Terror Suspects Held Without Bail

Alleged Al Qaeda Backers Charged With Conspiracy

(AP)  Two U.S. citizens accused of being al Qaeda loyalists were each ordered held without bail Tuesday as they appeared in federal courtrooms in New York and Florida.

Tarik Shah, 42, of New York, waved and smiled at supporters and appeared relaxed at his preliminary hearing in U.S. District Court in Manhattan before Magistrate Judge Theodore Katz.

In Fort Pierce, Fla., Dr. Rafiq Abdus Sabir, 50, told U.S. District Judge James Hopkins that he had yet to hire an attorney, and the judge set the next hearing in his case for June 6.

Neither defendant had entered a plea on the single charge of conspiring to provide material support to al Qaeda.

Prosecutors say the two men swore a formal oath of loyalty to al Qaeda as they conspired to use their skills in martial arts and medicine to aid international terrorism.

The men were arrested Friday following a sting operation that the government said started in 2003. If convicted, each could face a maximum sentence of 15 years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000.

A lawyer for Shah, Anthony Ricco, said outside court that the case was a "desperate prosecution by our government." He described Shah as a world renowned jazz musician, a father and a family man.

"They are prosecutions based upon religious beliefs," said Ricco, a veteran terrorism defense lawyer.

Melanie Dyre, who described herself as a fellow musician, described Shah as "a beautiful person and a wonderful musician."

A spokesman for the Islamic Center of Boca Raton, Dan McBride, defended Sabir outside court in Florida as a man who traveled between the United States and Saudi Arabia to earn enough money to support his wife and their two sons.