Washington: Kashmiri separatist Ghulam Nabi
Fai has admitted to receiving funds from Pakistan`s ISI to
influence law makers on Kashmir in a Virginia court which
released him on a bond but put him under house arrest with a
radio tag around his ankle for electronic surveillance.
62-year-old Fai, a Kashmir-born US citizen, who was
arrested by the FBI last week on charges of working for the
Government of Pakistan, in particular its spy agency, told the
court yesterday through his Attorneys that he took money from
ISI.
US Attorney Gordon Kromberg alleged that Fai has been an
ISI agent for the past two decades. He told the court that
during his interrogation after his arrest on July 19 Fai has
acknowledged to his links with the ISI and having received
money from the Pakistan`s snooping agency.
During FBI questioning, Fai had lied to the federal
agents that he had any connection with the ISI.
This fact was acknowledged by Fai`s two attorneys --
Nina J Ginsberg and Khurram Wahid-- but they argued that
taking money from ISI does not mean that he toed their line.
"He (Fai) denied that (he received money from ISI before
arrest....There are many many reasons, it may be that could
justify why he is not wanting that information (receiving
money from ISI) to be public," Ginsberg said.
At his detention hearing, Magistrate Judge Rawles Jones
at US District Court in Alexandria, Virginia, a suburb of
Washington, ordered that Fai be released from prison on a
personal bond of USD 100,000 and put under house arrest with
electronic surveillance.
He has been asked to stay with his wife at the Fairfax
residence in Virginia. Both he and his wife Chang Ning Ying Q,
who is of Chinese origin, have been asked to surrender their
passports.
PTI
