Former U of M student could be linked to Afghanistan car bombing, court documents suggest

Court documents reveal U.S. prosecutors have evidence that could link a former University of Manitoba student to a fatal car bombing in Afghanistan.

Muhanad Mahmoud al-Farekh and two other University of Manitoba students flew to Karachi, Pakistan, in March 2007 after selling their belongings, according to the FBI.

Al-Farekh, who is a U.S. citizen,was arrested in Pakistan last April and brought back to the U.S. He was chargedwith conspiracy to supportal-Qaedaefforts to carry out attacks in the U.S. The other two remain at large.

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It turns outthe prosecution has evidence that could tieal-Farekh to a January 2009 attack in Afghanistan.

Court documents reveal the prosecution has submitted a report containing a comparison ofal-Farekh'sfingerprints in relation to evidence recovered from the bombing, which is described as a VBIED, or "vehicle-borne improvised explosive device."

The documents don't specify which bombing but there are numerous reports from that time of a suicide car bomb attack on a heavilyguarded road between the German embassy and a U.S. military base in Kabul.

Al-Farekh has been housed in the Metropolitan Correctional Center in New York since April.

His counsel,Sean M. Maher,complained to court in August about "barbaric conditions" because, among other things, al-Farekh was being held in solitary confinement for 23 hours a day.The U.S.attorney general, however, maintained the special administrative measures were necessary.

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Maher has indicated his client is looking for a speedy trial. His next court date is Nov.30.