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The FBI won't say why they're holding him. But there are some clues. "FBI detains Tech student, won't say why," from The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, with thanks to Coach TC:
A Georgia Tech student born in Pakistan has been in federal custody for nearly a month, apparently because authorities suspect a videotape he made of a building may have been related to terrorism, his family said.Syed Haris Ahmed, a 21-year-old mechanical engineering major who had become increasingly religious in his Islamic faith, was arrested by the FBI March 23 and has been held since, his family said....
Ahmed's family denied that he could be involved in anything related to terrorism. He came to the United States with his family in 1997, is an American citizen and lived with his family near Dawsonville before moving to an off-campus apartment near Georgia Tech....
Ahmed's younger sister, Samia Ahmed, 18, said her brother told her that authorities found a video on the Internet and apparently traced it to him. "He said, 'I made a video but didn't distribute it to anyone,' " she said.
"He said [it was] a building, not an important building," added his mother, Faiqa Ahmed. Neither woman knew the location of the building or when the tape was made.
Samia Ahmed said her brother perhaps had made the video while he was out of state on a trip with some friends. She did not know where or with whom.
Agents confiscated computer hard drives and data CDs from the family home, the family said....
Ahmed's sister and mother spoke Wednesday from a couch at the family's large home near Dawsonville, where they have lived for five years. They described Syed Ahmed as a likable but reserved young man who was trying to find himself....
Samia Ahmed said her brother's interest in Islam had been growing. "He's religious and liked the simple life," she said. "He wants us to abide by the rules. He isn't against anyone; he just doesn't want us to lose our faith."
Lately, he was getting more interested in Islamic studies and was trying to teach himself Arabic so he could read the Koran.
"He was trying to learn everything," she said. "He's still very innocent in his mind. He's still a child."
Faiqa Ahmed said her son's grades dropped after transferring about two years ago to Georgia Tech from North Georgia College and State University, but he was pulling them up. She and her daughter said he had traveled to Pakistan in 2005 to visit cousins.
Asked what her son thought about the current troubles in the Middle East, Faiqa Ahmed said, "We don't talk political stuff. We are ladies."...
Ah. Of course.
Posted by Robert at April 20, 2006 3:58 PM
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I am becoming more and more convinced that Islam doesn’t belong anywhere on the shores of any Western civilization …especially America.
It’s really too bad that this fine, upstanding young man has been detained, but perhaps further episodes like this one could be avoided simply by deporting anybody and everybody holding to the Muslim faith.
Here’s a question I’ve been pondering: why was there originally the separation of church and state given to us by our forefathers? Could they have foreseen Islamic problems in the future? Of course, there’s religious freedom, so perhaps they didn’t quite imagine it becoming the problem on America’s doorstep that it has become…
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at April 20, 2006 4:43 PM
so is this person a child or a man? this child wants to learn more of the koran and arabic? so if he turns to jihad is it the child or the man? and the ladies please excuse me, it seems islam loves stupid people!
Posted by: Lulu at April 20, 2006 4:57 PM
Deport, deport. It is critical that young fools like this one suffer for their actions. At the very least, like minded young Jihadis will be deterred, perhaps until they become men, and then, presumably, stop "misunderstanding Islam".
Posted by: Quijybo at April 20, 2006 5:13 PM
Re: Georgia Tech jihad?
http://www.obsessionthemovie.com/
Islam is a religion of intolerance.
BTW, maybe this film is good and the public will learn even more about Islam from it. Robert and himself (aka Hugh) might review it and tell folks whether or not its worth watching.
Posted by: Frank at April 20, 2006 5:27 PM
Is the government checking out the mosque he attends? For the sake of our country, we need to get rid of imams and mosques. They are potential time bombs.
Posted by: freewoman at April 20, 2006 5:35 PM
It's the same old story: Happy-go-lucky regular old Muslim gets serious about religion and promptly becomes a terrorist.
The paradigm is becoming so regular that our social scientists and/or psychologists need to develop a term to denote the condition.
Posted by: Cornelius at April 20, 2006 5:56 PM
'Cornelius', why bother? We already have one: Splodeydope.
Posted by: Rick at April 20, 2006 7:16 PM
"He was trying to learn everything," she said. "He's still very innocent in his mind. He's still a child."
Same old tired excuses. Now wait for "He is a pious young man, kind to a fault and would'nt hurt a fly".
illustr8rg8r
I to am tired of this BS. I'm offended by the term British or American muslims, as if there was common ground between islam and the West. There is no common ground except that of the battlefield. The trouble is that we have let in millions of muslims into the West, and it is the West that has become the battlefield.
Posted by: DP111 at April 20, 2006 8:01 PM
"...Ahmed's family denied that he could be involved in anything related to terrorism..."
Mohammedan denial is as good as a confession of guilt.
"...he just doesn't want us to lose our faith."
'..Terror made me victorious..' said Mohammed.
Ahmed believes that. He is a 'good muslim'. He also believes that his faith commands him to terrorise the unbelievers and to bomb them into submission...
You will never hear that from the FBI .
Posted by: sheik yer'mami at April 20, 2006 8:33 PM
Cornelius posted : The paradigm is becoming so regular that our social scientists and/or psychologists need to develop a term to denote the condition.
Daniel Pipes has termed it as SJS - Sudden Jihad Syndrome. It is something that one catches by visiting mosques or by not abiding with the instructions of Secretary Rice for handling the koran. The infection seems have its epicentre somewhere in Arabia - probably Mecca.
at April 20, 2006 8:35 PM
Anyone as worried about the fate of their 'faith' as this lad claims he is would be well-advised to haul their butt(s) over to Pakistan (or other such land of 'religion') and STAY THERE!!!!!
As we have stated on numerous occasions here, Islam has no place in America. It is INSTITUTIONALIZED MURDER IN THE FIRST DEGREE. Implementation of this is what Islam's leaders are (literally) gunning for in the USA and elsewhere. And that is why we must OUTLAW IT HERE...ASAP!
Deport? Maybe more Guantanamos are what we need...
Posted by: pythagoras at April 20, 2006 8:44 PM
"a 21-year-old mechanical engineering major who had become increasingly religious in his Islamic faith..."
-- from the article above
Say no more.
Posted by: Hugh at April 20, 2006 9:16 PM
"Oh I'm a ramblin wreck from Georgia Tech
and a hell of an engineer . . ."
Jihadis are everywhere. Be aware.
Posted by: the poetess at April 20, 2006 9:18 PM
I am becoming more and more convinced that Islam doesn’t belong anywhere on the shores of any Western civilization …especially America.
People who believe this, and this alarmed pig farmer is among that group, should form a self-therapy group. So right, so urgent, so verboten even to publicly state.
Topic no. 1 for the Mass Expulsion 12-Step Group: is it a felony hate crime to even think what illustr8rg8r just said? If the consensus is yes, then the group would have to disband at the end of its first session.
Posted by: Alarmed Pig Farmer at April 20, 2006 9:40 PM
The first reviews are out for Flight 93, excerpts and links over at The Dumb Ox.
http://thomistic.blogspot.com
D. Ox
at April 20, 2006 9:50 PM
Frank said:
Robert and himself (aka Hugh)
Sounds like you are saying Hugh and Robert are one and the same person. Is that just an impressionistic theory, or do you have any evidence? - Omar
Posted by: www.islamquest.blogspot.com at April 20, 2006 11:14 PM
By the way in the reviews, not one mention of Islam, Moslem, Arab, or Jihad. Hilarious.
http://thomistic.blogpsot.com
at April 20, 2006 11:29 PM
Sounds like you are saying Hugh and Robert are one and the same person.
Not how I read it at all. "Himself" used like that is just a humorous locution. The Irish, in particular, sometime use it. I'd guess in origin it would be an aphetic for a longer phrase such "your man himself".
Posted by: Yojimbo at April 21, 2006 5:29 AM
DP111: "Daniel Pipes has termed it as SJS - Sudden Jihad Syndrome."
Oh my. I used that term (sudden-onset-jihadi syndrome) on a previous thread not realizing it had been coined by Dr. Pipes. I wish an astute reader had pointed that out to me. My apologies to Dr Pipes. In any case, to the provisional criteria I listed:
1. Resides in the democratic west.
2. Evidences personality changes since 9/11.
3. Appears more obsessed than before about the plight of the "Palestinian" people and frequently praises the virtues of the Iraqi "resistance".
3. Abandons previous westernized behavior including drinking alcohol, using drugs, attending clubs, listening to rock music.
4. Marked increase in the external manifestations of religious devotion including studying the Quran, spending more time at mosque, growing a traditional beard.
5. Marked increase in criticism of the behavior, dress and lifestyle of more westernized friends and family.
6. Appears calm and more relaxed.
Should be added....
7. Has made a recent trip back to the Old Country.
(as in the DSM-IV, one only need meet say 5 criteria to qualify but #4 is essential).
Posted by: Caroline at April 21, 2006 7:49 AM
Got excited when I clicked Frank's link to the "Obsession" movie, but was deflated when I read this part of the description:
"A peaceful religion is being hijacked by a dangerous foe, who seeks to destroy the shared values we stand for."
It's a start, sure, but they're still missing the point: Islam is the disease. The Jihadi freaks who "misinterpret" it are just symptoms.
But again, it's a start. I hope this flick gets as much hype as Fahrenheit 911.
Posted by: Know Your Enemy at April 21, 2006 9:46 AM
Ok, Syed is born in Pakistan and enters the country with his family in 1997. Seems a rather short time before gaining citizenship.
Not related but also quickly happening. A friend in the Seattle area has been telling me that after Bush's travels to the middle east there has been a sudden rise in students from Saudi Arabia coming to Seattle to "learn English." Makes one wonder.
Posted by: Jack J at April 21, 2006 1:11 PM
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