Details are slowly trickling out about the five D.C.-area students arrested in Pakistan in the home of a Jaish-e-Muhammed (JeM) member. Newsweek cites a U.S. government source who "says there is now discussion between Pakistani and U.S. authorities as to whether the men should be sent quickly back to the U.S. or initially dealt with by Pakistan's legal system."

The Jawa Report, in picking the IPT's story, notes that it's the latest in a series of incidents involving MSA chapter presidents and extremism.

JeM is a Pakistani terrorist group created in 2000 that is believed to have had a hand in the 2001 attack on the Indian parliament. It seeks to unite Kashmir under Pakistani control and impose Islamic law while eliminating "Hindu and other non-Muslim presence on the sub-continent. JeM actively promotes jihad against the US and other nations for perceived violations of Muslim rights."

It also is known for providing training to potential jihadists from throughout the world.

"The U.S. and British governments have both acquired overwhelming evidence that 'homegrown' terror cells seeking instruction at 'real' terror training camps frequently end up at either facilities run by LET or JEM. JEM is essentially seen as an equal substitute for LET if the latter is unavailable," said terrorism analyst Evan Kohlmann, who frequently serves as a government expert witness in terror prosecutions.

For example, immigration officials deported a Colorado man in 2004 after he attended a JeM training camp. The indictment earlier this year of James Cromitie and three other men in a plot to bomb a Bronx synagogue and shoot down a National Guard airplane included an informant who posed as a JeM member. Cromitie allegedly told the informant that he would be interested in joining Jaish-e-Mohammed to "do jihad."

For more on the group, see the National Counterterrorism Center's profile here and the State Department's 2005 report on it here.