3 newly arrested suspects in 'Virginia jihad' case appear in court
From Terry Frieden
CNN
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ALEXANDRIA, Virginia (CNN) -- Three men suspected of having ties to an officially designated international terrorist organization appeared in federal court in Alexandria Monday after being arrested in Saudi Arabia.
FBI agents brought Seifullah Chapman, Khwaja Mahmood Hasan and Sabri Benkhala, all U.S. citizens, to the United States on Friday.
The men, who are in the process of obtaining lawyers, did not enter pleas.
They wore green prison jumpsuits and did not speak during the brief proceedings before Magistrate Judge T. Rawles Jones. They will remain in custody at least until bond hearings scheduled for Thursday.
Federal prosecutors in Virginia indicted the men as part of what they have termed a "Virginia jihad network," alleging they have ties to the Lashkar-e-Taiba group, a Pakistan-based organization that seeks the independence of the disputed province of Kashmir.
Eight other men have been indicted in the alleged conspiracy and have already been arraigned. Three of those have been released pending trial but were ordered to wear electronic monitoring devices. The other five have been kept in jail.
