The imam of a Florida mosque and his two sons, one also a Muslim spiritual leader, were arrested Saturday on charges of financing and supporting the Pakistani Taliban, U.S. officials said.
The three Pakistan-born U.S. citizens were among six charged in a U.S. indictment that accused them of "supporting acts of murder, kidnapping and maiming in Pakistan and elsewhere" carried out by the Pakistani Taliban, which Washington calls a terrorist organisation.
The indictment, announced by U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Florida Wifredo Ferrer and the FBI, charged the six with creating a network that transferred funds from the United States to Pakistani Taliban supporters and fighters in Pakistan, including for the purpose of buying arms.
If convicted, each faces up to 15 years in prison for each count of the indictment.
The charges were revealed as U.S. relations with Pakistan are strained over the U.S. raid that killed al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden in Pakistan.
Pakistan's parliament Saturday condemned the raid that killed bin Laden and called for a review of relations with the United States.
The indictment detailed money transfers totalling some $50,000 (30,864 pounds), but Ferrer said there was evidence more had been sent. "This was just the tip of the iceberg," he told reporters.
Two of the accused, Hafiz Muhammed Sher Ali Khan, 76, and his son, Izhar Khan, 24, were arrested in south Florida after prayer services at the mosques where they were spiritual leaders, or imams.
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