A12 The World
by Brigid Schulte
For the first time since they were arrested Dec. 9, the five young Muslim men from the Al- exandria area facing life in prison in Pakistan on terrorism charges presented their side of the story Saturday, handwritten on pink paper and delivered to the judge in a closed court inside a high- security prison in the eastern Pakistani city of Sarghoda.
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Throughout the prosecution’s case, which concluded Saturday, Pakistani police have maintained that the five secretly and abruptly left their homes, families, college classes and jobs to wage jihad against Americans in Afghani- stan, Pakistan and the United States. Police and court records charge that the five made contact with a known al-Qaeda operative through social-networking Web sites and that they communicat- ed via a shared e-mail account:
ramadanhaji99@yahoo.com.
The statements of the five men, which their defense attorney pro- vided to The Washington Post on Saturday, the first day of defense proceedings, say their intentions in traveling secretly to Pakistan were motivated by friendship, “fun” and a “noble” desire to help Muslim orphans in Afghanistan. All five, in statements so similar that they mostly read word for word, said the idea for the jour- ney was hatched in 2008 after the
group watched the movie “Kite Runner” at Umar Chaudhry’s house — what they called the usu- al hangout of the youths, who lived in the same neighborhood off Route 1. The movie “showed the suf- fering of the Afghani people, in particular the homeless and or- phans,” wrote Aman Yemer, who, at 18, is the youngest of the group. “We were very much affected by the living conditions of our brothers and sisters living over-
seas and hoped to help them one day.” He and the others thought that would never happen, he wrote, because Afghanistan is such a dangerous place and their parents are “very protective.” The reason that they left se-
cretly, all five — including 20- year-old Ahmed Minni — wrote, was that they were sure their par- ents would never give permis- sion. Their parents, alarmed by their disappearance during Thanksgiving weekend, notified
SUNDAY, MAY 16, 2010
5 Va. men facing terrorism charges in Pakistan write of ‘noble’ motivation
the FBI and handed over a video one had made showing images of the United States at war in Mus- lim countries. A local Muslim leader who saw it described it as a “farewell video.” In a line echoed by the others,
Yemer wrote that once they de- cided to go, they were convinced that their parents would be proud of them for the “nobility” of their humanitarian actions. Waqar Khan, 22, wrote that he even thought about joining the Red Crescent. When Chaudhry, 25, an- nounced in the summer of 2009 that his parents had arranged a marriage for him in their native Pakistan, Ramy Zamzam, 22, an honors student at Howard Uni- versity dental school, wrote: “suddenly it was as if 2 things were linking up for us for our fa- vor: we could go to Pakistan and enjoy ourselves and furthermore get an opportunity to visit Af- ghanistan and perhaps work at an orphanage or perform other humanitarian works and then re- turn to Pakistan for Umar’s wed- ding.” All five said they had intended
to return home. All said they are against “killing and bloodshed.” All said they have been tortured. Two wrote of their blindfolds fall- ing off during a beating. Defense attorney Hassan
Katchela said he will present evi- dence on June 9 that the charges are “totally fabricated.”
schulteb@washpost.com
Brazil, Turkey seek nuclear deal with Iran
by Thomas Erdbrink
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tehran — Brazilian and Turk- ish diplomats are trying to per- suade Iranian leaders to deposit part of their uranium stockpile abroad in exchange for recogni- tion of their controversial nu- clear enrichment program, Bra- zilian Foreign Minister Celso Amorim said Saturday. U.S. officials have blessed the outreach but have said the efforts are the “last big shot” before fur- ther sanctions are proposed to the 15-member United Nations Security Council. Parts of the proposed deal are broadly similar to a U.S.-backed plan last year in which Iran ini- tially agreed to swap its low- enriched uranium in return for specially packed fuel that could be used in medical reactors. That proposal ran aground, however, and the United States has been gathering support for fresh sanc- tions against Iran. Brazil and Turkey, temporary members of the Security Council, have been critical of sanctions, saying they do not think the measures would be effective. There are already three rounds of Security Council sanctions against Iran, all demanding that it stop its enrichment program. Iran says the enrichment is for peaceful energy purposes, but the United States and others charge that it is aimed at developing a weapon. The Brazilian foreign minister said in an interview in Tehran Saturday that Western nations must come to terms with the fact that Iran has a nuclear energy program. The Brazilian-Turkish proposal, he said, acknowledges Iran’s right to enrich uranium while guaranteeing rigorous in- spections to prevent Iran from using its uranium to make weap- ons. “What we need to do is make sure the uranium they produce will not be misused by them,” said Amorim, who was scheduled to be joined in Tehran by Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Sil- va late Saturday. Iranian officials have not com-
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mitted to the Brazilian-Turkish outreach but have said they view it positively. “These proposals have the ability to lead to an agreement,” Ramin Mehman- Parast, an Iranian foreign min- istry spokesman, said Saturday. Turkish Premier Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who was widely expec- ted to join Lula Sunday in Tehran, has canceled his trip. He said Tur- key had asked Iran to sign a dec- laration of its willingness to re- solve the dispute. “But so far Iran has not taken any step in this matter,” Erdogan told the Turkish news agency Anatolia on Friday. According to Amorim, Iran now understands the urgency of the situation. “I think the Iranians under- stand perfectly well that there needs to be a significant gesture,” he said. “We are expecting flex- ibility from them.”
erdbrinkt@washpost.com
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