Father, Son Indicted On Terror Charges
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SACRAMENTO, Calif. – A father and son were indicted yesterday by a federal grand jury on charges they lied to authorities investigating links to Pakistani terrorist training camps connected to Al Qaeda.
Hamid Hayat, 22, was accused of lying to the FBI earlier this month when he said he did not attend a terrorism camp in Pakistan in 2003 and 2004, prosecutors said.
His father, Umer Hayat, 47, was charged with lying to investigators when he denied that his son had attended such camps. The FBI said the elder Hayat later admitted to flying his son to Pakistan and paying for the camp, which was run by the friend of a relative.
The indictment said the younger Hayat falsely told authorities he was not involved with a terrorist organization, he never attended a terrorist camp, and he had never received any weapons training at such a camp.
In an affidavit, the FBI said Hamid Hayat attended a terror camp for about six months before returning to America intending to wage attacks. They said they found no immediate threat or terrorist activity. The Hayats, both American citizens living in the farming town of Lodi, have pleaded not guilty and are being held without bail in Sacramento County Jail. They are scheduled to appear in court Tuesday.
The FBI spent several years investigating possible links to terrorism in Lodi, about 30 miles south of Sacramento. Members of the 2,000-member Pakistani community there have said they have been harassed by authorities, and local officials have said they’re concerned the town has been portrayed as harboring a terrorist cell.