A U.S. federal judge has ordered an Afghan-born imam to leave the United States after the Muslim cleric pleaded guilty to lying to investigators during a probe into an alleged bomb plot against New York City subway stations.
The judge in New York said on April 15 that Ahmad Afzali, 39, must leave the United States within 90 days or face deportation to Afghanistan.
Afzali, who worked as an imam in a New York mosque but was not a U.S. citizen, was arrested in September in connection with the case of Najibullah Zazi, an Afghan immigrant who has admitted associating with Al-Qaeda and plotting a suicide bomb attack on New York's subways.
Afzali pleaded guilty last month to charges that he lied to FBI agents about whether he told Zazi that Zazi was under surveillance by U.S. authorities.
compiled from agency reports
The judge in New York said on April 15 that Ahmad Afzali, 39, must leave the United States within 90 days or face deportation to Afghanistan.
Afzali, who worked as an imam in a New York mosque but was not a U.S. citizen, was arrested in September in connection with the case of Najibullah Zazi, an Afghan immigrant who has admitted associating with Al-Qaeda and plotting a suicide bomb attack on New York's subways.
Afzali pleaded guilty last month to charges that he lied to FBI agents about whether he told Zazi that Zazi was under surveillance by U.S. authorities.
compiled from agency reports
