Detained Americans in Pakistan for "Jihad"

(CBS/AP)  Updated at 5:35 a.m. Eastern.

Five Americans arrested at a house linked to a militant group in eastern Pakistan have told investigators they came to the country to take part in "jihad" or holy war, police said Thursday.

A police source in Sargodha tells CBS News' Sami Yousafzai that a team of FBI agents traveled from Lahore to meet the five young men Wednesday. The agents examined their passports and other identification documents and confiscated some personal belongings, according to the source.

U.S. officials believe the five are men who were reported missing more than a week ago by their families in the Washington, D.C., area. The families asked the FBI for help after finding a farewell video left by the men showing scenes of war and casualties and saying Muslims must be defended.

The men, ages 19 to 25, were picked up Wednesday at a house in the city of Sargodha that has been linked to the banned militant organization Jaish-e-Mohammed, officers said. Jaish-e-Mohammed, a Pakistan-based group, is alleged to have ties to al Qaeda.

Police chief Javed Islam said authorities had shared findings of their probe with FBI officials who had arrived in Sargodha. The U.S. Embassy, however, would not confirm if the FBI had sent representatives to the area.

"These young Americans are in our custody," the police chief said. "They are telling us that they came to Pakistan for jihad."

Pakistan to Tighten Border Controls on Westerners

Islam said investigators were trying to determine if the men had established contacts with any militants.

However, a Pakistani government official in Sargodha, who asked not to be identified, told Yousafzai that information obtained as a result of the Americans' arrest led to a subsequent raid in the city, during which key Jaish-e-Mohammed figure Qari Saeed was arrested.

Saeed is suspected of masterminding a 2007 attack on a bus carrying Pakistani Air Force personnel in Sargodha - home to the Air Force's largest base. At least five members of the force were killed in that attack.

Pakistan is home to a slew of militant groups waging a violent struggle against the government, mostly in the northwest, and is also seen as a global hub for al Qaeda. Some Western nations are worried that citizens - especially of Pakistani origin - are traveling to the country to connect with al Qaeda or take part in training or indoctrination sessions.

Terror analysts say the Zamzam case may be the latest example of U.S. citizens and residents reaching out directly to international terror organizations, Orr reports.

Chicagoan David Headley, who was arraigned Wednesday in Illinois, is charged with scouting targets for the Pakistani group Lashkar-e-Taiba in their devastating attack on Mumbai, India.

Denver shuttle driver Najibullah Zazi, accused of plotting to attack the New York subways, allegedly trained in a Pakistan camp with a top al Qaeda henchman. And two dozen American Somalis, most from Minneapolis, have recently left the U.S. to fight alongside the terror group al Shabaab in Somalia, reports Orr.

Asked about the five men Thursday during a news conference in Oslo, Norway, where he was to be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, President Obama declined to comment on the case, citing ongoing investigations.

Mr. Obama sought to stem any potential anti-Muslim backlash at home by praising Muslim Americans' "extraordinary contributions" in the post-Sept. ll era.

He also said Muslim Americans' "fierce patriotism" and integration had helped the U.S. avoid some of the problems "we have seen in other countries."

However, the president said, "We have to constantly be mindful that some of these twisted ideologies are available over the Internet," and that those messages were particularly dangerous to younger audiences.

Three of the arrested Americans are of Pakistani descent, one is of Egyptian descent and the other has Yemeni origins, police officer Tahir Gujjar said.

Two other police officials said Thursday the men were cooperating with investigators after first giving conflicting statements. Investigators seized a laptop computer along with extremist literature from the house.

Leaders of an Islamic American group said the families of the five men asked the FBI for help and were particularly disturbed to see the video message.

"One person appeared in that video and they made references to the ongoing conflict in the world, and that young Muslims have to do something," said Nihad Awad, of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, or CAIR.

"The video's about 11 minutes and it's like a farewell. And they did not specify what they would be doing. But just hearing and seeing videos similar on the Internet, it just made me uncomfortable," Awad said. The video has not been made public.

Despite the video, sources tell CBS News they do not believe the group had attended any terror training camp in Pakistan, and it was too early to conclude that the men had terrorist intentions on their trip to the Asian country.

The raided house was believed to have been used by Jaish-e-Mohammed, the officers said on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the subject.

Members of the network have been accused in the killing of Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl in 2002, and in a bombing in the city of Karachi the same year that killed 11 French engineers.

A senior government official who also spoke on condition of anonymity said authorities detained some Pakistanis alleged to have helped the Americans.

Islam said the arrested Americans had spent the past few days in Sargodha, 125 miles south of the capital, Islamabad.

[AOCGUY]

While it is quite possible and even probable that these young men were in Pakistan for the alleged purpose of jihad, one must remember that said confession was obtained by the Pakistani police who operate under much more lenient rules we regard to terrorism. How nice for the un-corruptable Pakistani police to have captured American terrorists and even coaxed a confession out of them. As for me, until these guys are in American custody I am very skeptical of any "confession" that may come forward.

[magoo2u1]

"If these people are, indeed, American citizens they should be stripped of their citizenship and turned over to the Pakistani authorities for processing."
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Uh, I think the Pakistanis have them already. And you can't strip citizenship at the whim of every internet posting bimbo. What happens in a lot of cases is they get dealt with in the foreign country and returned to the US to serve their sentence. Not always. They may be in Pakistan for a long time and never got a chance to murder any children or women.
The Pakistanis may very well look on these guys the same way we would look at someone coming here to commit a mass murder. Isn't that what "jihad" means now,mass Murder?

[pensacola8-2009]

Officially, the USA does not fight wars for religious reasons. Unofficially, the USA does not fight wars for religious reasons.

In no way legal or constitutional, does the USA fight wars for religious reasons.

Many under-educated citizens have believed that we do, but we dont'.

Some wealthy citizens have weilded power and influence with big campaign contributions believing that we can, but we can't and we don't.

Even Old Testament bibical books have similar rhetoric to Jihadism. Extremism exists in both Christian and Muslim religious history, but both do belive extremism to be a solution of last resort.

The USA was not attacked by a religion, or by a legitimate group of people representing a religion. The USA was attacked by a warlord network.

Officially, the USA does fight wars against warlords.

It sickens this nation to listen and read the rhetoric of clerics and the mis-information and mis-reporting of statements made by clerics.

The best weapon against misinformation is simply to remind citizens that they are empowered to disagree with whatever they read or hear and reject calls to follow leaders with crazy and anti-social ideas.

The Civil War in the USA killed more citizens than any other war in history, and the recruitment hysteria was founded on fear, mis-information and the vulnerability of the poorly educated. Some of the best national resources were lost over a superficial disagreement between two extremists. History has presented this lesson to the USA for learning, not for entertainment.

Tempers will have to cool down and return to calm and rational thought. False beliefs will have to be posted by real leaders as false beliefs.

Again, the USA does not fight wars for religious reasons.

[sightpoint]

Makes me wonder. We can't get our own people to stay on our side...How do we expect to "train" them to police themselves? We can't trust the muslims in our own military but somehow we are going to "convert" theirs to take over so we can leave?

[davlar2]

If these people are, indeed, American citizens they should be stripped of their citizenship and turned over to the Pakistani authorities for processing.

[Fatesrider]

Inasmuch as I believe in religious freedom, Islam is an inherently paranoid and easily subverted faith. It does not preach tolerance as in 'welcoming other points of view' It preaches tolerance as in, "Well, if I HAVE to be around you, you poor, deluded thing, I'll try to convert you as long as you don't disrespect my faith." (Outsiders or nonbelievers are viewed with condescension at BEST.)

The only "Peace" it preaches outright is toward others of the faith - and since there are different flavors of faith in Islam (kinda like the Protestants and the Catholics in Christianity - doctrine issues, mostly) - if the flavor isn't the same, it's not prohibited to kill them under certain, easily manipulated, circumstances.

In fact, Islam specifically allows one to lie, cheat, kill and do whatever is necessary to 'defend the faith'. In so doing, there are no restrictions on a believer's acts provided they are done in the name of and for the glory of Allah. Since the power of human rationalization is unsurpassed by any known power in the universe, creating the rationalizations that would demand a suicide bombing against innocent civilians is child's play.

I have studied the Koran, spoken in depth with Imams and others of the Islamic faith to see if what moderate Muslims say about Islam being a religion of peace is true. It's very true, provided everyone in the world adheres to the same flavor of Islam. Since that will never happen, and because of the fact the Koran allows the killing (sometimes demanding it) of those not of the faith, it's an EXTREMELY easy faith to subvert to violent ends. Throw in mankind's natural proclivity toward violence and manipulation of the ignorant or weak-minded and you have Jihads all over the place with legions of willing followers who believe the BS they're told.

As for these five individuals, if true, please lock them up for life. Killing them makes them martyrs and symbols for others to emulate. Making them waste away in prison is a much less powerful symbol to scream about or to die in the name of.

[au_fait]

Is it not considered Treason to fight against your own country. Can we not just hang these idiots and be done with it. mahalapril, Christianity has been just as barbaric, if not worse, than Islam. Have you ever heard of the crusades, the inquisition, English Civil War, exploration of new world in the name of christianity/conversion of the native americans. As a Christian I am tolerant of other religions as we were taught to be that way, just as some sects of Islam are taught to be tolerant. Christianity still has zealots (think of teh abortion clinic bombers) just as Islam has it zealots!!!

[displeased]

Islam's current mentality and behavior seems to be about the same as the christians about 300 years ago. I blame poverty and their lack of education for their slow development. It's too bad religion has and will cause so much hardship on the progress of civilization.

[tbird6740]

It amazes me why the lamestream media refuses to look into WHY more and more young people are falling under the spell of jihad. The answer has been right under our noses for WEEKS! How come no one wants to interview the former radical jihadists in this article?

http://www.alternet.org/world/143978/what_makes_a_young_person_embrace_death_and_murder_former_jihadists

[thesevenveils]

These five are all from Northern Virginia and they all went to the same Temple. The younger members of this temple are outwardly aggressive and hateful towards non Muslims. Jihad is being encouraged in places of worship here in the States! There is active terrorist recruiting going on without anything being done to stop it.

[reiner52]

Folks - all this ragging on Islam is just silly - as any student of history knows - the history of Christianity is much more savage & bloody then any other religion - period - including Islam. So unless you are an atheist -you should be very quiet.

[inketolstoy]

It seems our student of history has forgotten his bloody atheist leaders like Stalin and Mao. People of all beliefs do bad things, but certain organizations (like the atheist communists and radical muslims) encourage and support murder and destruction of those who do not believe as central tenent of their beliefs (unlike Christianity, Buddhism and the Jewish faith).

[6591Hou]

reiner52 - Not a convincing point. Comparing events from hundreds of years ago to current events is not possible. The political landscape today bears no resemblance to the Catholic dominance of Europe of centuries ago.
Silence in the face of extremism is suicidal, religious or secular.