Out of plot’s shadow, a call for peace

Mohammad Shafiq ur Rahman, a native of Pakistan who was freed on bail last week, said he believes he was swept up in the investigation because the FBI was looking into whether a computer software company he once worked for funneled money to the Taliban in his homeland.

“I have never been involved in any criminal activity, not even a speeding ticket,’’ Rahman said during a lengthy interview yesterday at Fort Williams Park, overlooking the Maine coast, with his American wife, Sara, by his side. “I don’t want to be associated with that group whose crimes are against humanity. I’m a human being.’’

Rahman was among three Pakistani men, including two cousins from Watertown, who were arrested May 13 during raids in the Northeast as part of the investigation into the attempted New York City car bombing on May 1. None of the three was charged with a crime, but all were held on civil immigration violations. Rahman spoke to the Globe about his situation yesterday.

After his arrest, Rahman said, FBI agents questioned him about Faisal Shahzad, the accused bomber, and about Systek Corp., a now-defunct computer software company that was based in Hartford and had offices in Pakistan.

Rahman, who worked for the company from 2001 to mid-2009, said Systek was legitimate and sent money to Pakistan each month to pay salaries and the expenses of running an office there that was staffed by more than 70 computer programmers and project managers. He left when the company began to struggle.

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

“I personally couldn’t imagine that it’s a nonexistent company,’’ Rahman said.

He said he often sent the monthly payments from Systek to Pakistan, through Western Union or bank transfers and as much as $4,000.

He said he was unaware of any Taliban links to Systek and would never support a terrorist group.

“I’m a dedicated husband and father, and I’m a dedicated Muslim,’’ Rahman said. “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 said Systek’s owner, Azhar Malik, has a younger brother, Asad Malik, who attended the University of Bridgeport in Connecticut at the same time as Shahzad, the 30-year-old financial analyst who pleaded guilty in US District Court in Manhattan in June to the attempted bombing.

Rahman said the younger Malik introduced him to Shahzad in early 2001, but he never liked him and has neither seen nor 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.’’

He said that he last saw Shahzad in 2002 and that the Malik brothers are living in Pakistan.

Rahman said he was shocked when Shahzad was arrested 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.’’

Shahzad began cooperating after his arrest and admitted the bombing plot was supported by the Pakistani Taliban.

On May 13, federal agents arrested Rahman and the two Watertown men, Pir Khan, a 43-year-old taxi driver, and his cousin, Aftab Ali Khan, a 27-year-old gas station attendant, on immigration charges. Pir was released on bail last month, while Aftab is jailed in New York City.

After the arrests, government officials said the men may have handled informal money transfers for Shahzad, but it was unclear whether they knew the funds’ purpose. The government alleges that Aftab had Shahzad’s cellphone number stored on his cellphone.

Rahman said he does not know the Khans.

Rahman, who was working at Artist & Craftsman Supply, a company with 15 stores from Portland, Maine, to Los Angeles, had just parked his car near the office on May 13 when he was surrounded by FBI agents in a half-dozen trucks and sport utility vehicles.

He said he was surprised when agents told him he was being arrested on immigration violations for overstaying his visa, which he was unaware had expired in 2006.

Harold Ort, a spokesman for US Immigration and Customs Enforcement, declined to comment on the specifics of Rahman’s case, but said officers handled him professionally during his arrest and while he was in custody.

“We treat all those we encounter with dignity and respect,’’ he said.

A spokeswoman for the US Attorney’s office in Manhattan, which is overseeing the investigation into the attempted bombing in Times Square, could not immediately be reached for comment.

Rahman, the son of a retired Pakistani Air Force officer, came to the United States in 1999 at age 23 with a specialty occupation visa that allowed him to work as a computer programmer.

He lived in Quincy for a couple of weeks before moving to Connecticut. His visa was extended twice, but Rahman said he did not realize that Systek had failed to file the necessary paperwork to renew it. He moved to Maine two years ago and lives with his wife and her children in South Portland.

Rahman said FBI agents questioned him for several hours after his arrest. He said they asked if he provided money to Shahzad, and he told them, “ ‘No. I never had anything to do with him. I never sent him a single cent.’ ’’

He said the FBI never questioned him after that day, but he remained jailed at the Cumberland County jail in Portland for more than three months on the immigration charges.

“Knowing he was in there, seeing him in shackles, having to speak to him through a phone and shield was pretty surreal,’’ said Sara Rahman, a 45-year-old artist and mother of five who began dating Rahman two years ago and married him in March.

She said his arrest has been especially tough on her three youngest children who live with them, twin 10-year-old sons and a 12-year-old daughter. They have had to answer questions from other children about whether their stepfather is a terrorist.

But she said their neighbors, friends, and relatives have rallied around them. Her parents posted $10,000 to win Rahman’s release after a US Immigration Judge in Boston ruled last week that he was not a risk and set bail.

He is fighting deportation, and his wife has petitioned for him to stay.

Rahman said his boss at Artist & Craftsman Supply has promised to rehire him if immigration authorities allow him to work.

“I need to clear my name,’’ said Rahman, adding that he hopes government officials publicly exonerate him when the FBI’s inquiry is complete.

“I haven’t done anything wrong,’’ he said. “I believe in the system.’’

Rahman said he was living and working in New York City during the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks and witnessed the destruction firsthand.

He said he condemns violence and considers himself an American.

Shelley Murphy can be reached at shmurphy@globe.com.