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Maine man cleared in Times Sq. case says Taliban commit 'crime against Muslims'

Print | Comments () Posted by John Ellement August 31, 2010 05:04 PM

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Bill Greene / Globe Staff

Mohammad Shafiq ur Rahman today discussed becoming swept up in the federal investigation into the failed Times Square bombing.

By Shelley Murphy, Globe Staff

CAPE ELIZABETH, Maine – A 33-year-old computer programmer who was arrested on immigration charges in May during the investigation into the failed Times Square bombing said today that he condemns terrorism and had no involvement in the plot.

Mohammad Shafiq ur Rahman, a Pakistani native who was freed on bail last week and is back home in South Portland with his American wife while he fights deportation, said he believes he was swept up in the investigation because the FBI was looking into whether a computer software company he used to work for funneled money to the Pakistani Taliban.

"I'm a dedicated husband and father and I'm a dedicated Muslim,'' said Rahman, during a lengthy interview with the Globe, his wife, Sara, by his side. "In my faith, whatever the Pakistani Taliban is doing is a crime against Muslims. It's not justified by religion. They are killing people in mosques. I want people to know this is not the faith or Muslim religion."

Rahman was among three Pakistani men, including two cousins from Watertown, Mass., who were arrested May 13 during raids throughout New York and New England as part of the investigation into the attempted car bombing on May 1. None of the three were charged with a crime, but all were held on civil immigration violations.

After his arrest, Rahman said he was questioned by FBI agents about the failed bomber, Faisal Shahzad, and about Systek, a computer software company that was based in Hartford and had offices in Pakistan.

Rahman, who worked for Systek from 2001-2009, said he believed the company was legitimate and sent money to Pakistan each month to pay salaries and expenses of running an office there that was staffed by over 70 computer programmers and project managers.

"We used to work 18 hours a day,'' said Rahman, adding that he was constantly on the telephone with project managers at the office in Pakistan and was shocked when FBI agents questioned him about whether the office really existed and suggested the money may have been diverted for terrorist activities.

"I personally couldn't imagine that it's a non-existent company,'' said Rahman, adding that he spoke with people at the Pakistan office about ongoing computer projects all the time. He said monthly payments were sent to Pakistan by Western Union or bank transfers and could be as much as $3,000 to $4,000.

Rahman said Systek's owner, Azhar Malik, has a younger brother, Asad Malik, who attended University of Bridgeport in Connecticut at the same time as Faisal Shahzad, the 30-year-old financial analyst who pleaded guilty in June to the attempted bombing in Times Square.

Rahman said that the younger Malik introduced him to Shahzad in early 2001, but he never liked him and hasn't seen or heard from him in more than eight years.

"He was not very good morally,'' said Rahman, recounting how he and the Malik brothers used to hang out at the Bridgeport campus and would sometimes play cards with Shahzad and other students. "He was drunk all the time.''

Rahman said he was shocked when Shahzad was arrested for the failed bombing because he wasn't violent or extremist in his views when he knew him.

"How did he turn into that person?'' Rahman said. "It didn't make sense."

Rahman said FBI agents questioned him about whether he had provided money to Shahzad.

"I said, 'No. I never had anything to do with him. I never sent him a single cent,' '' Rahman said.

Rahman came to the United States in 1999 on a visa that allowed him to work as a computer programmer. It was extended twice, but Rahman said he didn't realize until he was arrested in May that his visa had expired in 2006 because his former employer failed to file the necessary paperwork to renew it.

He married Sara Rahman, an artist and mother of five, in March and she is currently petitioning for him to be allowed to remain in the United States.

Bill Greene / Globe Staff

Mohammad Shafiq ur Rahman and his wife Sara Rahman speak to the Globe about how Rahman became part of the investigation into the failed Times Square bombing.