Albanian pleads guilty in terror case just 4 years after gaining US residency

The documents say the reference to “girls in paradise” is “common jihadist rhetoric that refers to dying as a martyr while fighting [in a] jihad.”

Hasbajrami was instructed to obtain an Iranian visa and fly to Iran via Istanbul. Another contact would meet him in Iran and facilitate his onward journey to Pakistan, documents say.

He was told to bring enough money to pay for his food and to purchase a weapon.

The group, TTP, is listed by the US State Department as a foreign terrorist organization. Providing material support to such a group is a violation of federal law.

In May 2011, Hasbajrami’s Pakistan-based contact informed him that the group had killed American soldiers, court documents say. The news did not alter his plans, according to court documents.

In September, federal agents arranged for a confidential source to contact Hasbajrami and offer to assist the Albanian in any travel plans to Pakistan.

Within days, Hasbajrami purchased a one-way ticket to Istanbul. When he arrived at Kennedy International Airport for the Sept. 6 flight, federal agents were waiting for him. After he was placed under arrest, they discovered he was carrying his Albanian passport with an expired Iranian visa, as well as a tent, boots, and cold-weather gear.

During questioning, Hasbajrami admitted to FBI agents that he had sent money to his contact in Pakistan and that he intended to travel to Pakistan to fight, documents say.

Later a search of his residence in Brooklyn revealed a note: “Do not wait for invasion, the time is martyrdom time.”

After his arrest, prosecutors urged a federal judge to order that he be held without bond pending his trial. “Hasbajrami has repeatedly expressed and provided strong support for an extremist cause, not only by sending money to support terrorist activities, but also by attempting to travel himself to fight a jihad and die,” they wrote in their brief to the judge.

“If not for his arrest, he would have traveled to Pakistan to wage jihad and aim to kill American soldiers,” New York FBI field office chief Janice Fedarcyk said in a statement.

“Our mission includes not only preventing acts of terrorism here but also preventing would-be terrorists from going abroad to harm Americans,” she said.

“The plea demonstrates that Brooklyn is not a place from which to launch terrorist aspirations without a good chance of being captured and prosecuted,” Ms. Fedarcyk said. “Vigilance paid dividends again.”

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