The U.S. extradition request accused Ahmad of operating a series of "pro-jihad" Web sites, including two that appealed to Muslims to use every possible means to undertake military and physical training for holy war. The sites also appealed for financial support and provided instructions on how to infiltrate war zones in Afghanistan and Chechnya.
Ahmad, who lives in south London and works at Imperial College there, was arrested by British police last December and held for six days under suspicion of terrorism. At that time, Fernandes told the court, investigators searching his house found the naval documents, which suggested planning for an attack similar to that carried out against the USS Cole in Yemen in 2000.
British police escort relatives of Babar Ahmad from a London court after a hearing on charges that Ahmad recruited and raised support for the Taliban.
(Alastair Grant -- AP)
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Fernandes said Ahmad was in contact with an unnamed al Qaeda agent who worked within the battle group.
U.S. naval officials identified the man as a reservist who is no longer in the military service. A Navy spokesman said the man could not be tied "directly to the information," one reason he has not been charged with any crime.
Ahmad's attorney described his client as an educated professional who had lived in Britain all his life and had no prior criminal record. She alleged that Ahmad had been assaulted by police both in his home and in a police van during the December arrest and search.
"The police searched everything in December last year," Ahmad's sister, who would not disclose her name, told Muslim News. "They took away his computers, private mail. . . . They did not find anything then." She added: "There is no proof of his involvement in terrorism."
Contested extradition requests can take five years or longer to work their way through British courts, although Home Secretary David Blunkett, who oversees such requests, has pledged to streamline the process. Blunkett issued a statement Friday evening through the British Press Association seeking to reassure the public after reports that five al Qaeda militants were at large.
He said the authorities were "taking every feasible precautionary measure to protect British citizens both here and abroad."
The wave of arrests was reportedly triggered by the June 12 capture of Abu Musab al Baluchi, nephew of Khalid Sheik Mohammed and a cousin of Ramzi Yousef, who organized the 1993 bombing of the World Trade Center. Baluchi was previously identified by Pakistani authorities as Mussad Aruchi.
Baluchi's arrest led to the capture in Pakistan of Khan, 25, a computer engineer, and Ahmed Kahlfan Gailani, a Tanzanian. Khan was a frequent visitor to Britain, and officials at City University in London have confirmed that he enrolled there last year, although he dropped out after a few weeks.
The charges against Ahmad are similar to charges the federal government pursued unsuccessfully this spring against a Saudi doctoral student at the University of Idaho. Sami Omar Hussayen was acquitted of allegations he sought to provide material support for terrorists by running an Internet network that sought to raise money and recruit fighters for holy war in Chechnya and Palestine. Hussayen argued that his maintenance of Islamic Web sites was constitutionally protected free speech.
But Hussayen's Islamway Web site offered some scholarly material as well as support for jihad, while the sites that Ahmad administered -- www.azzam.comand www.qoqaz.net -- were described by a Justice Department official as "more operational."
The court documents indicate that Ahmad allegedly worked with a New Brunswick, N.J., man who made backup copies of the site.
Frankel reported from London. Staff writer Susan Schmidt and researcher Robert Thomason contributed to this report.
