Washington: A 35-year-old Pakistani-American national has been arrested by the FBI on his arrival from Pakistan for being in contact with two UN-proscribed terror groups the Islamic State and the JeM. Waqar Ul-Hassan, a naturalised US citizen who moved to America at the age of 15, was arrested at the Charlotte Douglas International Airport in North Carolina on Tuesday. Pakistan-based JeM chief Masood Azhar was designated as a global terrorist by the UN on May 1. Hassan was arrested on two counts of making false statements in 2015 about his contacts with terrorist groups. If convicted, he faces up to eight years of imprisonment.
According to court documents, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) in 2014 received information that he was in contact with terrorist organisations. During an interview with the FBI, he denied having any contacts with the terrorist groups or helping them. Later in November 2015, Hassan during another interview with the FBI admitted that he had lied and was in contact with two terrorist groups — the Islamic State (also known as ISIS) and JeM.
He acknowledged being untruthful in previous FBI interviews regarding his knowledge of persons associated with foreign terrorist organisations. The FBI said Hassan admitted to extensive contacts with a JeM recruiter, who he identified by name. He also admitted to exchanging phone numbers with the recruiter and having several conversations about extremism with him.
