Feds indict Afghan national for alleged ties to terrorists [UPDATED]

Federal officials said this morning they have indicted an Afghan national for lying about his alleged ties to terrorists in a bid to fraudulently obtain a U.S. passport.

Ahmadullah Sais Niazi, 34, who was arrested without incident this morning at his Tustin residence by members of the joint terrorism task force, was named in a five-count indictment returned Feb. 11 by a federal grand jury.

The indictment, unsealed this morning, alleges Niazi hid associations with "Specially Designated Global Terrorists," groups including Al Qaeda, Hizb-i-Islami and the Taliban, when he completed nationalization papers five years ago. During one visit, the government alleges Niazi visited Dr. Amin al-Haq, the security coordinator for Osama bin Laden.

Charges against Niazi include perjury, naturalization fraud, misuse of a passport obtained by fraud and making a false statement to a federal agency. He is scheduled to make a court appearance this afternoon at the federal courthouse in Santa Ana.

The indictment alleges that Niazi lied on his naturalization application when he failed to disclose a 2004 trip to Pakistan and made false statements by denying he had any association with a terrorist organization, the indictment states. If indicted on all counts, Niazi faces a maximum sentence of 35 years in federal prison and a $1.25-million fine.

Niazi then used the fraudulently obtained passport to travel to Pakistan in 2005, according to the unsealed indictment. When he returned to Los Angeles Airport, the government alleges, Niazi lied to customs officials, telling them he had been visiting family in Qatar when he had instead traveled to Pakistan.

UPDATED at 1 p.m. The suspect and his wife have lived for at least eight years in a single-story home on Charloma in a middle-class subdivision in Tustin, according to neighbors. They have at least three small children and share the home with one set of grandparents and possibly some other older relatives, the neighbors said.

A retiree who lives next door, who would only give his first name, Ron, said the man who was arrested told him that his family was from Malaysia, that they were Muslim and that he had his own computer company.

"They seem to be a normal family," said Kathe West as she sipped her morning coffee and watched federal agents collect evidence from the home. "They walk their kids and their dogs around the block like everyone else. To me, they're just neighbors."

West and several other neighbors said this wasn't the first time the FBI raided the home. About a year ago, agents in full body armor stormed the neighborhood and hauled out more than 20 bags of items.
This time, the neighbors said, the scene was significantly less dramatic. Authorities quietly arrived in unmarked cars about 6:30 a.m. and spent more than three hours at the home before taking away several boxes and some computer equipment.

-- Andrew Blankstein and Christine Hanley

Photo: Federal officials stand outside Tustin residence of Ahmadullah Sais Niazi, who was arrested on a five-count indictment charging him with hiding associations with terrorist groups, including Al Qaeda and the Taliban. Credit: Don Bartletti / Los Angeles Times

Comments

[steve rodriguez]

The terrorist, they dwell among us!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!