The young men from Virginia, arrested in December, deny the charges and claim they were tortured in custody, a lawyer says
By Alex Rodriguez
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan
A Pakistani court Wednesday indicted five young Americans from the Washington, D.C., area on charges of plotting terrorist attacks in Pakistan.
The men have been held in the eastern city of Sargodha since their arrests in December. If convicted, they could be sentenced to life in prison.
The five men, ages 18 to 24, are U.S. citizens of Pakistani, African and Egyptian descent. They lived within blocks of each other in Alexandria, Va.
Police say the men left their homes in late November and flew to Pakistan with the hope of waging jihad, or holy war, against American forces in Afghanistan. Khalid Khawaja, one of the lawyers representing the men, said they were also charged with plotting attacks in Afghanistan, and with funding banned Pakistani extremist organizations.
Khawaja said the men deny the charges and allege that police beat them and tortured them with electric shocks while they were in custody. Efforts to reach Sargodha authorities late Wednesday afternoon were unsuccessful.
Khawaja said authorities claim that they have taped confessions from the men, as well as maps detailing potential targets for terrorist attacks, including an air force base in western Punjab, Pakistan's most populous province.
Their case was continued to March 31, when prosecutors will begin presenting evidence against the men.
Los Angeles Times
