NEW YORK, Nov 24: A Pakistani national, Uzair Paracha, was convicted in a New York federal court on Wednesday of conspiring to help an Al Qaeda operative enter the United States to carry out a chemical attack .
Paracha, 25, was convicted of trying to help another Pakistani, Majid Khan, obtain documents early in 2,003 to travel from Pakistan to the US.
In a written agreement presented during the trial, both the prosecutors and Paracha’s lawyers said Khan was a member of Al-Qaeda.
Khan’s Maryland driving license and social security, bank and credit cards were found in Paracha’s suitcase when he was arrested in March 2003. The key to the post office box where Mr Khan’s documents were to be sent by the immigration service was on Paracha’s key chain .
The federal jury deliberated for about five hours before finding Paracha guilty of providing material support to terrorists and of other related charges. He could face up to 75 years in prison.
Paracha testified earlier in the week that the FBI pressured him into confessing that he tried to help Khan get fake travel documents.
After his detention in 2003, Paracha told agents Khan had tried to recruit him to Al Qaida and made clear that he wanted to come to the US as part of a plot to attack Americans.
According to trial testimony and Justice Department documents, Khan had laid plans with top Al Qaeda leaders in Pakistan, including Khalid Mohammed Shaikh, the accused mastermind of the Sept 11 attacks, to bomb underground storage tanks in Maryland gas stations.
