The misunderstanding of Islam continues to take its toll on the Muslim community, claiming young Muslims on a regular basis, leading them to commit or plot to commit all manner of crimes. Yet Muslim leaders in the U.S. are doing nothing, absolutely nothing, to prevent Muslims in America from misunderstanding Islam in this way. How odd!
“New York man pleads guilty to aiding al Qaeda,” by Basil Katz for Reuters, June 18 (thanks to Kapil):
NEW YORK (Reuters) – A New York man pleaded guilty on Monday to terrorism charges for helping the militant group al Qaeda.
Brooklyn, New York-born Wesam El-Hanafi, 37, pleaded guilty to one count of providing material support to a terrorist group and one count of conspiracy.
Manhattan federal prosecutors, in a plea agreement with the defense, recommended a 20-year prison sentence.
“In July 2009 I participated in a conversation with others in which we discussed seeking out additional contacts within al Qaeda,” El-Hanafi told U.S. District Judge Kimba Wood.
El-Hanafi was arrested in April 2010, along with Sabirhan Hasanoff, 36, a dual U.S. and Australian citizen who pleaded guilty on June 4 to similar crimes. The men, who were arrested abroad and brought to the United States to face charges, had been under law enforcement surveillance.
Prosecutors have said El-Hanafi bought seven digital Casio watches through Internet seller Amazon.com to send to militants in Yemen and that the alarms in the watches could be used as bomb triggers. His defense attorney said the watches were gifts to his family….
Oh honey, a time bomb! How thoughtful!