Brooklyn man charged with aiding terror

A Brooklyn man was charged Friday with material support for terrorism for allegedly sending $1,000 to a jihadist contact in Pakistan and making travel plans to join the "holy war" overseas.

Agron Hasbajrami, 27, told his contact that he wanted to go abroad to "marry with the girls in paradise" and left a note in his apartment saying, "Do not wait for invasion, the time is martyrdom time," charges said.

Hasbajrami, an Albanian citizen living as a legal resident in the United States, was arrested at Kennedy Airport Tuesday as he prepared to fly to Turkey with a tent, boots and cold-weather gear, according to Brooklyn federal court filings.

Unsealing of the charges came amid pre-Sept. 11 terrorism jitters in New York City, but officials said the case was completely unrelated to reports of a credible threat of an al-Qaida attack targeting the city or Washington this weekend.

"The vigilance of law enforcement has resulted in the capture of another alleged aspiring terrorist bent on traveling overseas for violent jihad," said Loretta Lynch, U.S. attorney in Brooklyn. "We will spare no effort in stopping terrorists before they strike."

Hasbajrami pleaded not guilty and was detained at his arraignment Friday. He faces up to 15 years in prison if convicted.

Court papers did not reveal how federal agents were first tipped off to the activities of Hasbajrami, who came to the United States in 2008.

He allegedly began sending money last year to his Pakistani jihadist contact, whose name and group were not identified, and used multiple email addresses to correspond with him. Government filings said he was instructed to locate the contact's group through the Pakistani Taliban.