CHICAGO, Dec. 16 (UPI) -- A federal judge in Chicago ordered a suspect in an international terror plot to remain jailed pending trial, saying he posed a flight risk if released
U.S. Magistrate Judge Nan Nolan said she made her decision Tuesday after prosecutors alleged Tahawwur Hussain Rana knew of last year's terror attack on Mumbai beforehand, the Chicago Tribune reported Wednesday.
Rana is charged with providing material support to terrorism in a planned attack on a Danish newspaper that published cartoons about the Prophet Mohammed that incensed many Muslims in 2005.
Rana is a Pakistani native with Canadian citizenship. He owns an immigration business and his net wealth is about $1.6 million, Nolan said.
"Mr. Rana, if he wanted, had the knowledge to be able to flee internationally," Nolan said.
Nolan also expressed concerned about Rana's alleged contacts with the terror organization, Lashkar-e-Toiba, the group blamed for the Mumbai assault.
Rana attorney Patrick Blegen said he had a problem with a government memo alleging Rana knew about the Mumbai attack before it occurred, saying the transcript of the conversation on which prosecutors based their allegations was unintelligible many times, the Tribune said.
Prosecutors said Rana was recorded offering congratulations to Mumbai attack planners, but Blegen said his client wasn't speaking about the assault in his remarks.
