 22, was charged in an indictment with offering himself as personnel for jihadi training in Pakistan and then returning to the United States to wage jihad, federal prosecutors said.

The suspect attended a camp with “ties to Al Qaeda” between March 2003 and June 2005 where he received training in “physical fitness, firearms, and means to wage jihad,” prosecutors from the California capital of Sacramento said.

Hayat knew and intended that “his support would ultimately be used to prepare for and carry out acts of terrorism in the United States,” assistant US attorneys Robert Tice-Raskin and Laura Ferris said in a statement.

Hamid allegedly admitted in a June 4 interview he had attended a camp in Pakistan for three to six months “to teach people to kill those who work against Muslims” and receive training in weapons, explosives and hand to hand combat.

“He believed that his uncle ran the jihadi camp that he attended and was 75-80 per cent certain that his grandfather ran the camp.

He subsequently stated that he believed that Al Qaeda ran or were supporters of the camp,” prosecutors said.

Hayat told a Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) informant that he “understood the nature and structure of various known Pakistani terrorist groups and that he had detailed knowledge regarding the mechanics of attending a jihadi camp,” they said.

Hayat, who lives in the central California town of Lodi, is charged with one count of providing material support to terrorists and two counts of lying to the FBI. He was charged in June with lying to authorities. The latest indictment replaces the earlier charges.

If convicted on all charges, Hayat could face up to 31 years in jail. His father, 47-year-old Umer Hayat, who was arrested along with his son in June, faces two counts of making false statements to the FBI.

Both father and son are being held without bail and are due to appear before a judge in Sacramento on Friday.—AFP