New York Men Held in IS Terror Probe Plead Not Guilty

Three New York residents accused of offering support to Islamic State jihadists fighting in Syria and Iraq pleaded not guilty to terrorism charges on Friday during a court appearance following their arrest last month.

Uzbekistan nationals Abdurasul Hasanovich Juraboev, 24 and Abror Habibov, 30, together with Kazakhstan citizen Akhror Saidakhmetov, 19, are charged with offering support to a foreign terrorist organization.

They face up to 15 years in prison if found guilty.

FBI agents arrested Saidakhmetov at New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport on February 25 as he attempted to board a flight to Istanbul en route to Syria.

Juraboev, who had bought a ticket for a flight to Turkey due to leave in March, was detained at his home in Brooklyn while Habibov was arrested in Jacksonville, Florida and accused of paying for Saidakhmetov's trip.

Appearing before judge William Kuntz in federal court in Brooklyn on Friday, all three pleaded not guilty, a spokesman told Agence France Presse.

Prosecutors said Juraboev came to the attention of authorities after posting a message online last August offering to kill President Barack Obama if ordered to do so by IS, which has taken control of large swathes of Iraq and Syria.

The court hearing came against a backdrop of mounting concern amongst Western governments over the rising number of foreign fighters travelling to Syria through Turkey to join extremist groups.

U.S. intelligence officials warned in February that more than 20,000 volunteers from around the world, including more than 150 Americans, had gone to Syria to link up with extremists.

Nicholas Rasmussen, director of the National Counter-Terrorism Center, said the rate of travel to Syria was "unprecedented" and exceeds the number of militant supporters who went anywhere else, such as Afghanistan or Pakistan, in the last 20 years.