Terror suspect's pal says goal was to die a martyr

By MEGAN MATTEUCCI

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

The family of the accused terrorism supporter waved and smiled at his former associate as he took the stand Thursday to testify against their son and brother.

But after hours of testimony with federal prosecutors, the Roswell family stopped smiling. They looked down at their laps, whispered prayers and stared expressionlessly as the witness was led back to prison.

In more than four hours of testimony, the family heard the man that had spent so many hours in their home now accusing their son of plotting a jihad, including an attack on Dobbins Air Force base.

Ehsanul Islam Sadequee, 23, is on trial in U.S. District Court in Atlanta this week on charges he conspired to help overseas terrorists launch a violent jihad.

His associate, 24-year-old Syed Haris Ahmed, already convicted of the same crime he is charged with, testified Thursday against him.

After prosecutors’ questioning, Sadequee, who is representing himself, cross-examined Ahmed. At times, the two men - both dresed in khaki scubs hanging off their stick-thin frames - argued. Sadequee even tried to over talk his friend and pressure him to change his story.

The judge intervened on several occasions.

“Mr. Sadequee, this is a court of law where evidence is presented,” U.S. District Judge William Duffey said. “This can’t be turned into a room you can instruct others on ideological matters.”

Sadequee’s family thought their son was just an associate of Ahmed’s plans to join a terrorist organization. But according to Ahmed, Sadequee was the focus of the FBI’s investigation.

On Thursday, Sadequee’s family learned that Ahmed sold his friend out to the FBI three years ago.

“I was afraid for myself and I was trying to shift the blame,” Ahmed told the jury.

Ahmed first told his friend the FBI threatened him to talk.

But Ahmed later testified that there were no threats and he voluntarily interviewed with the FBI five times before he was arrested.

Ahmed told the FBI about their desires to attack Dobbins Air Force base in Cobb County by crippling the aircrafts’ GPS system. He told investigators of their talks about “disrupting the U.S. economy” by attacking oil refineries, Ahmed told the jury.

They talked of joining a terrorist organization in Pakistan and how to obtain weapons, Ahmed told the jury.

Ahmed also told jurors that Sadequee was the one who e-mailed homemade “casing videos” of Washington landmarks to a man in England, who has since been convicted of terrorism.

Ahmed said Sadequee even chastised him when he returned to Atlanta from Pakistan without enrolling in a terrorist camp. “I was ashamed of turning back on my heels,” Ahmed said.

Shirim Sadequee, said she fears her son is not getting a fair trial.

“The government made him testify,” the defendant’s mother said of Ahmed. “They forced him to say those things.”

The mother accused federal prison guards of destroying evidence in her son’s case, including letters illegally exchanged between Sadequee and Ahmed.

“They took my son’s property from his cell,” she said as she grasped prayer beads. “They are damaging my son’s life.”

A prison guard testified that he never seized any letters and was unaware of any unfair treatment to Sadequee.

Ahmed, a former Georgia Tech student, said he and Sadequee’s ultimate goal was martyrdom - dying on the battlefield or in prison.

“Jihad is to die for the cause,” Ahmed said. “I read a book about a scholar who died in prison and I was inspired by him.”

Prosecutors say perhaps the two men can accomplish that desire.

Ahmed is awaiting sentencing on his conviction. Sadequee faces 60 years in prison if convicted.

At the end of Ahmed’s testimony, guards led him out of the courtroom and slipped handcuffs back on. Sadequee’s mother didn’t wave. She didn’t watch as the door leading to the cell closed.

She just prayed.