Imam of Florida mosque and his sons are arrested on charges of financing Pakistani Taliban

The Imam of a Florida mosque and his two sons were arrested on Saturday on charges of financing and supporting the Pakistani Taliban.

The three Pakistan-bo U.S. citizens were among six charged in a U.S. indictment that accused them of ‘supporting acts of murder, kidnapping and maiming in Pakistan and elsewhere’ carried out by the Pakistani Taliban.

The indictment, announced by Wifredo Ferrer, the U.S. Attoey for the Southe District of Florida and the FBI, charged the six with creating a network that transferred funds from the U.S. to Taliban supporters and fighters in Pakistan for the purpose of buying arms.

 If convicted, each man faces up to 15 years in prison for each count of the indictment.

The charges were revealed at a time when U.S. relations with Pakistan are strained over the American raid that killed al Qaeda leader Osama Bin Laden.

Pakistan's parliament on Saturday condemned the raid that killed Bin Laden and called for a review of relations with the United States.

The indictment detailed money transfers totalling $50,000, but Mr Ferrer said there was evidence more had been sent.

He said: ‘This was just the tip of the iceberg.’

Network centre: The Miami mosque where Hafiz Khan was imam

Two of the accused, Hafiz Muhammed Sher Ali Khan, 76, and his son, Izhar Khan, 24, were arrested in south Florida after prayer services at the mosques where they were spiritual leaders, or Imams.

Another son, Irfan Khan, 37, was detained early on Saturday in a Los Angeles hotel room.

Hafiz Khan is the Imam at the Miami Mosque, also known as the Flagler Mosque.

Izhar Khan is an Imam at the Jamaat Al-Mu'mineen Mosque in Margate, Florida, according to the indictment.

The other three charged, Ali Rehman, Alam Zeb and Amina Khan, are living in Pakistan and are still at large. Amina Khan is the daughter of Hafiz Khan and Alam Zeb is her son.

Officials said the arrests and charges followed a three-year investigation into suspicious financial transactions and was based on recorded conversations and a trail of money moving from U.S. bank accounts to Pakistan.

John Gillies, a special agent in the FBI's Miami office, said there was no link between this case and the documents and other intelligence taken from the compound in Pakistan where Osama bin Laden was killed.

Prosecutors also allege that Hafiz Khan supported the Pakistani Taliban through a madrassa, or Islamic school, in Swat, Pakistan, which they said he used to house militants.

Fear of reprisals: Attoey Assad Ba-Yunus, left, and Nezar Hamze, executive director of Council on American-Islamic Relations, discuss the arrests of two Florida imams at a press conference on Saturday

Mr Ferrer said: ‘We have evidence that the madrassa was being used at his direction to shelter members of the Pakistan Taliban and prepare children to become mujahideen.

‘Despite being an Imam, or spiritual leader, Hafiz Khan was by no means a man of peace.'

The Pakistani Taliban is classified as a ‘designated foreign terrorist organisation’ by the U.S. govement, which says it is linked to Al Qaeda and the Taliban in Afghanistan.

Mr Ferrer said: ‘Let me be clear that this is not an indictment against a particular community or religion. Instead, today's indictment charges six individuals for promoting terror and violence through their financial and other support of the Pakistani Taliban.’

Muslim-American leaders in Florida held a press conference about the arrests on Saturday.

They expressed conce that there might be retaliation attacks against mosques and Islamic centers across South Florida within the next few days. 

Assad Ba-Yunus, of the Coalition of South Florida Muslim Communities, said: 'What is important to know is that the average American Muslim, like myself, was bo and raised here. This is our country. We have members of our family that are in the military, that are in law enforcement. 

'I myself was a prosecutor here in Miami for four and a half years, so we are very dedicated to our community. We're law-abiding citizens.'
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