New York, Mar. 5 (ANI): An elderly Muslim cleric has been convicted of funneling thousands of dollars to support the Pakistani Taliban, by a US court. Hafiz Khan, 77, who is a cleric at a downtown Miami mosque, was found guilty of all four charges: two conspiracy counts and two counts of providing material support to terrorists. Each charge carries a maximum 15-year prison sentence, reports the New York Daily News. Prosecutors built their case largely around hundreds of FBI recordings of conversations in which Khan expressed support for Taliban attacks and discussed sending about 50,000 dollars to Pakistan. There were also recordings in which Khan appeared to back the overthrow of Pakistan”s government in favour of strict Islamic law, praised the killing of US military personnel and lauded the failed 2010 attempt to detonate a bomb in New York”s Times Square. Khan, who testified over four combative days in his own defense, insisted the money he sent overseas was for family, charity, business reasons and his religious school in Pakistan”s Swat Valley. Khan also said he repeatedly lied about harbouring extremist views to obtain 1 million dollar from a man who turned out to be an FBI informant wearing a wire to record their talk. Prosecutors, however, said the purported 1 million-dollar offer was never heard on any tapes and no other witnesses testified about its existence. The informant, identified in court papers as Mahmood Siddiqui, did not testify. The case began with six defendants indicted in May 2011 but ended with only Khan on trial. Two of Khan”s sons, Izhar and Irfan, were cleared of all charges and three more defendants have remained free in Pakistan, which does not extradite its citizens to face U.S. criminal charges. U.S. District Judge Robert Scola has set sentencing for May 30. (ANI)
