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Florida doctor charged in terrorist plot

MIAMI - The FBI arrested a Florida doctor and New York martial arts expert on federal terrorism charges, saying they conspired to treat and train terrorists, federal prosecutors announced Sunday.

Rafiq Abdus Sabir, a Boca Raton physician, and Tarik Shah, a self-described martial arts expert in New York, were both charged in Manhattan federal court with conspiring to provide material support to al-Qaida, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office in the Southern District of New York.

Both men are American citizens. Shah is also known as Tarik Ibn Osman Shah, Tarik Jenkins and Abu Musab, prosecutors said.

Sabir was arrested Saturday and was being held at the Palm Beach County Jail. There was no phone listing for Sabir in Boca Raton. Prosecutors didn't say where Shah was being held, and a phone number listed for Shah in Poughkeepsie, N.Y, rang unanswered.

It was not immediately known whether either man had an attorney.

Prosecutors said Sabir agreed to treat jihadists, or holy warriors, in Saudi Arabia, while Shah agreed to train them in hand-to-hand combat.

The one-count complaint details a sting operation from 2003 to 2005 in which the two men took an oath pledging their allegiance to al-Qaida.

Both had multiple meetings with a confidential source and an undercover agent posing as an al-Qaida operative and recruiter. Prosecutors said Shah presented himself and Sabir as a "package deal."

Shah allegedly indicated he wanted train fighters "to wage jihad" and to "find people who were willing to press the fight," prosecutors said.

[Last modified May 30, 2005, 01:38:11]