A Pakistani imam, accused of planning to set up a religious school in the US to train recruits to kill Americans, has agreed to be deported.
However, Shabbir Ahmed, 39, will be deported for overstaying his 3 year work visa which allowed to him act as an Imam.
In the government agreeing to deport him, Ahmed's lawyer Saad Ahmad saw proof that his client was innocent.
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But Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agency's chief council in San Francisco Ronald E Le Fevre said once he leaves, he will no longer be in a position to 'advance any doctrine of hate from within our country.'
Saad Ahmad had earlier said he would fight the case but decided to agree to the deportation of his client fearing that he could otherwise face long detention.
Shabbir Ahmed's deportation was ordered during an immigration hearing before Judge Anthony Murry on Monday.
He was arrested in June as part of investigation into possible terrorist connection between Al Qaeda and members of a mosque in Lodi, about 110 km from San Francisco, where he preached.
But he was never charged with terrorist acts and his lawyer maintained that he was innocent.At a hearing last week, a Federal Bureau of Investigation agent, Gary Schaaf, accused Shabbir Ahmed of planning to set up an Islamic school in Lodi as a front for training recruits to attack Americans.
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