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Pak: US 'jihad seekers' jailed for 10 years

Last updated on: June 24, 2010 15:32 IST

A Pakistani anti-terrorism court punished each of the five US terror suspects, who were arrested from Punjab province's Sargodha District in December 2009, with 10 years imprisonment on Thursday.

Waqar Husain Khan, 22 (Virginia), Ahmed Abdullah Mani, 20 (Virginia), Ramay S Zamzam, 22 (Egypt), Iman Hasan Yamar, 17 (California), and Omar Farouk, 24 (Virginia) were arrested on charges of plotting terror attacks across Pakistan, The News reported.

The five 'jihad seekers' had visited a religious seminary linked to the outlawed Jaish-e-Mohammad in Hyderabad and were on their way to terror camps based in the volatile Waziristan region.

According to reports, prosecutors argued before the court that there was substantial evidence such as e-mail records and witness statements to back up their contention that the men were plotting terror attacks in Pakistan.

The jihad seekers had pleaded innocence, saying they were being "set up" and tortured by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Pakistani police in custody.
Source: ANI