Maryland Man Arrested on Charges of Supporting Terrorists

BALTIMORE – Federal authorities have arrested a Maryland man in New Jersey for allegedly providing material support to a foreign terrorist organization, the U.S. attorney's office in New York announced Thursday.

Mahmud Faruq Brent (search) of Gwynn Oak is accused in a criminal complaint of conspiring to support the Lashkar-e-Taiba (search) between 2001 through May 2005 by attending a terrorist training camp the group ran in Pakistan.

He was arrested Thursday in Newark, N.J., said Heather Tasker, a spokeswoman for the U.S. attorney's office. At about the same time, members of the Baltimore Joint Terrorism Task Force (search) executed a search warrant at Brent's home in Maryland, authorities said.

The complaint also alleges Brent received martial arts training from Tarik Shah (search), who is under indictment in the southern district of New York on similar charges.

Shah was allegedly found to be in possession of an address book containing telephone numbers for "Mahmud Almutazzim" and "Sayfullah." Telephone records showed one of the numbers listed for "Almutazzim" was subscribed to by Brent's wife at his home in Gwynn Oak, according to a news release from prosecutors.

Phone records also showed the number listed for "Sayfullah" was subscribed to at an address known to have been used by Seifullah Chapman (search). He was convicted in Virginia of multiple terrorism and firearms charges.

In a recorded conversation with an undercover FBI agent, Shah allegedly mentioned the names of several students with whom he had studied martial arts and who had gone overseas to training camps in Afghanistan (search) and Yemen (search), including a "Mahmud Al Mutazzim."

Authorities alleged Shah reported that Al Mutazzim had told him how "difficult" it was to be back in the United States and not to be in training. Shah allegedly said Al Mutazzim could be trusted because he was a longtime student of his who, after leaving school, started "seeking the way to become mujahideen." A mujahideen is a holy warrior.

Shah also allegedly told the undercover agent that he intended to call Al Mutazzim to enlist his help to prepare a demonstration video to be used for martial arts training of jihadists.