The Pakistani government presented evidence in court on Saturday that allegedly showed contacts between five detained Americans and a reputed al Qaida-linked militant leader, revealing the leader's identity for the first time, a prosecutor said. The northern Virginia men are on trial charged with planning terrorist attacks in Pakistan and conspiring to wage war against nations allied with it.
They deny any wrongdoing. But prosecutors say they made contact with Qari Saifullah Akhtar, the leader of the Harkat-ul-Jihad-al-Islami militant network, which is believed to have extensive contacts with al Qaida and the Taliban. Formed in the 1980s, it recruited militants from the Punjab province to fight in Afghanistan and later Kashmir in operations supported by Pakistani security forces.
Prosecutor Nadeem Akram said the evidence produced on Saturday at the court includes documents, phone call logs and retrieved e-mails. The court sessions are taking place behind closed doors in a high security prison in Sargodha. The Americans, all in their late teens or early 20s, were arrested in December in Sargodha.
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