'US arrests' in Pakistan

PAKISTAN:  The FBI is investigating five American Muslim students who are thought to have been arrested in Pakistan yesterday on suspicion of plotting terrorist attacks after disappearing from their homes in the U.S. last month.

Pakistani police said they arrested the five men, aged between 18 early 20s, in a raid on the house of a member of the banned militant group, Jaish-e-Mohammad, in the town of Sargodha in the eastern province of Punjab.

The FBI has yet to confirm their nationalities or identities, but Pakistani officials said the men were all U.S. citizens, including three of Pakistani descent, one of Egyptian descent and one of Yemeni descent, and had been staying at the house since November 30.

Their arrest came as David C. Headley, another U.S. citizen of Pakistani origin, pleaded not guilty yesterday to terrorism charges in a case that has raised fears about Islamic militant groups' ability to recruit and operate inside the United States.

Muslim leaders in Washington said the five men -- all students -- had been living with their families in northern Virginia state until they disappeared last month, and one had left behind a Jihadist-style "farewell" video message.

Officials from the Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR) told reporters that the men's families contacted the organization after they went missing.

Nihad Awad, CAIR's executive director, declined to give the men’s names, ages or nationalities, but one of them has been identified as a dental student at Howard University in Washington.

Mr Awad said the families brought along a video that included war images and Koranic verses and showed one of the five men delivering a "final statement".

"It's like a farewell," he said of the 11-minute, English-language video that one of the families reportedly found in their home.

"There were... images of conflict," he added. "It was generic, but you can draw your own conclusions."

After viewing the video, CAIR contacted the FBI, which appeared to have been unaware of the men's activities, said Ibrahim Hooper, CAIR's national communications director.

The FBI said in a statement that it was aware of the arrests in Pakistan and was now working with families and local law enforcement to investigate the missing students.

"We are working with Pakistan authorities to determine their identities and the nature of their business there, if indeed these are the students who had gone missing," said Lindsey Godwin, an FBI spokeswoman.

"Because this is an ongoing investigation, we will not be able to provide further details at this time," she added.

An FBI team is currently visiting India and Pakistan principally to gather and share evidence on the case of Mr Headley, 49, who is charged with helping to plan terrorist attacks in Denmark and India.

Mr Headley -- who changed his name from Daood Gilani in 2006 -- pleaded not guilty yesterday to charges including plotting to attack a Danish newspaper that published cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed, and scouting targets for last year’s militant attacks on Mumbai.

The son of a Pakistani diplomat and his American socialite wife is also accused of providing material support to Lashkar-e-Taiba, the militant group blamed the Mumbai attacks, and attending training camps in Pakistan run by the banned group.