Mosque leaders charged with supporting terrorists

? A federal grand jury has issued new indictments against two mosque leaders in upstate New York who are charged with conspiring to support terrorists, prosecutors said Thursday.

Yassin Aref and Mohammed Hossain were charged last year with supporting terrorists in a money laundering scheme. The new indictments include more specific allegations that the pair attempted to provide support to Jaish-e-Mohammed, an Islamic extremist group based in Pakistan that is on the State Department’s list of terrorist organizations.

Aref, 35, is the imam of the Masjid As-Salam mosque in Albany. Hossain, 50, is a founder of the mosque. Both men have been free on $250,000 bond since shortly after their arrest in August 2004.

U.S. Atty. Glenn Suddaby did not immediately return a call seeking an explanation of the new charges Thursday evening.