Al-Qaeda’s Pakistan links were in the spotlight again this week after the U.S. announced that two Pakistani-American brothers had pleaded guilty to terrorism charges here, specifically another plot to “conduct a terrorist attack using a weapon of mass destruction in New York City.”
Florida-based brothers Raees Alam Qazi (22) and Sheheryar Alam Qazi (32) also pleaded guilty to assaulting two federal officers during their pre-trial detention and they respectively face a total potential statutory maximum sentence of 35 years and 20 years.
In a case that echoed the discovery of Osama bin Laden in Abbottabad, Pakistan, as well as the attempt of Pakistani-American Faisal Shahzad to blow up a vehicle in New York’s Times Square in 2010, the Qazi brothers were arrested in Oakland Park, Florida, in November 2012 and charged with conspiracy to provide material support to terrorists and conspiracy to use a weapon of mass destruction, namely explosives.
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In January 2015 a federal grand jury added additional terrorism charges and five counts of conspiracy, assault and attempted murder relating to an attack on two Deputy U.S. Marshals in April 2014 while the Qazis were in federal custody, the Department of Justice said.
In a statement Florida U.S. Attorney Wifredo Ferrer noted, “The plot by Raees Qazi to perform a terrorist attack in New York City – and his older brother’s financial support of that plot – was intended to further Al Qaeda’s message in the U.S.,” adding, “The Qazi brothers later attacked federal law enforcement agents.”
The Attorney said that this week’s guilty pleas demonstrated the resolve of the administration to hold those who plan terrorist acts on American soil accountable and was an example of its commitment to protecting civilians from “violent jihadi attacks.”
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