Terror Verdict Due Wednesday

A federal judge is scheduled to enter a verdict Wednesday in the case of a former Georgia Tech student charged with plotting to aid a terrorist group. Syed Haris Ahmed faces up to 15 years in federal prison on charges that he was part of a conspiracy to provide material support to terrorism in the U.S. and abroad. U.S. District Judge William Duffey is scheduled to read the verdict at 9 a.m. Prosecutors based the case against the 24-year-old Ahmed on videos he and a suspected cohort shot of U.S. landmarks, including the Pentagon and the Capitol. They said Ahmed sought to use the
videos to earn respect from terrorist leaders. Ahmed's defense attorney Jack Martin countered during the bench trial that investigators had no evidence that Ahmed sought to act on his talk.

(Associated Press)

Testimony: terror suspects cased targets

Today an FBI agent testified in Atlanta in the trial of two men charged with terrorism. The agent said under oath that Syed Ahmed and Eshanul Sadequee shot "casing videos" of Washington landmarks that were later found on a computer belonging to a United Kingdom terror suspect. He also testified that the two Georgia men met with several terror suspects arrested in Canada in 2006. Ahmed and Sadequee, both U.S. citizens, are accused of undergoing training to carry out a "violent jihad" in America.

Terror hearing postponed indefinitely

The judge in a Georgia terrorism case has postponed a suppression hearing in which the government planned to reveal evidence that the two defendants communicated and cased out alleged targets around Washington, D.C. No reason was given for the indefinite postponement. The government says Syed Ahmed and Ehsanul Sadequee – both U.S. citizens from Atlanta -- trained to commit terrorist attacks against U.S. targets. Both have pleaded not guilty. No trial date has been set.

More testimony in GA terror case

Testimony continued today in Georgia’s first international terrorism case. An FBI agent testified that investigators used a ruse to question Ehsanul Sadequee in August 2005 as he got off a flight from Atlanta to New York. Sadequee was charged with aiding terrorists a year later. The agent said he and another law enforcement officer told Sadequee they wanted to talk to him about passenger complaints that he had acted suspiciously on the plane. The agent said that in fact there were no complaints, but investigators wanted biographical information from him. Sadequee’s lawyer wants evidence found during that search dismissed.

Testimony in Georgia terror case

Today a federal judge in Atlanta heard testimony in a Georgia terrorism case. A border protection officer testified he found personal writings against Islam in Pakistan on one of the suspects. Syed Ahmed was stopped while coming back into the U.S. at Hartsfield-Jackson Airport in Atlanta in 2005. Ahmed and co-defendant Ehsanul Sadequee are both American citizens from Atlanta. They are accused of discussing terror targets with Islamic extremists and undergoing training to carry out a "violent jihad" against American targets.