This latest case is a good example,the FBI has arrested Ahmadullah Sais Niazi, at his home in Tustin, California, on Friday morning, He is accused of perjury, naturalization fraud, procuring a passport by fraud and making a false statement. Apparently Niazi lied when he wrote on his naturalization papers that he had never been a member of, or in any way associated with a terrorist organization. Niazi must have forgotten his associations with al Qaeda, the Taliban and Hezb-e-Islami, a terror group fighting U.S. troops in his native country of Afghanistan. According to the FBI charges indictment alleges Niazi has used four aliases and that he has traveled to Pakistan at least twice to meet with known terrorist operatives, including Dr. Amin al-Haq or Muhammad Amin, bin Laden's security coordinator (and his brother-in-law). According to the indictment, after each of those visits he told authorities he had been visiting his family in Qatar, not Pakistan.
Those are very serious charges and a lot of federal lying for one person, don't feel bad for Naizi, he is getting support from America's favorite sponsor of terrorism, CAIR:
Man with alleged terror ties aided police in 2007
By GILLIAN FLACCUS and AMY TAXIN
SANTA ANA, Calif.—The alleged brother-in-law of Osama bin Laden's bodyguard charged with lying about alleged ties to terrorist groups on his citizenship application reported a Muslim convert for making terrorist threats two years earlier, according to court documents.
Ahmadullah Niazi, 34, was scheduled to appear in U.S. District Court on Tuesday for a bail hearing after his arrest last week on charges of perjury, procurement of naturalization unlawfully, passport fraud and making a false statement. He could face up to 35 years in prison if convicted of all charges.
In 2007, Niazi testified on behalf of the Islamic Center of Irvine, which was seeking a restraining order against a new Muslim convert who spoke repeatedly of jihad and organizing terrorist attacks, court documents said.
Police reports also indicate that Niazi, an Afghan native and a naturalized U.S. citizen, was one of several people at the Islamic Center who contacted police after being bothered by the convert.
Shortly after the center was granted the restraining order, Niazi said he was approached by an FBI agent who accused him of lying in that case and pressured him to become an informant, said Issa Edah-Tally, president of the Islamic Center of Irvine.
Edah-Tally said Niazi told him the FBI agent questioned him at a friend's home last April and "used unnecessary tactics to try and recruit him as an informant."
Edah-Tally said he suggested Niazi, whom he did not know well, seek independent legal advice.
Niazi's current attorney, federal deputy public defender Chase Scolnick, didn't return a call for comment Monday.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Deirdre Eliot has said she cannot comment on an ongoing investigation.
The Council of American-Islamic Relations, or CAIR, scheduled a news conference following Niazi's court appearance Tuesday to announce it would ask it would ask the attorney general to investigate whether Niazi's arrest stemmed from his refusal to help the FBI.
Council officials said in a statement that they met with Niazi in 2007 and he told them the FBI threatened to make his life a "living hell" if he did not become an informant.
FBI spokeswoman Laura Eimiller said she could not comment on CAIR's assertions, but said Niazi's indictment would speak for itself.
At his first court appearance last week on the federal charges, Niazi seemed to be talking about the 2007 case in remarks he made to the judge and made references to a conspiracy and to being blackmailed.
"This case has been going on, like, almost for two years," he told U.S. Magistrate Arthur Nakazato. "There was a case in our mosque and we reported a newly converted Muslim to the FBI."
Niazi is referred to as Ahmad Niazi—not Ahmadullah Niazi—in the 2007 court documents and in several police reports taken around that time.
CAIR spokeswoman Munira Syeda confirmed that Niazi is the same man who was arrested by federal agents last week.
Niazi has been living in the U.S. since 1998 and became a naturalized U.S. citizen in 2004 through his wife—a native of Cambodia who became a citizen in 1992. He first arrived on a tourist visa.
Authorities allege that Niazi's sister, Hafiza, is married to Amin al-Haq, identified in court papers as a high-ranking al-Qaida member. al-Haq was named a "specially designated global terrorist" by the United Nations Security Council and U.S. officials in 2001, according to the indictment.
Prosecutors have said al-Haq was believed to have been bin Laden's bodyguard around and after Sept. 11, 2001, prompting the terrorist designations.
Niazi is also accused of associating with the Taliban and a terrorist organization called Hezb-e-Islami, which fights international and U.S. troops in Afghanistan.
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