US charges six with aiding Pakistani Taliban
Baku, May 14 (AZERTAC). Bin Laden`s compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan, 13 May The news comes amid tense US-Pakistan ties over the Bin Laden raid
Authorities in the United States have charged six people with providing financial support to the Taliban in Pakistan, US officials have said.
Three are US citizens who were arrested in Florida and Los Angeles, while three are at large in Pakistan.
Two of the men held in the US are imams at separate mosques in Florida.
The news comes amid heightened tension in relations between Pakistan and the US following the US raid that killed al-Qaeda leader Osama Bin Laden.
Pakistani MPs have passed a resolution condemning the raid and demanding a review of US ties.
Florida imams
The four-count indictment against the six people was announced by the US attorney for the Southern District of Florida and local FBI agents.
The three Florida citizens were named as Hafiz Khan, 76, and his sons Irfan Khan, 37, and Izhar Khan, 24. The latter was reportedly arrested in Los Angeles.
Hafiz Khan is the imam at the Flagler Mosque in Miami, while Izhar Khan is the imam at the Jamaat al-Mumineen Mosque in nearby Margate.
Ali Rehman, Alam Zeb and Amina Khan, who live in Pakistan, were also charged.
The six are accused of conspiring to provide material support to a conspiracy to murder, injure and kidnap people abroad and conspiring to provide support to a terrorist organisation, the Pakistani Taliban.
Each of the four counts carries a possible 15-year jail term.
Miami FBI special agent John Gillies said: "Today terrorists have lost another funding source to use against innocent people and US interests. We will not allow this country to be used as a base for funding and recruiting terrorists."
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