Via the BBC: US ‘al-Qaeda’ doctor found guilty

A Florida doctor has been convicted of supporting al-Qaeda by pledging allegiance to the group and agreeing to treat its wounded fighters.

Rafiq Abdus Sabir, 52, was found guilty of conspiracy to provide material support to al-Qaeda by a federal court.

He was recorded making a pledge to an FBI agent posing as an al-Qaeda recruiter during a sting operation.

During the trial, Sabir said he had not realised that “Sheikh Osama” referred to al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden.

Sabir also testified that he had misunderstood the word al-Qaeda because of his limited Arabic.

Via the NYT/AP version of the story (Doctor Convicted of Supporting al - Qaida)

The verdict came after jurors heard audio tapes of a May 2024 ceremony in a Bronx apartment in which Sabir and his best friend, Tariq Shah, a martial arts expert and jazz musician, pledged loyalty to al-Qaida and, the government alleged, Osama bin Laden.

Shah pleaded guilty just before the trial to providing material support to a terrorist organization and agreed to serve 15 years in prison, though he has not been formally sentenced.

A Brooklyn bookstore owner who pleaded guilty after the sting operation was sentenced to 13 years in prison. A Washington, D.C., cab driver has pleaded guilty and agreed to serve 15 years in prison.

Sabir, of Boca Raton, Fla., testified at trial that Shah never told him he was talking with an al-Qaida recruiter. At the pledge ceremony, Soufan mispronounced al-Qaida more than a dozen times, Sabir said. He also said he did not know ‘’sheik Osama'’ meant bin Laden.

A fairly lame defense, I must confess, as swearing oaths to people without knowing to whom one is swearing is rather odd behavior.

On the other hand, I am not a big fan of sting operations and would like to know more about why the FBI targeted these individuals in the first place. Was there any real reason to think that this Doctor was going to somehow actually help wounded members of al Qaeda? And if so, how?

I must confess my general skepticism over the quality of our anti-terrorism effort is not allayed by convictions such as this, which at least in the accounts I have read, make it sound as if we tricked someone into a crime rather than actually thwarting a terror plot.