7 charged with terror conspiracy in North Carolina

[samanthajane13]

By MIKE BAKER, Associated Press Writer Mike Baker, Associated Press Writer – 59 mins ago

RALEIGH, N.C. – A father, his two sons and four other men living in North Carolina are accused of mililtary-style training at home and plotting "violent jihad" abroad, federal authorities said Monday.

Officials said the men were led by Daniel Patrick Boyd, a married 39-year-old who lived in an unassuming lakeside home in a rural area south of Raleigh, where he and his family walked their dog and operated a drywall business.

But court records indicate Boyd was a veteran of terrorist training camps in Pakistan and Afghanistan who fought against the Soviet Union.

"These charges hammer home the point that terrorists and their supporters are not confined to the remote regions of some far away land but can grow and fester right here at home," U.S. Attorney George E.B. Holding said.

The seven men made their first court appearances in Raleigh on Monday, charged with providing material support to terrorism. If convicted, they could face life in prison.

The indictment said Boyd, a U.S. citizen, trained in Afghanistan and fought there between 1989 and 1992 before returning to the United States. Court documents charged that Boyd, also known as 'Saifullah,' encouraged others to engage in jihad.

Boyd's faith was so brash that, this year, he stopped attending worship services in the Raleigh area and instead began meeting for Friday prayers in his home.

"This is not an indictment of the entire Muslim community," Holding said. "These people had broken away because their local mosque did not follow their vision of being a good Muslim."

In 1991, Boyd and his brother were convicted of bank robbery in Pakistan — accused of carrying identification showing they belonged to the radical Afghan guerrilla group, Hezb-e-Islami, or Party of Islam. They were each sentenced to have a foot and a hand cut off for the robbery, but the sentenced was later overturned.

The wives of the men told The Associated Press in an interview at the time they were glad the truth about their husbands had finally become known. The wives said the couples had U.S. roots but the United States was a country of "kafirs" — Arabic for heathens.

Jim Stephenson, a neighbor of Patrick Boyd in Willow Spring, said he saw the Boyd family walking their dog in the neighborhood. He said the indictment shocked the residents.

"We never saw anything to give any clues that something like that could be going on in their family," Stephenson said.

Two of the suspects are Boyd's sons: Zakariya Boyd, 20 and Dylan Boyd, 22. The others are Anes Subasic, 33; Mohammad Omar Aly Hassan, 22; and Ziyad Yaghi, 21.

Hysen Sherifi, 24, a native of Kosovo and a U.S. legal permanent was also charged in the case. He was the only person arrested who was not a U.S. citizen.

All were residents of North Carolina. No attorneys for the men were listed in court records.

Reached at her home in Silver Spring, Md., Boyd's mother said she had not heard of their arrests and knew nothing about the current case.

"It certainly sounds weird to me," Pat Saddler said. "That's news to me."

Hassan's father declined to comment Monday night while others did not have listed numbers or did not return calls.

It's unclear how authorities learned of the activities, although court documents indicate that prosecutors will introduce evidence gathered under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act.

The indictment claims Boyd traveled to Israel in 2007 with several of the defendants, hoping to engage in "violent jihad." The attempt was unsuccessful, though, and the men returned home, officials said.

Boyd was also accused of trying to raise money last year to fund others' travel overseas to fight. One of the men, Hysen Sharifi, allegedly went to Kosovo to engage in violent jihad, according to the indictment, but it's unclear if he did any actual fighting.

Several of the defendants, including Boyd, were also charged with practicing military tactics on a private property in Caswell County in June and July of this year.

___

Associated Press Writers Devlin Barrett contributed to this report from Washington; Meg Kinnard contributed from Columbia, S.C.; Alysia Patterson and Tom Foreman Jr. contributed from Raleigh.


http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090727/ap_on_go_ca_st_pe/us_fbi_arrests

[samanthajane13]

Pakistan case nearly cost NC terror suspect limbs
By MIKE BAKER, Associated Press Writer Mike Baker, Associated Press Writer – 1 hr 21 mins ago

RALEIGH, N.C. – American Daniel Patrick Boyd faced stern a punishment after being convicted of robbing a bank in Pakistan: Losing a hand and foot.

He avoided the sentence when his conviction was overturned. Two decades later, the 39-year-old Boyd is accused of organizing a group in the U.S. with international terrorist aspirations, and he faces life in prison if convicted.

Prosecutors say Boyd's time in Pakistan also included terrorist training that he brought back to North Carolina, where over the past three years he recruited followers willing to die as martyrs waging jihad — the Arabic word for holy war. Seven members of the group, including Boyd and two adult sons, were arrested Monday and charged with providing material support to terrorism and "conspiracy to murder, kidnap, maim and injure persons abroad."

Prosecutors would not detail what the group was targeting overseas. An indictment said they provided money, training, transportation and men to help terrorists. Boyd and some of the others traveled to Israel in June 2007 intending to wage "violent jihad," but returned home without success, the document said.

Boyd lived at an unassuming lakeside home in a rural area south of Raleigh, where he and his family operated a drywall business.

Jim Stephenson, a neighbor in Willow Spring, said he often saw the Boyd family walking their dog. The indictment shocked neighbors.

"We never saw anything to give any clues that something like that could be going on in their family," Stephenson said.

Authorities believe Boyd's roots in terrorism run deep. They said when he was in Pakistan and Afghanistan from 1989 through 1992, he had military-style training in terrorist camps and fought the Soviets, who were occupying Afghanistan.

It is unclear when he and his family returned to the U.S., but in March 2006, Boyd traveled to Gaza and attempted to introduce his son to individuals who also believed that violent jihad was a personal religious obligation, the indictment said.

Two of his sons, Zakariya Boyd, 20, and Dylan Boyd, 22, were named in the indictment. Another son, Luqman, died two years ago in a car accident. The document did not say which son Boyd took to Gaza.

The others charged are Anes Subasic, 33; Mohammad Omar Aly Hassan, 22; and Ziyad Yaghi, 21. Hysen Sherifi, 24, a native of Kosovo and a U.S. legal permanent resident was also charged in the case. He was the only person arrested who was not a U.S. citizen.

No attorneys for the men were listed in court records.

Reached at her home in Silver Spring, Md., Daniel Boyd's mother said she knew nothing about the current case.

"It certainly sounds weird to me," Pat Saddler said.

Hassan's father declined to comment, and other families did not have listed numbers or did not return calls.

In 1991 in Pakistan, Daniel Boyd and his older brother denied they were guilty of stealing $3,200 from the bank. When the sentence was imposed, Boyd shouted: "This isn't an Islamic court. It's a court of infidels!"

When the brothers were arrested, they were accused of carrying identification showing they belonged to the radical Afghan guerrilla group, Hezb-e-Islami, or Party of Islam. They had become the first foreigners to be convicted and sentenced by special Islamic courts set up by the conservative federal government to impose speedy trials for so-called "heinous" crimes.

About a month later, when the brothers' convictions were overturned, Daniel Boyd said, "The truth has finally come out."

The men's wives, also Americans, said in an interview at the time that the couples had come to Pakistan in 1989 and that the United States was a country of "kafirs" — Arabic for heathens. The wives refused to answer questions about their husbands' links to the Afghan mujahedeen, or Islamic holy warriors, though they did say their husbands embraced Islam nine years earlier.

Boyd's wife, Sabrina, had three sons with her in Pakistan at the time of the sentencing: 3-year-old Zakariya, 1-year-old Luqman and 5-year-old Mohammed. The indictment filed in North Carolina says Dylan Boyd is also known as Mohammed.

It's unclear how U.S. authorities learned of the allegations of the past three years, although court documents indicate that prosecutors will introduce evidence gathered under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act.

Several of the defendants, including Boyd and his sons, also face firearms charges. The indictment says they had obtained a variety of weapons from handguns to rifles.

In July 2008, Sherifi left for Kosovo to engage in violent jihad, but it's unclear if he did any actual fighting. He returned to North Carolina in April 2009 to solicit funds and warriors to support the mujahedeen, but again the indictment did not give details. In October 2006, Yaghi went to Jordan to engage in violent jihad, according to the indictment.

Boyd's beliefs about Islam did not concur with his Raleigh-area moderate mosque, which he stopped attending this year and instead began meeting for Friday prayers in his home, U.S. Attorney George E.B. Holding said in an interview. He did not say whether any or all the defendants met with him.

"This is not an indictment of the entire Muslim community," Holding said. "These people had broken away because their local mosque did not follow their vision of being a good Muslim."

___

Associated Press Writers Devlin Barrett contributed to this report from Washington; Meg Kinnard contributed from Columbia, S.C.; Alysia Patterson and Tom Foreman Jr. contributed from Raleigh.


http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090728/ap_on_re_us/us_nc_terror_arrests

[samanthajane13]

Conflicting portrait of NC terror suspect emerges
By MIKE BAKER, Associated Press Writer Mike Baker, Associated Press Writer – 31 mins ago

RALEIGH, N.C. – Daniel Boyd may have spent the past three years traveling to the Middle East, secretly buying guns and training for jihad with a group of aspiring terrorists as federal authorities claim, but people on his cul-de-sac said Tuesday he also made plenty of time to be a good neighbor.

The 39-year-old drywall contractor and his wife were family oriented, always quick to help with gardens and treehouses and raised well-mannered kids, neighbors said a day after the FBI arrested Boyd and six others, accusing the men of planning to kidnap, kill and maim people abroad.

"If he's a terrorist, he's the nicest terrorist I ever met in my life. I don't think he is," said Charles Casale, 46, a neighbor in Willow Spring who recently got pointers on planting vegetables from the Boyds.

Federal investigators said Boyd was the ringleader of a small North Carolina-based terrorist group, involved in three years of nefarious international travel, gun buys and military-style training trips. Authorities claim the group, including an eighth suspect believed to be in Pakistan, were gearing up for a "violent jihad," though prosecutors haven't detailed any specific targets or timeframe.

Prosecutors said Boyd received terrorist training in Pakistan and brought the teachings back to North Carolina, where over the past three years he recruited followers willing to die as martyrs waging jihad — the Arabic word for holy war.

Frustrated by Raleigh-area mosques that were too moderate, Boyd started breaking away this year to hold prayers in his home, prosecutors said. In the last two months, he took two group members to private property in north-central North Carolina to practice military tactics and use weapons.

"It's clear from the indictment that the overt acts in the conspiracy were escalating," U.S. Attorney George E.B. Holding said.

At his home, though, Boyd's neighbors and family defended him.

Boyd's wife, Sabrina, vowed that he was part of an "ordinary family" and urged the public not to rush to judgment. Boyd's sons Zakariya, 20, and Dylan, 22, were also named in the indictment.

"We have the right to justice, and we believe that justice will prevail," she said in a statement. "We are decent people who care about other human beings."

A friend and neighbor, 20-year-old Jeremy Kuhn, said the family seemed closer and more loving than any of the other nearby households.

"If it turns out they were terrorists, I will be the most shocked person in the world," he said. "I think they have seven innocent people sitting in jail waiting to have their lives ruined."

The other four men arrested range in age from 21 to 33. Only one is not a U.S. citizen, but he is a legal resident.

An attorney who met with one of the defendants, Ziyad Yaghi, 21, said Yaghi was disappointed.

"Our concern is that people are rushing to a judgment and there's no evidence that anyone's been shown," attorney Robert Nunley said.

Public defenders assigned to Boyd did not return messages seeking comment, and there were no attorneys for the other men listed in court records. If convicted of providing material support to terrorism and "conspiracy to murder, kidnap, maim and injure persons abroad," the men could face life in prison. They are expected to appear in court Thursday for a detention hearing.

Authorities believe the eighth suspect is currently in Pakistan, according to a law enforcement official who spoke on condition of anonymity. A second law enforcement official, also speaking on condition of anonymity, said the suspect was Jude Kenan Mohammad, 20. Both officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk about the investigation.

Holding said he hoped an arrest was near, but didn't elaborate.

Authorities believe Boyd's roots in terrorism run deep. When he was in Pakistan and Afghanistan from 1989 through 1992, he had military-style training in terrorist camps and fought the Soviets, who were ending their occupation of Afghanistan, according to the indictment.

In 1991, Boyd and his brother were convicted of bank robbery in Pakistan. They were also accused of carrying identification showing they belonged to the radical Afghan guerrilla group, Hezb-e-Islami, or Party of Islam. Each was sentenced to have a foot and a hand cut off for the robbery, but the decision was later overturned.

A former CIA official who was stationed in Pakistan at the time said the agency intervened and quickly persuaded the Pakistani intelligence service to help free the Boyd brothers. The former official spoke on the condition of anonymity because he wasn't authorized to speak publicly about the incident.

The official didn't believe the Hezb-e-Islami identification cards they had been carrying proved they were jihadists.

The Boyd brothers' wives told The Associated Press in an interview in 1991 that the couples had U.S. roots but Americans were "kafirs" — Arabic for heathens.

It is unclear when Boyd and his family returned to the United States, but in March 2006, Boyd traveled to Gaza and attempted to introduce his son to individuals who also believed that violent jihad was a personal religious obligation, the indictment said. The document did not say which son Boyd took to Gaza.

The indictment said some of the defendants took trips to Jordan, Israel and Pakistan to engage in jihad, but only discussed the results of one of those trips. After traveling to Israel, Boyd and his two sons returned to the United States in July 2007 "having failed in their attempt," according to the documents.

___

Associated Press writers Devlin Barrett in Washington; Adam Goldman in New York and Alysia Patterson in Willow Spring contributed to this report.


http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090728/ap_on_re_us/us_nc_terror_arrests

[samanthajane13]

Israel stopped NC jihad suspect's family in 2007
By MIKE BAKER, Associated Press Writer Mike Baker, Associated Press Writer – Wed Jul 29, 6:22 am ET

RALEIGH, N.C. – Israel denied entry two years ago to members of a North Carolina family that includes three men accused of plotting to execute terror attacks in foreign countries, an official said Wednesday.

Daniel Boyd, 39, spent three years traveling to the Middle East, secretly buying guns, and leading a group of men planning to kidnap, kill and maim people abroad, according to charges in an indictment released Monday. His family's travels caught the attention of authorities in Israel two years ago, when they denied members of his family entry to the country, an Israeli security official told The Associated Press.

Boyd was arrested Monday along with six others — including two sons — accused of being the ringleader of the group involved in three years of nefarious international travel, gun buys and military-style training trips. Authorities claim the group, including an eighth suspect believed to be in Pakistan, were gearing up for a "violent jihad," though prosecutors haven't detailed any specific targets or timeframe. If convicted, the men could face life in prison.

Boyd's wife, Sabrina, told a Raleigh newspaper that he and one of his sons, who is also charged in the North Carolina indictment, were denied entry to Israel in 2007 and detained for two days, but she denied a malevolent motive for their trip.

An Israeli security official confirmed that members of the Boyd family were denied entry to Israel in 2007. He declined to say why they were stopped or provide further details. He spoke on condition of anonymity because the information was not officially made public.

Israeli police and the Interior Ministry, the office in charge of immigration, would not comment.

The U.S. indictment said Boyd and the two sons who were charged — Zakariya, 20, and Dylan, 22 — traveled to Israel in July 2007 to meet with two of the other defendants but returned home "having failed in their attempt at violent jihad."

Sabrina Boyd urged the public not to rush to judgment.

"We have the right to justice, and we believe that justice will prevail," she said in a statement. "We are decent people who care about other human beings."

In an interview with the News & Observer of Raleigh, Boyd said her husband and sons' trips abroad were pilgrimages, also denying allegations that a 2006 trip was for nefarious purposes. She told the newspaper on Tuesday that her husband took another son named Noah, who's not named in the indictment, to see Muslim holy sites in Jerusalem that year.

"The point of a pilgrimage is to see the Al-Aksa mosque, the Dome of the Rock, to hear the call to prayer and to make a prayer," she said.

In 2007, Daniel and Zakariya Boyd were denied entry to Israel at the airport in Tel Aviv, detained for two days, then flown to France, she said. The newspaper didn't say whether Israeli authorities gave the men a reason for denying them entry.

Prosecutors said Boyd received terrorist training years ago in Pakistan and brought the teachings back to North Carolina, recruiting followers willing to die as martyrs waging jihad — the Arabic word for holy war.

Frustrated by Raleigh-area mosques that he saw as too moderate, Boyd started breaking away this year to hold prayers in his home, prosecutors said. In the last two months, he took two group members to private property in north-central North Carolina to practice military tactics and use weapons.

"It's clear from the indictment that the overt acts in the conspiracy were escalating," U.S. Attorney George E.B. Holding said.

Boyd's wife told the newspaper she knew nothing about the training site cited by prosecutors, and she said the family had firearms because they enjoyed hunting and shooting.

Boyd's neighbors also defended the drywall contractor.

"If he's a terrorist, he's the nicest terrorist I ever met in my life. I don't think he is," said Charles Casale, 46, a neighbor in Willow Spring.

Twenty-year-old Jeremy Kuhn, said the family seemed closer and more loving than any of the other nearby households.

"If it turns out they were terrorists, I will be the most shocked person in the world," he said.

The other four men arrested range in age from 21 to 33. Only one is not a U.S. citizen, but he is a legal resident.

An attorney who met with one of the defendants, Ziyad Yaghi, 21, said Yaghi was disappointed.

"Our concern is that people are rushing to a judgment and there's no evidence that anyone's been shown," attorney Robert Nunley said.

Public defenders assigned to Boyd did not return messages seeking comment, and there were no attorneys for the other men listed in court records. They are expected to appear in court Thursday for a detention hearing, facing charges of providing material support to terrorism; conspiracy to murder, kidnap, maim and injure persons abroad, and firearms counts.

Authorities believe the eighth suspect is in Pakistan, according to a law enforcement official who spoke on condition of anonymity. A second law enforcement official, also speaking on condition of anonymity, said the suspect was Jude Kenan Mohammad, 20. Both officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk about the investigation.

Authorities believe Boyd's roots in terrorism run deep. When he was in Pakistan and Afghanistan from 1989 through 1992, he had military-style training in terrorist camps and fought the Soviets, who were ending their occupation of Afghanistan, according to the indictment.

___

Associated Press writers Matti Friedman in Jerusalem, Devlin Barrett in Washington; Adam Goldman in New York and Alysia Patterson in Willow Spring contributed to this report.


http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090729/ap_on_re_us/us_nc_terror_arrests

[samanthajane13]

Alleged `jihadist' known as friendly store owner
By MIKE BAKER and ALLEN G. BREED, Associated Press Writers Mike Baker And Allen G. Breed, Associated Press Writers – 1 hr 9 mins ago

RALEIGH, N.C. – When someone in the Raleigh area needed a sheep or goat slaughtered according to Islamic law, Daniel Boyd was the man to see.

"You find everything from halal meat and snacks to soft back prints of the Holy Quran in both English and Arabic," read a notice on the Web for Boyd's Blackstone Market in nearby Garner. There was even a place to worship in the back.

Bosnian native Jasmin Smajic said he was drawn to the store by the halal goods. Instead he found a friend.

"He would always ask people, his friends, if he can do a service for you," says Smajic, 23, a student at North Carolina State University. "He would basically ask people if they needed any kind of help with anything ... whether that be advice, whether you're struggling with money, need your faucet fixed — whatever it is. He was always very helpful."

So, like many hereabouts, Smajic was shocked this week when federal officials accused Boyd of wanting to go abroad and slaughter in the name of Islam.

A federal indictment unsealed this week says Boyd, 39, is a radicalized Muslim convert who went by the nickname Saifullah — "Sword of God" — and was putting together a team of extremists to wage "violent jihad" overseas. He was arrested Monday along with two of his sons — Zakariya, 20, and Dylan, 22 — and four other men.

The indictment charges that Boyd and his sons traveled to Israel in July 2007 to meet with two of the other defendants but returned home "having failed in their attempt at violent jihad."

But the man described in the 14-page indictment is not the Daniel Patrick Boyd friends and neighbors in and around the Raleigh suburb of Willow Spring knew: the devoted Muslim who fasted during the holy month of Ramadan and prayed toward Mecca five times a day; the son of a Marine whose pickup was emblazoned with a "Support our Troops" bumper sticker; the friendly drywall contractor who waved at neighbors, and chatted about gardening and fishing.

"If he's a terrorist, he's the nicest terrorist I ever met in my life," said Willow Spring land surveyor Charles Casale, who helped his neighbor plant a vegetable garden. "I don't think he is."

Certainly, the white, fair-haired, American-born father does not fit the comic book stereotype of an Islamist terrorist bent on holy war. And that, authorities say, is what makes people like Boyd so dangerous. When federal officials went to arrest him and the others Monday, they deployed more than 100 agents, including four SWAT teams and a hostage-rescue team.

"Each of the men were considered armed and dangerous," Amy Thoreson, a spokeswoman with the FBI in Charlotte, said Wednesday.

Hours after the arrests, the FBI and the Department of Homeland Security sent an internal bulletin to law enforcement officials around the country saying the case marks a worrisome trend of would-be terrorists who go overseas for training or indoctrination, come back to the United States, and may spend years quietly waiting to put their skills to use.

Boyd's wife, Sabrina, has said the trip was innocent and denies that her husband or sons were involved in any terrorist activity. But it would not be the first time Boyd had gone overseas to wage war in the name of Islam.

His journey toward becoming a Muslim, which would lead to a Pakistan jail cell, started years earlier.

He grew up in poverty, the youngest of five children born to Thornton and Patricia Boyd. The father was a captain in the U.S. Marine Corps, and the family moved almost every year. The parents separated in 1974, and the mother later said in an interview with People Magazine that she and the children were sometimes reduced to gathering leaves to make into soup in the living room fireplace because the electricity had been shut off.

Thornton and Patricia divorced in 1977, when Daniel was 7, and Thornton Boyd died in 2005.

Patricia Boyd married William Saddler, a Washington, D.C.-area lawyer and American Muslim whom she once described as "intellectual and deep and decent."

It was from there that Daniel Boyd developed his interest in becoming a Muslim. Raised Episcopalian, he converted to Islam at age 17. After graduating from T.C. Williams High School in Alexandria, Va., where he was once a defensive lineman in football, he married his girlfriend, Sabrina, who converted to Islam just hours before their wedding, according to a 1991 Washington Post story at the time of his arrest in Pakistan.

Daniel worked construction to support his family, but Islam's requirement to do "good works" led him overseas, his mother told People.

According to the mother, Boyd moved to Peshawar, Pakistan, in October 1989, sponsored by a Muslim relief group. His brother Charles joined him later.

"I wept and wailed, and I probably kicked a few walls," Patricia Saddler told People. "But they told me they could practice their charity and their Islam over there. And I was happy for them."

She said at the time that Daniel Boyd was working as a mechanic helping refugees from the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan. Charles Boyd worked as an engineer.

Not long after, the pair made international headlines.


Continued-

[samanthajane13]

In June 1991, the manager of the United Bank in Hayatabad, an outlying section of Peshawar, reported to police that two men, one with "a golden beard" and the other with "a beak-like nose," robbed his establishment of $3,200, opening fire with pistols as they fled, according to a police report. The Boyd brothers were arrested.

The men allegedly were carrying cards identifying them as members of the Afghan militant group Hezb-e-Islami.

According to court records, the case against the brothers hinged heavily on witness accounts, money, a pistol and bullets discovered during searches, and a disputed confession by Daniel Boyd. But Boyd claimed that he was being set up by a bank employee who had made inappropriate advances toward his wife and had tried to pilfer money from the family.

While in custody, the men prayed five times daily and received frequent visits from their wives, who dressed in all-encompassing veils in line with strict interpretations of the religion, a retired jail official recalled. The pair worked in the jail factory making carpets and chairs.

In September 1991, they were convicted and sentenced to have their right hands and left feet amputated, the first foreigners to be convicted and sentenced by special Islamic courts established to handle so-called "heinous" crimes, news reports said.

As the sentence was imposed, Daniel Boyd shouted, "This isn't an Islamic court. It's a court of infidels!"

Despite the verdicts, Sabrina Boyd declared her continued faith in Islam. She called the United States a land of "kafirs" — Arabic for infidels.

"We became Muslims because it is the purest religion," she said at the time. "We would forever remain Muslims despite our present difficulties."

The sentences were never carried out.

A former CIA official stationed in Pakistan at the time said the agency intervened and quickly persuaded the Pakistani intelligence service to help free the Boyd brothers. The former official spoke on the condition of anonymity because he wasn't authorized to speak publicly about the incident.

Boyd has since told people that he and his brother had trained at military camps and had joined the mujahedeen in the fight against the Soviets. But the CIA official said he had no such information at the time of the arrests.

Upon his return, Boyd essentially blended back into American society, raising a family that would eventually include five children — sons Dylan, Zakariya, Luqman and Noah and daughter Maryam.

In January 1999, Boyd was living on an old farm in Raleigh and working as a self-employed "metal framer" making about $30,000 a year when he filed bankruptcy proceedings. He reported assets of $17,350 and liabilities of nearly $47,000 — including an $8,000 debt to the Internal Revenue Service.

In July 2004, the Boyds formed Saxum Walls & Ceilings Inc., with Sabrina Boyd listed as the registered agent. Two years later, the family purchased a 1,772-square-foot home on a quiet cul-de-sac in Willow Spring, a rural community just south of Raleigh.

Then, in April 2007, tragedy struck.

His son, Luqman "Luke" Izzudeen Boyd, 16, died after reportedly running off the road at 75 mph in a 55 mph zone. Police say the high school junior overcorrected, ran into a ditch and flipped the car several times.

Later that year, Daniel Boyd opened the Blackstone Market. Business partner Abdenasser Zouhri of Morrisville says he met Boyd at a Durham mosque and was impressed by his apparent devotion to Islam.

"He was a person of good moral character," Zouhri told The Associated Press on Wednesday. "He never caused any trouble when he came Fridays. His family was good. People would invite them to their homes."

Zouhri says Boyd told him he fought the Soviets in Afghanistan, but he did not brag or tell extravagant war stories.

"He was the kind of guy who did not show off," says Zouhri, who says the pair closed the store last year because of the recession. "And Islam is against that."

But federal officials say Boyd appears already to have adopted a different brand of Islam.

According to prosecutors, Boyd stopped attending the services of the more moderate mosques in the Raleigh area and began holding Friday prayers in his home. The indictment says he began stockpiling weapons and conducted military-style training at a rural site near the Virginia border.

Sabrina Boyd, 41, did not respond to requests this week to speak with the AP. But she told The News & Observer of Raleigh that her men are "completely innocent." Wearing a garb that revealed only her hands and brown eyes, she said the family's trips to the Middle East were to give her sons exposure to Arabic culture. As for the weapons, she said, the family was simply exercising "their constitutional right to bear arms."

Smajic says he knew there were guns around the house, but saw nothing sinister in it. He could not believe reports that Boyd and the others, several of whom Smajic calls friends, were planning suicide attacks.

"He was probably one of the best people I've ever known, if not THE best person I've ever known," he says. "I can't see into his heart. I'm only human. I'm not omniscient. But as far as I know they would never want to hurt anybody."

___

EDITOR'S NOTE: Associated Press writers Riaz Khan and Nahal Toosi in Islamabad, Adam Goldman in New York and Alysia Patterson and Martha Waggoner in Raleigh also contributed to this report.


http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090729/ap_on_re_us/us_nc_terror_arrests_jihadist_next_door

[samanthajane13]

AP NewsBreak: Brother defends accused terror head
By ADAM GOLDMAN and MIKE BAKER, Associated Press Writer Adam Goldman And Mike Baker, Associated Press Writer – 1 hr 55 mins ago

NEW YORK – Accusations that a North Carolina man recruited and trained would-be terrorists to wage violent jihad are "pure poppycock," his older brother said Thursday, portraying the charges as an attempt to link Islam to terrorism.

Robert Boyd spoke to The Associated Press from his home in Minnesota and called the situation Daniel Boyd faces "ludicrous." He described his younger brother as an "upstanding young man."

The federal charges "they're trying to pin on him is pure poppycock as far as I am concerned," the 49-year-old Boyd said.

Authorities say Daniel Boyd, 39, bought guns and led a group of men who were planning to kidnap, kill and maim people abroad. The indictment, which names six others including two of Boyd's sons, said some of the defendants took trips to Jordan, Israel and Pakistan.

Federal authorities are looking for an eighth man tied to the group, who is believed to be in Pakistan.

Robert Boyd's comments echoed those of residents in the Willow Spring community where Daniel Boyd lives with his family. They remembered the drywall contractor as a friendly neighbor who talked about vegetable gardens and fishing. Many expressed shock and doubt about the detailed indictment that accused Boyd of having international terrorist aspirations.

Prosecutors say Boyd stopped attending the services of the more moderate mosques in the Raleigh area and began holding Friday prayers in his home. The indictment says he began stockpiling weapons and conducted military-style training at a rural site near the Virginia state line.

Boyd traveled to Pakistan two decades ago with his family and brother Charles, where prosecutors say they trained in terrorist camps and fought the Soviet Union.

Debra Cline, 51, was Charles' wife at the time. She recalled that the brothers would rotate stints in the field, leaving for a week or two at a time to go to Afghanistan or to training. But they never talked about the endeavor.

"The women were pretty much left in the dark," Cline told The Associated Press from her home in Florida. "We were not given much information."

Charles Boyd and Cline met a decade before their time in the Middle East. Charles and Robert Boyd came to Florida with just $14, hoping to make some extra money before going to Pakistan. They were inspired by a video shown at a Washington-area mosque that depicted the Soviets killing Muslim women and children, Cline said.

"That was their main concern," she said. "That's what got them wanting to go over there."

They did not go for several years, but Daniel and Charles Boyd eventually made the trip.

In 1991, Daniel Boyd and his brother Charles were convicted of robbing a bank in Pakistan, where they and their wives were living. A sentence that included amputations of a hand and foot was overturned.

Cline said she didn't want to make the trip to Pakistan but went at her husband's behest. After the brothers were arrested, she wanted to leave and went to the U.S. embassy to make it happen. Cline said that led Daniel and Sabrina Boyd to shun her, and Cline didn't speak to them again after leaving Pakistan.

Her husband wasn't nearly as upset.

"He wasn't as passionate as Daniel," she said. Cline split from Charles Boyd soon after leaving Pakistan and is no longer Muslim.

Cline said she was shocked by the charges, describing Daniel Boyd as "mellow and laid-back."

Robert Boyd, who is Muslim, said he first learned of the charges against his brother while watching television. He also said his brothers didn't discuss what they did in Pakistan and Afghanistan.

"They talked about how beautiful it was over there," Robert Boyd said. "They loved it over there."

"As far as I was concerned he was with the mujahedeen trying to kick ass on the Russians and get them out of Afghanistan, which was backed by the United States," Robert Boyd said.

Both Robert Boyd and Cline said they didn't know of Charles Boyd's whereabouts.

____

Baker reported from Raleigh, N.C.


http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090731/ap_on_re_us/us_nc_terror_arrests

[samanthajane13]

AP NewsBreak: Feds name 8th NC terror suspect
By MIKE BAKER, Associated Press Writer Mike Baker, Associated Press Writer – 1 hr 33 mins ago

RALEIGH, N.C. – A 20-year-old U.S. citizen who traveled to Pakistan in 2008 "to engage in violent jihad" has been named as the eighth suspect in a North Carolina terrorism case, according to court documents released Monday.

Jude Kenan Mohammad is charged with conspiracy to provide material support to terrorists and conspiracy to murder, kidnap, maim and injure persons in a foreign country, according to a newly unsealed indictment. The indictment specifically mentions Mohammad's trip to Pakistan in October 2008. Authorities have said he is not in custody and is believed to be in Pakistan.

Mohammad's uncle, Evan Risueno, scoffed at the accusations.

"I think it's ridiculous," said Risueno, who helped raise Mohammad. "He's not that kind of kid."

The indictment alleges that Daniel Boyd, 39, bought guns and led the group of men — all but one of them U.S. citizens — who were planning to kidnap, kill and maim people in other countries. The indictment also names two of Boyd's sons — Zakariya, 20, and Dylan, 22.

The rest of the men were arrested last week and are scheduled to appear Tuesday in federal court for a detention hearing. Their family members have said the accusations are unfounded.

Mohammad was officially identified as the eighth suspect after federal prosecutors requested that the full indictment be made public. His name had been redacted from court papers made public last week, although law enforcement sources had told The Associated Press that he was the suspect.

Prosecutors haven't said whether the terror suspects had any specific timelines or targets, although the indictment said some of them took trips over the past three years to Jordan, Kosovo, Pakistan and Israel "to engage in violent jihad."

The indictment said the elder Boyd received terrorist training in Pakistan and Afghanistan two decades ago and, more recently, recruited followers in North Carolina. It also said he began stockpiling weapons and conducted military-style training at a rural site.

Risueno said Mohammad went to Pakistan to visit his father, who lives there. He hasn't talked with Mohammad and didn't know how long his nephew planned to stay overseas.

Mohammad was initially arrested in October when he tried to enter the Pakistan's Mohmand tribal region, an area considered a haven of al-Qaida and Taliban militants, police there said at the time. Mohammad made an appearance in court with a beard and dressed in the long shirt and baggy trousers worn by many Pakistani men.

On Monday, FBI spokeswoman Amy Thoreson said Mohammad was at large.

Earle Purser, a Raleigh attorney who represented Mohammad after he was charged in 2008 with driving 105 mph in a 55-mph zone, said he remembered a conversation with Mohammad about religion.

"He said that Muslims were peaceful people, they didn't believe in war unless they had to and didn't believe in killing anybody," Purser said. "He impressed me a whole lot."

Mohammad didn't show up for a court appearance last fall in that case, Purser said.

Also Monday, prosecutors said the terror case may involve classified material that will raise national security issues if given to their defense attorneys. They requested time to review classified material and a hearing to discuss it, according to court documents.

The government filed a motion under the Classified Information Procedures Act, which sets guidelines for the disclosure of sensitive information.


http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090803/ap_on_re_us/us_nc_terror_arrests

[samanthajane13]

7 North Carolina terror suspects due in court
By MIKE BAKER, Associated Press Writer Mike Baker, Associated Press Writer – 53 mins ago

RALEIGH, N.C. – Seven North Carolina terrorism suspects were due in federal court for a detention hearing Tuesday.

Attorneys in the case will meet with a judge for a status conference before the case goes into a detention hearing. The men were arrested and charged last week with plotting to murder, kidnap, maim and injure persons in a foreign country.

The indictment names 39-year-old Daniel Boyd as the suspected ringleader, saying he bought guns and led the group. The indictment also names Boyd's two sons — 20-year-old Zakariya and 22-year-old Dylan. It says some of the men took trips over the past three years to Jordan, Kosovo, Pakistan and Israel "to engage in violent jihad."

Authorities are looking for an eighth suspect, 20-year-old Jude Kenan Mohammad of Raleigh.

Mohammad was detained in Pakistan in October after he was accused of trying to enter a militant stronghold near the Afghan border that is off-limits to foreigners. Kenan's family said he was in the country to visit his Pakistani father.

Ejaz Khan, a police official in the region that had jurisdiction in the case, said Mohammad was taken into custody and booked on charges of weapons possession for allegedly carrying a daggar, and traveling without proper documents.

He was granted bail later that month and police have no record of him after that, Khan said.

___

Associated Press Writer Riaz Khan in Peshawar, Pakistan, contributed to this report.


http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090804/ap_on_re_us/us_nc_terror_arrests

[samanthajane13]

Feds: NC terror suspect told family of jihad
By MIKE BAKER, Associated Press Writer Mike Baker, Associated Press Writer – 12 mins ago

RALEIGH, N.C. – Federal authorities say the accused ringleader of a group of North Carolina terrorism suspects talked of loving jihad, fighting for Allah and despising a U.S. military presence at Muslim holy sites.

During a detention hearing Tuesday, officials said Daniel Boyd told his family in June that "Muslims must be protected at all costs."

Federal officials played recordings of the 39-year-old Boyd talking to his family and a witness.

FBI Special Agent Michael Sutton says Boyd wanted the men, including two of his sons, to engage in violent jihad, train on firearms and travel overseas.

The seven men were charged last week with plotting attacks in a foreign country and an eighth is being sought. Officials have not named their alleged targets nor said the men were successful at carrying out any schemes.


http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090804/ap_on_re_us/us_nc_terror_arrests

[samanthajane13]

Feds play audio tapes at tense NC terror hearing
By MIKE BAKER, Associated Press Writer Mike Baker, Associated Press Writer – Wed Aug 5, 4:42 am ET

RALEIGH, N.C. – Seven terrorist suspects smiled and waved to supporters who packed a North Carolina courtroom, greeting them with a simple and significant phrase: "May peace be upon you," said in Arabic.

"May peace be upon you, also," many audience members murmured in response Tuesday.

Federal authorities were talking very little about peace during a lengthy and tense detention hearing set to resume Wednesday. They played chilling audio tapes of Daniel Patrick Boyd's manifestos about the struggle of Muslims, the honor of martyrdom and his disgust of the U.S. military.

Authorities played a recording gathered just six weeks ago of Boyd talking in his home to his family about protecting Muslims at all costs.

"I love jihad. I love to stand there and fight for the sake of Allah," a voice identified as Boyd said. Prosecutors didn't say how the recording was made.

The courtroom echoed with the sounds of gunfire from a tape an FBI agent said came from military-style training in rural North Carolina.

With so many supporters appearing on behalf of the seven men, dozens were denied entrance to the hearing. Expressing clear frustration with the case before them, some audience members laughed derisively when federal agents said they didn't know certain Arabic translations or details about the men. The shackled suspects nodded, smiled and tried to lift their arms to wave at family and friends.

Special Agent Michael Sutton testified that Boyd, 39, recruited followers to engage in violent jihad, train on firearms and gather the financial resources to travel overseas. The agent said Boyd repeatedly spoke of armor-piercing ammunition and a year ago told someone authorities called a witness about his dislike of the U.S. military being in the Middle East.

"They're over there killing our brothers," Sutton quoted Boyd as saying.

Sutton said Boyd recruited followers with stories of his past. Boyd told the FBI he had trained in a secret Connecticut camp before going to Pakistan and Afghanistan two decades ago to continue training there.

Boyd's two sons — 20-year-old Zakariya and 22-year-old Dylan — have also been indicted. The other suspected group members are Anes Subasic, 33; Mohammad Omar Aly Hassan, 22; Ziyad Yaghi, 21; and Hysen Sherifi, 24. An eighth man, Jude Kenan Mohammad, is still at large and Sutton said Tuesday authorities last heard he was in Pakistan.

Sutton said some of the men took trips over the past three years to Jordan, Kosovo, Pakistan and Israel "to engage in violent jihad." He frequently cited unidentified witness statements.

The investigation began in 2005, Sutton said.

There are signs Boyd knew he was being watched. Sutton said Boyd tried to communicate in ways that couldn't be monitored, such as writing warnings to his followers to be quiet while in his grocery store, and possibly talking in code. He also said a witness reported in July 2008 that Boyd was worried that the FBI was listening to his conversations.

Federal officials said they seized from Boyd's home and cars more than 27,400 rounds of ammunition, 26 weapons, gas masks, a handbook on how authorities respond to acts of terrorism and the text of a fatwa urging jihad against Americans. Sutton said there was a trench dug under the Boyd's deck that a witness described as a place to hide weapons.

Attorneys for the suspects questioned prosecution witnesses but did not say whether their clients were innocent and later declined comment.

Family members and close friends also didn't want to talk, but some supporters said they believed the men were innocent or being unfairly targeted.

"Maybe there's some bad Muslims in there, but just because you have a head scarf and faith in your heart doesn't mean we're aliens," said 37-year-old Shagufta Syad, one of Boyd's supporters. "I just want justice to be served. I'm here concerned as a Muslim, as an American, I need to know what's going on."

___

Associated Press writers Alysia Patterson in Raleigh and Riaz Khan in Peshawar, Pakistan, contributed to this report.


http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090805/ap_on_re_us/us_nc_terror_arrests

[samanthajane13]

Judge: 6 terrorism suspects in NC to be held
By MIKE BAKER, Associated Press Writer Mike Baker, Associated Press Writer – 56 mins ago

RALEIGH, N.C. – Six men who federal prosecutors accuse of plotting holy war overseas from their North Carolina homes will remain jailed until trial because they are dangerous and may flee, a federal judge ruled Wednesday.

U.S. Magistrate Judge William Webb said the defendants have contacts in foreign countries and either have access to large amounts of money or were able to raise it. The judge also said the penalties they face if convicted make them liable to leave the country.

"A potential life sentence in and of itself constitutes a risk of flight," Webb said.

Alleged ringleader Daniel Patrick Boyd, 39, and six other men, including two of Boyd's sons, were charged last week with plotting to murder, kidnap, maim and injure persons in an unspecified foreign country. An eighth man is being sought.

On the first day of the detention hearing Tuesday, federal authorities played audio tapes of a man they identified as Boyd saying "I love jihad" and talking about the struggle of Muslims, the honor of martyrdom and his disgust at the U.S. military.

A seventh suspect in the case requested a new interpreter and attorney, so his detention hearing was delayed.

Prosecutors had argued earlier Wednesday that the men were a flight risk, noting aspirations for jihad, some past encounters with the law and plans to travel overseas.

Defense attorneys countered that the men had strong ties to their communities and that at least some were not followers of Boyd.

As U.S. marshals led the men away following Webb's ruling, the suspects said the same phrase they had uttered in court a day earlier: "May peace be upon you," they said in Arabic.

"May peace be upon you, also," many audience members murmured in response.

"I just want to say that we appreciate the support of the whole community and that we love our families very much," Daniel Boyd's wife Sabrina Boyd said outside the courtroom, her voice wavering. "We're just trying to be patient."

On Tuesday, federal investigators told the judge they seized from Boyd's home and cars more than 27,400 rounds of ammunition, 26 weapons, gas masks, a handbook on how authorities respond to acts of terrorism and the text of a fatwa urging jihad against Americans. One agent testified that a trench dug under Boyd's deck was described by a witness as a place to hide weapons.

FBI Special Agent Michael Sutton testified Tuesday that Boyd recruited followers with stories of his past. Boyd told the FBI he had trained in a secret Connecticut camp before going to Pakistan and Afghanistan two decades ago to continue training there.

Boyd's two sons — 20-year-old Zakariya and 22-year-old Dylan — have also been indicted. The other suspected group members are Anes Subasic, 33; Mohammad Omar Aly Hassan, 22; Ziyad Yaghi, 21; and Hysen Sherifi, 24.

Webb ordered that Subasic's hearing be held later because he requested a new attorney and interpreter. An eighth man, Jude Kenan Mohammad, is still at large and Sutton said Tuesday authorities last heard he was in Pakistan.

___

Associated Press writer Alsyia Patterson in Raleigh, N.C., contributed to this story.


http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090805/ap_on_re_us/us_nc_terror_arrests

[samanthajane13]

AP NewsBreak: NC terror suspect said dad sold guns
By MIKE BAKER, Associated Press Writer Mike Baker, Associated Press Writer – 16 mins ago

RALEIGH, N.C. – A North Carolina man named as the ringleader of an aspiring terrorism group sold most of the weapons he purchased and wanted to make sure his children were familiar with guns, one of the sons told federal agents in a report released Tuesday.

Dylan Boyd, in explaining why his family had so many weapons, told the FBI when he was arrested last month that Muslim practice says men should be strong and able to shoot guns in case they are attacked. He estimated that the family had about 10 weapons, including two that father Daniel Patrick Boyd had agreed to sell that day.

The younger Boyd said he didn't know who the buyers were.

The FBI has said it seized some two dozen weapons from the Boyd household and that a pit had been dug under their back deck to store the guns.

Dylan Boyd, who is in his early 20s, told agents that Muslims must be ready in case they are attacked, claiming that the U.S. Army is overseas raping and killing "their" Muslim sisters. He repeatedly called the FBI agents questioning him "kuffar" — meaning nonbelievers — and said the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks were an "inside job," according to a summary of the interview.

Federal investigators have also said they found 26,000 rounds of ammunition inside the Boyd home. Dylan Boyd told agents that ammunition has been growing more expensive and that his father began to buy ammunition in bulk to get a lower price and save on shipping charges.

Dylan Boyd said they planned to go shooting that day. His attorney did not immediately return a call seeking comment Tuesday.

Federal investigators said Daniel Boyd, a drywall contractor, was the ringleader of a small North Carolina-based terrorist group that planned international travel to commit "violent jihad" and went on military-style training trips to rural North Carolina. Authorities claim the group, including an eighth suspect believed to be in Pakistan, were gearing up for a "violent jihad," though prosecutors haven't detailed any specific targets or timeframe.

The seven men who have been arrested are being held in Virginia pending trial.

Prosecutors have also said that Daniel Boyd was trained in terrorist camps in Afghanistan and Pakistan. Dylan Boyd said the family's Muslim practice began to fall apart when they returned from Pakistan. He said the family didn't resume the Muslim practice until he was a teenager.

He indicated that the family lived under strict teachings. Dylan Boyd recalled that both he and brother Zak, also charged in the case, had "went bad" for a while — drinking and dating girls.


http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090826/ap_on_re_us/us_nc_terror_arrests