The Hindu : International : 2 U.S. mosque leaders held

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Saturday, Aug 07, 2004

International

International

2 U.S. mosque leaders held

By Sridhar Krishnaswami

WASHINGTON, AUG. 6. In a sting operation, Federal authorities have arrested two leaders of a mosque in Albany, New York, and charged them with assistance in purchasing a shoulder-fired missile/grenade launcher to assassinate the top Pakistani diplomat in the New York consulate.

The so-called assassination scheme was part of a sting operation that had as a Government informant a convicted felon who was cooperating with Federal authorities.

Charges denied

The charges filed against the two in a U.S. District Court in Albany deal with concealing material support for terrorism and participating in a money laundering conspiracy.

According to court records reported in the media, the informant approached Mr. Hossain telling him that he was a member of the Pakistan-based terror outfit Jaish-e-Mohammad and that he wanted to purchase a shoulder-fired missile to kill the Pakistani Consul General in New York as a way of settling scores with Islamabad for its cooperation with the United States in the war on terror.

Anti-tank weapon

In a video-taped meeting, the informant showed Mr. Hossain a picture of an RPG-7, an anti-tank weapon and talked about using it. The money laundering charge comes from the two arrested men who supposedly paid $65,000 in cash and cheques to buy a missile and disguised the source of money. The missile `transaction' never took place.

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