Americans Screaming Torture By FBI... In Pakistan!

February 2010 -- SARGODHA, Pakistan -- Five American terrorism suspects alleged Tuesday that they were subjected to electric shocks and other torture by the FBI and Pakistani police, the latest wrinkle in a case that has added to sensitivities in U.S.-Pakistani relations.

The men tossed a tissue with some of the allegations scribbled on it to reporters as they headed to their latest hearing in court, where a judge delayed formally charging the suspects for at least two more weeks.

"Since our arrest, the U.S. FBI and Pakistani police have tortured us," read the message. "They are trying to set us up. We are innocent. They are trying to keep us away from public, media and families and lawyers. Help us."

Defense lawyer Tariq Asad said one suspect told the judge that the police gave them electric shocks and warned them not to mention the alleged torture to the media or court. The suspect, Ramy Zamzam, said police threatened to destroy their passports and their lives.

U.S. Embassy spokesman Richard Snelsire denied the allegations of torture by the FBI, whose agents have had some access to the men. Pakistani police have denied past allegations by the men that they were tortured while in custody.

The five men, all young Muslims from the Washington area, were detained in December in Punjab province's town of Sargodha, 120 miles (190 kilometers) south of Islamabad, not long after they arrived in Pakistan.

Police have publicly accused them of plotting terrorist attacks in Pakistan and seeking to join Islamist militants fighting U.S. troops across the border in Afghanistan after contacting Pakistani militants on the Internet. Lawyers for the men say they wanted to travel to Afghanistan and had no plans for attacks in Pakistan.