A Georgia (The U.S.)Tech student born in Pakistan has been in federal custody for nearly a month, apparently because authorities suspect a videotape he made of a building may have been related to terrorism, his family said. Syed Haris Ahmed, a 21-year-old mechanical engineering major who had become increasingly religious in his Islamic faith, was arrested by the FBI March 23 and has been held since, reported The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.



This incident, not in isolation may be an eye-opener for those Muslims from South Asia who decry the U.S. but wish to send their wards to study in the U.S. at the first available opportunity. The parents of these gullible paraents prefer to remain ignorant of the danger lying ahead for their wards who are susceptibe to the religious propaganda and emerges as fanatics, convinced of atrocities on Muslims world wide and conspiracy by Christians to eliminate Islam.



His family is convinced that they stem from suspicions that he was participating in activities that could be related to terrorism. Ahmed’s family denied that he could be involved in anything related to terrorism. He came to the United States with his family in 1997, is an American citizen and lived with his family near Dawsonville before moving to an off-campus apartment near Georgia Tech.



Ahmed’s younger sister, Samia Ahmed, 18, said her brother told her that authorities found a video on the Internet and apparently traced it to him. “He said, ‘I made a video but didn’t distribute it to anyone,’ ” she said. “He said [it was] a building, not an important building,” added his mother, Faiqa Ahmed. Neither woman knew the location of the building or when the tape was made. Samia Ahmed said her brother perhaps had made the video while he was out of state on a trip with some friends. She did not know where or with whom. Agents confiscated computer hard drives and data CDs from the family home, the family said.



His sister said he graduated a year early from Centennial High School in Alpharetta and has worked at retail establishments such as Pottery Barn and currently works at an oil-and-perfume stand in a Cobb County mall. She did not know which mall.



Samia Ahmed said her brother’s interest in Islam had been growing. “He’s religious and liked the simple life,” she said. “He wants us to abide by the rules. He isn’t against anyone; he just doesn’t want us to lose our faith.”

Lately, he was getting more interested in Islamic studies and was trying to teach himself Arabic so he could read the Koran. “He was trying to learn everything,” she said. “He’s still very innocent in his mind. He’s still a child.”



Faiqa Ahmed said her son’s grades dropped after transferring about two years ago to Georgia Tech from North Georgia College and State University, but he was pulling them up. She and her daughter said he had traveled to Pakistan in 2005 to visit cousins.



The Pakistan-born family came to the United States in 1997 after winning a green card in a lottery. Ahmed has three sisters, one of whom lives in Pakistan. His father, Syed Riaz Ahmed, is a computer science professor at North Georgia College in Dahlonega. The family have become U.S. citizens. He has just visited Pakistan.