DAR AL HARB - U.S.A. - NEW YORK: JIHADISTS ON TRAIL IN NEW YORK CITY

NYC jurors urged to convict doctor accused of pledging allegiance to al-Qaida

A prosecutor urged a jury on Tuesday to convict a Florida doctor of pledging allegiance to al-Qaida, saying a skilled FBI agent acting as a recruiter for Osama bin Laden's group exposed the doctor as a man with extreme views eager to support terrorists.

Otherwise, said Karl Metzner, deputy chief of the federal prosecutor's criminal division in Manhattan, "things could have turned out very differently."

In a closing argument, Metzner said Dr. Rafiq Abdus Sabir and a close friend, Tariq Shah, a Bronx martial arts expert and jazz musician, were "blood brothers" who shared the same militant view of Islam, which made them eager to assist al-Qaida in whatever way they could.

Metzner said Shah had agreed to provide al-Qaida volunteers with training in martial arts and Sabir had agreed to medically treat wounded al-Qaida members while he worked at a hospital in Saudi Arabia.

Shah has already pleaded guilty to providing material support to a terrorist organization, and agreed to serve 15 years in prison when he is sentenced later this year.

Two others, a Washington, D.C., cab driver and a Brooklyn bookstore owner, also have pleaded guilty in the case and face similar prison terms.

During five days of testimony, Sabir agreed that Shah had been his best friend, but insisted Shah never told him he was talking with an al-Qaida recruiter before both men pledged allegiance to al-Qaida in a ceremony in Shah's apartment in May 2005.

Sabir, of Boca Raton, Florida, said he never heard the name al-Qaida when it was said 14 or more times during the pledging ceremony because the FBI agent, Ali Soufan, mispronounced it. If convicted, Sabir, 52, could face up to 30 years in prison.

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1) NYC jurors urged to convict doctor accused of pledging allegiance to al-Qaida