Pakistani indicted for 'waging jihad' in US

One of five Pakistani men arrested from the a suburban Sacramento mosque earlier this year was indicted on federal charges alleging he intended "to wage jihad in the United States."

Hamid Hayat, 23, was already charged with lying to the Federal Bureau of Investigation about attending a terrorist training camp. The new indictment accuses him of also providing material support to terrorists, the most serious charge that could be filed absent an actual terrorist act, prosecutors said.

"Whatever was taking shape in Lodi isn't going to happen now," US Attorney McGregor Scott said Thursday.
Scott said he doesn't know exactly what was planned in Lodi, an agricultural town of 62,000 people about 55 km south of Sacramento, but he believes that indicting Hayat and deporting two Islamic leaders connected to the mosque put a stop to it.

The government never charged the two religious leaders, but it has alleged the two intended to set up a terror training camp as part of a planned religious school in Lodi.

During an immigration hearing last month, an FBI agent testified that at the camp, "individuals would be taught ... to commit acts of violence against the US."

The indictment handed up in Sacramento Thursday alleges Hayat provided support and resources for carrying out acts of terror between March 2003 and June 2005, when he was arrested shortly after returning to the United States from Pakistan.

Hayat "intended, upon receipt of orders from other individuals, to wage jihad in the US," it says. Prosecutors have said Hayat acknowledged that in interrogations, but said he was still awaiting orders. If convicted of all charges, he could face up to 31 years in prison.