2 Muslims face new charges

ALBANY, N.Y. -- Two Islamic men accused in an FBI sting are facing new charges of helping a terrorist organization a year after the judge in the case said there was no evidence of their links to extremist groups.

A federal grand jury indicted Yassin Aref and Mohammed Hossain late Thursday on nine new charges each, including conspiracy to provide material support to Pakistani-based Jaish-e-Mohammed, which the US government says is a terrorist organization.

Aref, 35, is an Iraqi-born Kurdish refugee and imam at a mosque in Albany that was raided by the FBI in August 2004. Hossain, 50, of Bangladesh, owns an Albany pizzeria. They were to be arraigned yesterday before US Magistrate David Homer.

The indictments were based on new evidence presented by prosecutors who, since being sharply criticized by the judge a year ago, have traveled extensively to strengthen their case. They assembled a 48-page memorandum documenting Aref's life.

Last year, Homer said there was no evidence the two men had contact with a terrorist group and released them from jail. He said the government's case was much weaker than it had first appeared.

The comments were made as civil libertarians and antiwar protesters accused US authorities of jumping to conclusions against Muslims since the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. The United States has arrested thousands of people on terrorism charges since Sept. 11 but has seen one high-profile case after another collapse.

In the most recent collapse, the military dropped spy charges this month against Syrian-American airman Ahmad al Halabi, who had faced the death penalty on accusations of aiding and abetting the enemy through espionage at the US prison camp at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.