Pakistani doctor gets 18 years in US prison for trying to join ISIS

A Pakistani doctor and former Mayo Clinic research coordinator, Muhammad Masood, was sentenced last week to 18 years in prison for seeking to join Islamic State (IS) to fight in Syria and expressing interest in carrying out terrorist attacks in the US.

Masood, 31, pleaded guilty one year ago to attempting to provide material support to a foreign terrorist organization.

According to prosecutors, Masood, who was in the US on a work visa, tried unsuccessfully to travel from the US to Syria via Jordan in 2020, then agreed to fly from Minneapolis to Los Angeles to meet up with someone he thought would help him travel by cargo ship.

On 19th March, 2020, FBI agents arrested Masood at Minneapolis airport after he checked in for his flight.

Prosecutors added that Masood made several statements to paid informants whom he believed were IS members, pledged his allegiance to the group and its leader, and expressed a desire to carry out “lone wolf” attacks in the US.

FBI agents began investigating in 2020 after learning that someone, later determined to be Masood, had posted messages on an encrypted social media platform indicating an intent to support the Islamic State, according to an FBI affidavit.

The document also said that Masood contacted one of the informants and said he was a medical doctor with a Pakistani passport and wanted to travel to Syria, Iraq or northern Iran near Afghanistan “to fight on the front line as well as help the wounded brothers,” according to officials.

Meanwhile, the Mayo Clinic has confirmed that Masood formerly worked at its medical center in the southeastern Minnesota city of Rochester, but is no longer on staff.

Source » malaysiasun.com