New York survivor's son turns traitor

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06nov01
Damon Johnston in New York

MOHAMMAD Junaid's mother was led to safety from the blazing World Trade Centre by New York's brave firefighters and policemen.

But 26-year-old Junaid's thank you has shocked New York.

In return for saving his mum's life, the Islamic-American has turned traitor and bought a one-way ticket to Pakistan to sign up for the Taliban and kill Americans.

Junaid left on what could be a suicide mission one week after his mother – an office worker on the ninth floor of the north tower – was among the survivors.

About 4500 others were not so lucky, and lost their lives in the terror strikes on September 11.

"My mother was in the north tower of the World Trade Centre but I still feel absolutely no remorse about what happened on September 11," Junaid said.

"I saw the towers collapse but felt nothing for the Americans inside. I may hold an American passport, but I am not an American – I am a Muslim."

Junaid offered his own personal jihad against his own country when in Islamabad, Pakistan, as he waited to cross the border into Afghanistan to join the Taliban.

"I did not feel any remorse for the Americans who died," Junaid told Britain's ITN television network.

"I'm willing to kill the Americans. I will kill every American that I see in Afghanistan. And I'll kill every American soldier that I see in Pakistan."

Junaid's parents migrated from Pakistan.

© 2001 Queensland Newspapers

TRAITOR: ‘I'LL KILL AMERICANS'

By HANNELE RUBIN

November 4, 2001 -- This is the face of a traitor - a New Yorker who bought a one-way ticket to Pakistan because he wants to sign up for the Taliban and kill Americans.

He left on his likely suicide mission just one week after his mother was led to safety from the collapsing World Trade Center by the city's brave firefighters and policemen, many of whom were among the more than 4,000 victims of the terrorist strikes on the Twin Towers on Sept. 11.

"I did not feel any remorse for the Americans [who died]," Mohammad Junaid said in Islamabad, Pakistan, on Thursday as he waited to be taken across the border into Afghanistan to join the troops of the Taliban.

"I'm willing to kill the Americans. I will kill every American that I see in Afghanistan. And I'll kill every American soldier that I see in Pakistan," Junaid boasted to British television correspondent, Jon Gilbert, in an interview for the ITN Channel 5 network.

Until he revealed his rabid and murderous intentions, Junaid said, he had been living a typical life as a born-and-bred New Yorker.

The 26-year-old son of Pakistani immigrants said he went to elementary and high school in the city and studied at a med school for two years before dropping out to join a dot-com company. When that folded, he took a $70,000-a-year job as a programmer for a Muslim-oriented company, a position he quit just days before embarking on his self-appointed jihad.

"I do have an American passport. But at the end of the day, I'm a Muslim," Junaid said last week.

Junaid, a stocky but fit man, told ITN his family fully supports his bloodthirsty mission.

He said his father was a retired security guard and shopkeeper while his mother is thought to have worked on the ninth floor of the trade center. Attempts by The Post to contact them were unsuccessful.

The bespectacled Junaid said his anti-American anger began when he was the only Muslim child at the Catholic school he attended in the city. He said he always felt left out at the school.

He said his family had immigrated to the United States from Pakistan in 1967 to take advantage of the "freedoms and opportunities" in New York City.

He said his grandfather instilled in him the belief that "your loyalty is with Islam. Your loyalty is with the Muslims. Just because you're in New York, your loyalty is still with them."

Junaid told Gilbert he had been sleeping for the past week on the floor of the Lahore office of an extremist Muslim group as he waited for his transport across the Afghanistan border. He said he hoped to join pro-Taliban forces there this week.

Junaid was thought to be accompanied by several British Muslims, with whom he met up in London two weeks ago, according to a report in London's Sun newspaper.

The American was interviewed by the newspaper, along with two other British-born Muslims who also said they were returning to Pakistan to fight for the Taliban.

Former civil engineer Abdul Salem, 25, of London's Brick Lane, told the Sun, "I have been waiting a long time for this - to kill British soldiers."

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