"Brooklyn Man Is Accused of Trying to Aid Terrorists," by Ray Rivera for the [3] New York Times, September 24 (thanks to [4] Jihad Watch readers):

Federal officials announced charges against a Brooklyn man on Thursday, saying he traveled overseas intent on joining a terrorist group and fighting United States forces in Iraq, Afghanistan and the Balkans.

Authorities said the man, Betim Kaziu, 21, a former building porter who was born and raised in Brooklyn, flew from Kennedy International Airport to Cairo in February in the first leg of a journey he hoped would take him to Pakistan for militant training. Authorities said that while in Egypt he made repeated attempts to buy weapons and tried to join a terrorist group linked to Al Qaeda. In addition, authorities said, Mr. Kaziu made efforts to travel to Iraq, Afghanistan and the Balkans.

In a three-page indictment, unsealed Thursday in Federal District Court in Brooklyn, authorities said Mr. Kaziu eventually made it to Kosovo, where he was arrested by Kosovar law enforcement authorities in late August and returned to the United States.

He was charged with conspiracy to commit murder in a foreign country and conspiracy to provide material support to terrorists. If convicted, he could face life in prison....

The allegations shocked Mr. Kaziu's family in Brooklyn. "This is totally unlike him," said a sister, Sihana Kaziu, who added that he was never violent and had a "big heart." Ms. Kaziu said her brother, a Muslim, did not grow up particularly religious.

One of four siblings, he played football in high school before dropping out, she said. He later got his high school equivalency diploma and around age 18 became interested in the Koran and said he wanted to dedicate his life to God, a prospect that pleased his parents, she said. He told his family that he was going to Egypt to study Arabic, and kept in touch regularly by e-mail....