Ehsanul Islam Sadequee, on trial for helping overseas terrorists plot a violent jihad, and Syed Haris Ahmed were close friends.
That may no longer be the case.
On Wednesday, Ahmed told a jury in Atlanta that Sadequee and he talked of attacking U.S. oil refineries and planned to go to a terrorist training camp in Pakistan. They intended to join Lashkar-e-Tayyiba, a terrorist organization focused on the fight over Kashmir between Pakistan and India.
In June, Ahmed, a former Georgia Tech student, was convicted of conspiring to help terrorists.
On Wednesday, he testified that Sadequee was part of those jihad-related talks, along with other men they met online.
Ahmed detailed a trip to Washington, where Sadequee videotaped federal landmarks and oil tanks while he drove.
He testified that he and Sadequee talked about attacking oil storage facilities to “disrupt the U.S. economy.”
He even talked about the chats the two had over which militia group to join. Ahmed said that Lashkar-e-Tayyiba attacked soldiers, but he didn’t consider that “a terrorist act.”
Ahmed, who is awaiting sentencing, initially refused to testify against his friend. This week, he changed his mind after federal prosecutors agreed not to use his testimony against him.
As police led Ahmed in the courtroom Wednesday afternoon, he waved to Sadequee’s family. He wore a skullcap and said a prayer before testifying.
Ahmed, 24, and Sadequee, 23, first met in 2004 at a mosque in midtown Atlanta. They became friends, spending hours in online chat rooms and watching jihad recruitment videos. They played paint ball together in north Georgia to prepare for “violent jihad” and spent time at each other’s homes, Ahmed testified.
Ahmed even tried to warn Sadequee that police were on their trail.
A day after meeting with the FBI, Ahmed tried to reach Sadequee in Bangladesh. Ahmed said he went to Sadequee’s family’s home in Roswell, called him from a pay phone at a gas station and even e-mailed him from a computer at a public library in Dawsonville.
“I was worried the house was bugged,” Ahmed told the jury. “I told him [Sadequee] the police were coming and had found out about us.”
Several days later, Ahmed was arrested. Sadequee was later arrested in Bangladesh.
Sadequee, who is representing himself, is expected to cross-examine Ahmed on Thursday.
In addition to Ahmed’s testimony, jurors on Wednesday listened to FBI agents describe e-mails and online chat conversations between Sadequee and friends. The chats talked about possible ways to fund their trip to Pakistan, including robbing people at ATMs and selling marijuana in Canada.
Sadequee questioned FBI agent James Allen during cross-examination. He pointed out “LOL” (laugh out loud) and other online slang that he said characterized the conversations as not serious.
Wednesday morning prosecutors played the videos made by Sadequee and Ahmed, which were later sent to a suspected terrorist in London. Jurors watched a video Sadequee made of the Pentagon and heard him say, “This is where our brothers attacked the Pentagon.”
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