A second woman charged in connection with an alleged plot to kill a Swedish cartoonist who depicted the Prophet Muhammad with the body of a dog pleaded not guilty in a US court today.
Jamie Paulin Ramirez (31), was arrested last week in Philadelphia after voluntarily flying back from overseas to face the charge in the case, conspiracy to provide material support to terrorists.
Ms Ramirez, who is 12 weeks pregnant according to her attorney Jeremy Ibrahim, was ordered held pending trial by a judge.
After the hearing, Ibrahim told reporters that Ms Ramirez was "distraught" about being separated from her young son and that her family was unable to travel from Colorado to see her. The child is being held by child protective services, he said.
Ms Ramirez had returned to the United States to "clear her name," Mr Ibrahim said. He also said he planned explore questions about her mental state at the time of the alleged activities.
Another American, Colleen LaRose who is also known as 'Jihad Jane', was charged last month with plotting to kill the Swedish man, Lars Vilks, and using the Internet to enlist co-conspirators.
Ms LaRose had also boasted that appearance - a blond-haired white woman - would help her blend in and avoid detection by authorities, prosecutors had charged. She has pleaded not guilty to the charges in federal court in Philadelphia.
Two men in Ireland have been charged over the alleged plot to murder Vilks. His drawing offended many Muslims and an Iraqi group linked to al Qaeda in 2007 had offered a $100,000 reward for his murder.
The indictment against Ms Ramirez unsealed on Friday said she traded e-mail messages with LaRose last year and was invited to attend a training camp in Europe.
Ms Ramirez went to Europe in September with her young son "with the intent to live and train with jihadists," the indictment said. The day Ms Ramirez arrived she married an unnamed co-conspirator whom she had never met in person, it said.
Her parents had told Reuters previously that their daughter had converted to Islam last year, married an Algerian man, and had been lured to Europe by online extremists.
Reuters