Lawyer: 3rd Taliban arrest might have been 'pre-emptive'

A third Houston man arrested for allegedly aspiring to help the Taliban is a victim of coincidence and might not have done anything wrong, his lawyer said during a court hearing yesterday. Assistant Federal Defender Tom Berg said investigators "stumbled over" Shiraz Qazi when they were looking into Qazi's cousin, Adnan Mirza, and Kobie Williams, who were charged this week with conspiring to help the Taliban monetarily and through weapons training.

"I think the only connection is that they may have gone to a shooting range together," Berg said. "They stumbled over him when they were investigating the other people."

Federal officials contend it is illegal for someone with a student visa to possess a weapon, though Berg argues that the law is not clear about that.

Federal prosecutors "may have charged him pre-emptively," Berg said. ''If he's not a prohibited person as described in the statute, then there's no case."

The arrest of the three men locally and another man in Dallas, Syed Maaz Shah, are "related cases out of the same investigation," Assistant U.S. Attorney Glenn Cook told the Chronicle. Williams pleaded guilty to the conspiracy charge Wednesday; his lawyer said the plea was Williams' way of owning up to "a grave mistake." Qazi and Mirza are scheduled for detention hearings Tuesday.