A United States court on Tuesday set April 7 as the date for preliminary hearing in the case of a Pakistani-origin cab driver, who claims to have known Harkat-ul-Jihadi Islami chief Ilyas Kashmiri for 15 years and was recently arrested on charges of providing material support and funds to Al-Qaeda.
Raja Lahrasib Khan, 56, appeared before US Magistrate Judge Geraldine Soat Brown in a court in Chicao, wearing an orange prison jumpsuit with his hands shackled.
This was Khan's second court appearance after he was arrested by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and presented in court on March 26.
Granting the government's motion for pretrial detention, the Judge ruled that Khan would be held in custody and set April 7 as the date for a preliminary hearing.
Khan is being held at the federal lock-up Metropolitan Correctional Centre where 26/11 plotter David Coleman Headley and co-accused Pakistani-Canadian Tahawwur Hussain Rana are also detained.
The 35-page complaint alleges that Khan met Kashmiri several times, but Khan's attorney Thomas Durkin said he has not yet spoken to the accused about this information.
He said he would not be seeking bail in the next hearing as he has not had sufficient chance to discuss the case with Khan.
Durkin, who has handled terrorism cases including Guantanamo and September 11, was appointed Khan's lawyer last night. According to the affidavit, Khan learned in 2008 that Kashmiri was working with Al Qaeda and purportedly receiving orders from Osama bin Laden.
"According to Khan, during his meeting or meetings with Kashmiri, Khan learned that Kashmiri wanted to train operatives to conduct attacks in the US. Kashmiri showed Khan a video depicting the detonation of an improvised explosive device and told him that he needed money, in any amount, to be able to purchase materials from the black market," the complaint said.
Kashmiri is a leader of Pakistan-based HUJI which has Al Qaeda links. The charges against Khan allege that on November 23, 2009, he transferred approximately $ 950 from a currency exchange in Chicago to Individual A in Pakistan's region of 'either Mirpur or Bhimber.'
Members of Khan's family, including his son Omar and wife Diane, as well as a couple of cab drivers were present for the hearing. He briefly spoke to his lawyer during the short hearing.
Later speaking to reporters, Durkin said it could be possible that the government indicts Khan before the April 7 hearing but he was hoping that he would be given an opportunity to challenge the evidence.
"I think it is important that we get the right to challenge the evidence. The complaint that has been filed is an incredibly one-sided document that only paints with a broad brush and selects all that the government perceives is its best points."
"There are any number of points that I think can stand corrected and we look forward to being able to fight the case," he said.
On Khan's Pakistani background, Durkin said it is a 'little insulting' to call Khan a Pakistani cab driver now that he is a US citizen. Khan came to the US in 1975 and became a naturalised citizen in 1998.
He has three children from his previous marriage and has been married to an American since 1994.
"I find it interesting that he is called a Pakistani cab driver. I find that a little insulting. He is a US citizen who happens to be a Pakistani by birth, like an awful lot of people in this country," the attorney said.
On whether Khan has been framed in the case, Durkin said he would not be able to comment on this yet. "An awful lot of talk about Al Qaeda seems to come from the undercover agent's mouth. The government always tries to do best in these types of cases. Sometimes they get carried away, sometimes they make mistakes. These are difficult cases. Who is a member of Al Qaeda is pretty big guess nowadays," he said.
Durkin said he has waived the right to object to detention 'subject to my being able to propose condition of release that would satisfy the statute and the court.'
He said Khan 'seemed OK' for somebody who was caught one morning and is now charged with some of the most serious charges. 'He certainly did not look like a beaten man to me.'
Durkin said Khan's family is 'upset as one would expect' and will extend its support. Khan's wife wept as she saw him enter the courtroom and was being consoled by her family and friends.
