Friends describe terror suspect as well-known New York musician

BY ROBERT GEARTY

New York Daily News

NEW YORK - (KRT) - The Bronx martial arts expert arrested in an alleged plot to build a secret al-Qaida training camp is a well-known city jazz musician who has backed greats like Abbey Lincoln and Betty Carter, friends said Tuesday.

Tarik Shah, 42, has played bass at local clubs for years, and fellow musicians said they've never heard him espouse an allegiance to Osama bin Laden.

"This man talks about music. That's all he talks about," said pianist Donald Smith, 61, who last month played with Shah at St. Nick's Pub in Harlem.

"The only thing we know is he is a devout Muslim, loves God. He loves his family."

But prosecutors charge Shah, the son of a former aide to Malcolm X, was only using his musical skills as a "cover" for a plan to train his Muslim "brothers" to wage jihad.

Shah and Columbia University-educated doctor Rafiq Sabir, 50, are both U.S. citizens. They appeared in court Tuesday to face charges of conspiring to provide material support to al-Qaida.

Prosecutors said Shah and Sabir were caught expressing their eagerness to help terrorists in secretly taped conversations with an undercover FBI agent posing as an al-Qaida recruiter and a federal informant.

Shah even scouted out a warehouse in Long Island for a possible terrorist training camp, and Sabir vowed to treat wounded jihadists in Saudi Arabia, authorities said.

"I characterize this as desperate prosecution on the part of the government," Shah's attorney, Anthony Ricco, said after Shah's brief appearance Tuesday in Manhattan Federal Court.

Shah, who is being held without bail, nodded to fellow musicians and his wife, Zakkiyyah, as he entered the courtroom in handcuffs. He was ordered to return to court June 28.

"He's a wonderful musician and a wonderful person," said friend and jazz saxophone player Salim Washington, 48, noting Shah has recorded albums with Lincoln and Carter. "He is not in any way tied with things that have been alleged."

Ricco suggested the arrests were an attempt by the government to bolster public perception that it is aggressively pursuing terrorists.

"He wouldn't be here if he wasn't a Muslim," Ricco said. "This is an orchestrated prosecution."

Sabir, who was trained in martial arts by Shah, appeared in Federal Court in Fort Pierce, Fla., and informed a magistrate that he was still trying to hire an attorney.

Sabir, arrested at his Boca Raton, Fla., home early Saturday, will be arraigned June 15.

"This anti-American stuff they're accusing him of is absurd," said Dan McBride, spokesman for the Islamic Center of Boca Raton, where Sabir is a member.

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© 2005, New York Daily News.