A US immigration judge denied bail to a Pakistani Imam living in California on Tuesday after hearing testimony that he was the contact man for a young Pakistani-American who trained at an al Qaeda camp.
Shabbir Ahmed, 39, who had served as the Imam at a mosque in Lodi, California, south of the state capital Sacramento, was arrested as part of an anti-terrorism probe into the Pakistani community there.
At a court hearing in San Francisco, Federal Bureau of Investigation agent Gary Schaaf drew a link between Ahmed and Hamid Hayat, who is charged with lying to officials about attending terrorist or Jihadi training camps. Schaaf said Ahmed was to convey any orders to commit violent acts to Hayat.
"We believe the evidence ... presented today clearly shows that this individual is a danger to the safety of our country," said Ronald Le Fevre, chief counsel for US Immigration and Customs Enforcement in San Francisco.
Ahmed has been charged with overstaying his visa. US prosecutors say his religious training in Pakistan brought him into contact with Taleban sympathisers.
His lawyer said he is fighting the deportation proceedings because he is innocent. "Osama bin Laden and my client have no connection whatsoever," Saad Ahmad told reporters.
The board of the Lodi Muslim Mosque where Ahmed served as the Imam fired him in June after he admitted making speeches in Pakistan following the September 11, 2001 attacks that criticised the US invasion of Afghanistan.
Ahmed is due back in immigration court on October 25.