Still more Islamophobia. Oh, when will it end? “Pakistani man tied to Times Square bomber pleads guilty,” by Basil Katz for Reuters, August 19 (thanks to all who sent this in):
NEW YORK (Reuters) – A Pakistani immigrant pleaded guilty on Thursday in federal court to running an illegal money-transfer business that provided $7,000 to the man who tried to bomb New York’s Times Square.
Mohammad Younis, 45, was charged in September, five months after Faisal Shahzad was arrested for parking a crude car bomb in the crowded Times Square on May 1, 2010. A bomb squad ultimately defused the device.
Federal prosecutors in Manhattan said in the indictment that Younis met with Shahzad on April 10 last year and gave him the money sent by people in Pakistan as part of an informal “hawala” money transaction common in Islamic societies.
On Thursday, Younis pleaded guilty in Manhattan federal court to one count of conducting an unlicensed money transfer business. But Shahzad’s name was not mentioned in court.
Younis told U.S. District Judge John Keenan that he did not know who he gave the money to or what the money was intended for. Prosecutors have not charged Younis with participating in or having any knowledge of Shahzad’s planned attack….