Bosnia. He states he "very briefly" joined the Bosnian Army Foreign Volunteer Force: "In Bosnia, I did fight for a while. But I saw people horribly damaged, and I thought, This is not for me". Begg first met Khalil Deek in Bosnia. Begg also tried to travel to Chechnya, in the early 1990s during its war with Russia. While he thought that "fighting wasn't out of the question," he says that he did not participate in the armed struggle, but did give financial support to the foreign fighters. In 1994, Begg was arrested charged with conspiracy to defraud the Department of Social Security. His friend and fellow "Lynx Gang" member Syed Murad Meah Butt was also charged, pleaded guilty, and served 18 months in jail. The fraud charges against Begg were dropped for lack of evidence. A search of his home by anti-terrorist police, at the time of the 1994 arrest, reportedly found night vision goggles, a flak jacket, and "extremist Islamic literature". Other items found included a hand-held night vision lens. Begg insisted that the goggles and flak jacket were from his charity work in Bosnia and Chechnya and denied owning any "extremist Islamic literature" and noted the items seized were identical to those that many aid workers operating in conflict zones carry. His father said Begg had been collecting military paraphernalia as a hobby since childhood. In 2005, after Begg's detention at Guantanamo became public knowledge, the US Justice Department alleged he had "received extensive training in al-Qaeda terrorist camps since 1993". Pentagon officials said that Begg trained at three terrorist camps associated with al-Qaeda. While at the training camps, he reportedly trained to use handguns, AK-47 rifles, and RPGs and to plan ambushes. The statement identified Begg as "a member of al-Qaeda and affiliated organisations," who was "engaged in hostilities against the United States and its coalition partners" in Afghanistan and said he "provided support to al-Qaeda terrorists, by providing shelter for their families while the al-Qaeda terrorists committed terrorist acts". Begg has denied all these charges, saying that he has "never planned, aided or participated in any attacks against Westerners". Marriage and move to Pakistan In 1995, Begg married, and in early 1998, he and his new family moved to Peshawar, Pakistan. An American counterterrorism official claimed that the CIA and MI5 suspected Begg had worked with Khalil Deek, who also lived in Peshawar at that