Pakistani police win more time to question five Americans

Pakistani police won more time on Friday from a court to interrogate five Americans, suspected of using the Internet to contact militants, on whether they had offered to carry out terror attacks, a police official said.                                           

The five men, students in their 20s from northern Virginia, were arrested this month in Sargodha in Punjab province, 190 km (120 miles) southeast of the Pakistani capital Islamabad.

The case has illustrated how easy it is for anyone to pursue dreams of fighting holy war through the Internet, a worrying reality for Pakistan, which is already struggling on the ground against an insurgency waged by Taliban militants.                                          

Sargodha police chief Usman Anwar said the court agreed to another 10-day remand in custody for the Americans so that an investigation of their suspected activities could continue.

"We now got it by telling the court that we want to further interrogate them on offences including contacting a (banned) militant group, offering their services for terrorist acts, using computers for that purpose and inciting (terrorism) inside Pakistan," he told Reuters by telephone.

He did not elaborate on whether the men wanted to encourage others to carry out violence inside Pakistan, or in Afghanistan, where officials had said they intended to fight.                                           

The case is bound to fan fears in Western countries that the sons of immigrants from Muslim countries are being drawn to Islamist militancy, a process made easier by the Internet.

It has again focused attention on nuclear-armed Pakistan''s performance in fighting militants as Washington presses it to root out militants crossing the border to attack US-led troops in Afghanistan.                                                                                   

Contacts through internet                                           
The suspects were being investigated for links with the banned Jaish-e-Mohammad group. Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammad has links with al Qaeda and the Taliban.

Pakistani security officials have said the men -- two are of Pakistani origin, one of Egyptian origin, one of Yemeni origin and one of Eritrean origin -- tried to contact militants and stayed in touch with each other through the Internet.                                  

They were found with maps and had intended to travel through northwest Pakistan to the al Qaeda and Taliban militant stronghold of Miranshah, in the lawless North Waziristan region on the Afghan border, officials said.                                           

Militants have struck back with bombings that have killed hundreds since an offensive was launched against them in October. The Taliban have tried to impose their harsh interpretation of Islam by publicly whipping and executing those deemed immoral. They have also blown up girls' schools.                                           

Two schools in the northwest were damaged in bombings late on Thursday, security officials said, and a suicide bomber killed a girl and wounded two men just outside Islamabad.

Pakistan has said progress has been made in the battle against the Taliban. A security official said government aircraft killed 10 people in a raid on Friday in the northwest.