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Court: OC Man Charged With Attempting to Join Al-Qaida Was Headed To Pakistan

SANTA ANA (AP) — Court documents indicate a Southern California man charged with attempting to join al-Qaida and lying on a U.S. passport application to aid international terrorism was planning to travel to Pakistan before he was arrested.

A federal court order to detain 24-year-old Sinh Vinh Ngo Nguyen of Garden Grove says arresting agents stated he was due to travel to Mexico City by bus and then board a flight to Pakistan.

The order states Nguyen was holding a fake passport and had recently traveled to Lebanon and Syria to help the Free Syrian Army.

Nguyen was arrested last week in Santa Ana while waiting to board a bus to Mexico. He has pleaded not guilty.

Federal officials say Nguyen is a U.S. citizen and is also known as Hasan Abu Omar Ghannoum.

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Garden Grove Man, 24, Pleads Not Guilty To Supporting Al-Qaida

(© Copyright 2013 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)

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