Tashfeen Malik is pictured in this undated handout photo provided by the FBI, December 4, 2015. REUTERS/FBI/Handout via Reuters

By Mehreen Zahra-Malik

ISLAMABAD (Reuters) - Tashfeen Malik's path to accused mass killer in California began in a small city on the Indus River in Pakistan's Punjab province.

It was from here, when she was a toddler, that she moved with her father Gulzar 25 years ago to Saudi Arabia, where he became more deeply religious, more conservative and more hardline, according to a family member.

A picture slowly emerged on Friday of the role and possible motivations of 27-year-old Malik in this week's killing of 14 people in California, including her apparent pledge of allegiance to the leader of the Islamic State militant group, according to U.S. officials.

Malik, with her husband Syed Rizwan Farook, 28, is accused of storming a holiday party on Wednesday in San Bernardino, California, and opening fire in America's worst mass shooting in three years.

The intensive search for clues, extending to Pakistan and Saudi Arabia, could help U.S. investigators piece together what drove Malik and her husband to leave their infant daughter with his mother, don assault-style clothing and carry out the shooting.

Malik, who entered the United States on a fiancée visa, and Farook, the son of immigrant parents from Pakistan who had worked as a health inspector, were killed in a shootout with police just hours after the attack.

View gallery

Weapons confiscated from Wednesday's attack in San Bernardino, California are shown in this San …

U.S. investigators were evaluating evidence that Malik, a Pakistani native who had been living in Saudi Arabia when she married Farook, had pledged allegiance to Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, two U.S. government sources said. They said the finding, if confirmed, could be a "game changer" in the probe.

CNN reported that one U.S. official said Malik had made the pledge to al-Baghdadi in a posting on Facebook on Wednesday, the day of the attack, under an account that used a different name.

Though large information gaps remain, it appeared to be the strongest evidence so far that the attack may have been inspired by Islamic State. But U.S. government sources said there was no sign that it had been directed by the militant group, which has seized swathes of Syria and Iraq and claimed the deadly Nov. 13 attacks in Paris.

FATHER BECAME "CONSERVATIVE AND HARDLINE"

Two Pakistani officials said Malik was from Karor Lal Esan, a city on the west coast of the Indus River in southern Punjab province. She moved to Saudi Arabia with her father, an engineer, 25 years ago, they said.

She returned home five or six years ago to study at Bahauddin Zakariya University in Multan to become a pharmacist, they said.

View gallery

Syed Rizwan Farook is pictured in his California driver's license, in this undated handout provi …

The area in Punjab where she spent her early years and later went to university is a “recruitment ground” and stronghold of Islamist groups with ties to al Qaeda, said Husain Haqqani, a former Pakistani ambassador to the United States. Among the militant groups with a presence there is Lashkar-e-Taiba, which has been blamed for the November 2008 killing spree in the Indian financial capital of Mumbai.

"Our brother changed a lot since he went to Saudi," Malik's uncle, Javed Rabbani, said of Malik's father. "When relatives visited him, they would come back and tell us how conservative and hardline he had become," he said in an interview with Reuters.

A source close to the Saudi government said that during Malik’s time in Saudi Arabia nothing came to authorities’ attention there that suggested she was involved with radical Islamic groups. Malik was not on any Saudi law enforcement or intelligence watchlist, the source said.

Malik's father, Gulzar, had built a house in Multan, where he stays when he visits Pakistan, according to another uncle, Malik Anwaar.

He said Gulzar had a falling-out long ago with the rest of the family, citing a dispute over a house among other matters. “We are completely estranged,” Anwaar said.

Rabbani said he had been contacted by Pakistani intelligence as part of the investigation into the San Bernardino shooting.

Malik had two brothers and two sisters and was related to Ahmed Ali Aulak, a former provincial minister, the Pakistani officials said.

The exact circumstances of how Farook and Malik met remained unclear but they had apparently been married for two years. The Federal Bureau of Investigation said Malik was in the United States on a visa under a Pakistani passport.

While Farook had an active presence online, Malik's digital footprint is harder to trace. A Facebook profile established under an alias by Malik was removed by the company for violating its community standards, which prohibit praise or promotion of “acts of terror," a spokesman said on Friday.

But her name was attached to a gift registry for their baby hosted by the website TheBump.com. According to the registry, Malik's baby had been due on May 17.

Just hours before the couple opened fire on Farook’s co-workers in a government building in San Bernardino, they had dropped off their daughter at his mother’s house, telling her they had a doctor’s appointment.

(Additional reporting by Idrees Ali, Warren Strobel and Jonathan Landay in Washington; Writing by Matt Spetalnick; Editing by Bill Trott, Will Dunham, Toni Reinhold)

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Just days after two Muslims were accused of gunning down 14 people in California, a Reuters/Ipsos poll shows 51 percent of Americans view Muslims living in the United States the same as any other community, while 14.6 percent are generally fearful.

In the first poll on views of Muslim Americans taken in the aftermath of the Paris and San Bernardino attacks, much of the division is partisan. Among Democrats, 60 percent said they view Muslims like any other community, compared with 30 percent of Republicans.

How Americans should treat Muslims, both those already living in the United States and those seeking to come to the country as refugees, became a divisive topic after Islamic State claimed credit for killing 130 people in Paris and a Muslim couple is believed to have slaughtered 14 people and wounded 21 others in California.

Amaney Jamal, a politics professor at Princeton, said it's "healthy" to see the majority positively viewing Muslims, but cautioned about growing fears.

“If terrorism is designed to create a larger gap between Muslims and Westerners, unfortunately they’re succeeding,” Jamal said. “The threat of terror is going to be fought by Muslims and non-Muslims together. You would like to see those gaps close so people are working together and not being fearful.”

Of the 1,056 likely voters across the nation polled online on Thursday and Friday, 34.7 percent said they are fearful of “a few groups and individuals” in the Muslim community.

Muslim American Woman Scared to Wear Hijab in Publ …Play video

The poll has a credibility interval of 3.4 percentage points for all Americans and about 5.5 percentage points when looking at just Republican or Democratic responses.

Republicans were more likely than Democrats to support closely monitoring mosques (64 percent compared with 43 percent) or closing ones with suspected extremist ties (69 percent to 48 percent).

Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump drew criticism when he said he would be willing to close mosques where extremists practiced and that a database of all Muslims should be created.

“There still is very much a political divide in each of these responses,” said Lori Peek, a sociology professor at Colorado State and author of the 2011 book “Behind the Backlash: Muslim Americans After 9/11.” “Democrats and the independents are looking more similar, and they generally are more tolerant.”

Many voters said they agree that Muslims are less willing to assimilate than other immigrant groups.

Muslim community reacts to San Bernardino attackPlay video

Peek said numerous studies have found that Muslims are more successful at integrating into American society -- obtaining education, voting regularly and living in diverse neighbors -- than any other immigrant group.

Many Americans said they believe Muslims are more likely to put their own religion above the law -- a point that echoes critics' insistence that Islamic sharia law is being forced upon non-believers. Forty-nine percent said Muslims put religion above the law, compared with 33 percent who thought the same of Christians and 23 percents of Jews.

Those polled also expressed disagreement that American Muslims are doing enough to report possible extremists, with 23 percent saying they believe that potential risks are being reported.

Ibrahim Hooper, spokesman for the Center for Islamic-American Relations, said while he is pleased that the majority of Americans view his religion positively, he is concerned by the continued minority that holds anti-Islamic views.

“We are seeing I think a more toxic anti-Muslim environment or atmosphere than we have seen since 9/11,” Hooper said. “In some ways it’s worse because it’s been mainstreamed by public figures like Donald Trump or Ben Carson so it’s seen as a natural, normal kind of thing.”

(Reporting by Ginger Gibson and Chris Kahn; Editing by Lisa Shumaker)

Associated Press Videos
Details Emerge in Suspects' Online Activity

SAN BERNARDINO, Calif. (AP) — The Pakistani woman who joined her U.S.-born husband in killing 14 people in a commando-style assault on his co-workers is now at the center of a massive FBI terrorism investigation, yet she remains shrouded in mystery.

The FBI acknowledges knowing little about Tashfeen Malik. Those who attended mosque with her husband, Syed Farook, said they know nearly nothing of her. Even Farook's mother, who lived with the couple and their 6-month-old daughter, knows little, according to attorneys for Farook's family.

The lawyers on Friday described the 27-year-old as "just a housewife" who was quiet like her husband and strictly followed Muslim custom. She wore traditional clothing that covered her face so her male relatives didn't even know what she looked like, according to the lawyers who represent Farook's mother and three siblings.

Authorities say she ditched the Muslim garb for a combat-style outfit Wednesday, when she and Farook attacked a training session and holiday luncheon in San Bernardino. A few hours later, they were killed in a shootout with police.

The FBI announced Friday it is investigating the mass shooting as an act of terrorism. If proven to be terrorism, it would be the deadliest attack by Islamic extremists on American soil since Sept. 11, 2001. A U.S. law enforcement official said Malik used a Facebook alias to pledge her allegiance to the Islamic State group and its leader just before the shootings.

FBI Director James Comey would not discuss whether anyone affiliated with IS communicated back, but he said there was no indication yet that the plot was directed by any other foreign terror group.

Attorneys: Family of Shooting Suspects 'Shocke …Play video

"The investigation so far has developed indications of radicalization by the killers and of potential inspiration by foreign terrorist organizations," Comey said. He cautioned that the investigation has not yet shown evidence the couple was part of a larger group.

Despite signs of the couple's radicalization, there "is a lot of evidence that doesn't quite make sense" at this early stage, he said.

The Farook family attorneys, Chesley and Mohammad Abuershaid, said none of his relatives had any indication either Farook or his wife held extremist views.

"If the most evidence there is to any affiliation is a Facebook account under another person's name ... then that's hardly anything at all," Chesley said.

He and Abuershaid said the family was shocked by the attack and mourns for the victims. They cautioned against rushing to judgment on their motivations.

Landlord Opens Home of Calif. Shooting SuspectsPlay video

David Bowdich, head of the FBI's Los Angeles office, said "a number of pieces of evidence" point to terrorism and that the agency was focused on that idea "for good reason." He would not elaborate.

Bowdich said investigators were looking carefully to determine if there is a connection to IS.

In Pakistan, a relative of Malik says she apparently became a more zealous follower of the Muslim faith about three years ago.

Hifza Batool told The Associated Press on Saturday that other relatives have said that Malik, who was her step-niece, used to wear Western clothes but began wearing the hijab head covering or the all-covering burqa donned by the most conservative Muslim women about three years ago.

"I recently heard it from relatives that she has become a religious person and she often tells people to live according to the teachings of Islam," said Batool, 35, a private school teacher who lives in Karor Lal Esam, about 450 kilometers (280 miles) southwest of the Pakistani capital of Islamabad.

Female Attacker Had Pledged Allegiance to ISPlay video

A Facebook official said Malik praised Islamic State in a post at 11 a.m. Wednesday, around the time the couple stormed a social service center where Farook's co-workers from San Bernardino County's health department had gathered.

An Islamic State-affiliated news service called Malik and Farook "supporters" of their Islamist cause but stopped short of claiming responsibility for the attack.

The U.S. official who revealed the Facebook post was not authorized to discuss the case publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity. The Facebook official, who also spoke on condition of anonymity because the person was not allowed under corporate policy to be quoted by name, said the company discovered Wednesday's post the next day, removed the profile from public view and reported its contents to law enforcement.

Farook and Malik rented a townhome in Redlands, a few miles from the attack scene, where investigators said they found an arsenal of ammunition and homemade bombs.

On Friday morning, the property's owner allowed reporters inside. The surreal scene — reporters walking among baby items, handling family photos and looking at dirty dishes in a sink — was broadcast live on cable TV.

View gallery

This undated combination of photos provided by the FBI, left, and the California Department of Motor …

While it appeared unseemly, Bowdich said the FBI had finished investigating the home. Among things authorities had found were two cellphones that had been crushed in an apparent attempt to destroy the information inside. Investigators were trying to retrieve the data.

"We hope that will take us to their motivation," Bowdich said.

Until Friday, federal and local law enforcement officials said terrorism was a possibility but that the violence could have stemmed from a workplace grudge. The Farook family attorneys said he told relatives he had been teased at work about his beard.

They described Malik as a devoted home-keeper who closely followed religious traditions. They said Farook's mother never saw any of the weapons or bombs authorities found. The FBI questioned her Wednesday night and, according to the attorneys, said they would not release her until Farook's siblings came for questioning.

The couple's orphaned daughter is in the care of child protective services and the family will try to recover her next week.

View gallery

Chaplain Chuck Bender, right, prays with Michael Davila at a makeshift memorial honoring the victims …

Farook had no criminal record, and neither he nor his wife was under scrutiny by local or federal law enforcement before the attack, authorities said.

Malik, 27, reportedly moved from her home country of Pakistan to Saudi Arabia and eventually came to the U.S. in 2014 on a fiancée visa. However, Saudi authorities say there is no record of her ever being a resident there.

Farook, a restaurant inspector for the county, was born in Chicago to Pakistani parents and raised in Southern California.

Farook went to the Dar Al Uloom Al Islamiyah of America mosque in San Bernardino every day but abruptly stopped coming three weeks ago. While many members said they knew Farook and described him as quiet and very studious, "no one knows anything about his wife," said Mahmood Nadvi, son of the mosque's founder.

Nadvi said FBI agents have questioned the mosque's leaders about the couple.

View gallery

Kareema Abdul-Khabir, who teaches special needs students at an elementary school in Barstow, Calif., …

Law enforcement officials have long warned that Americans acting in sympathy with Islamic extremists — though not on direct orders — could launch an attack inside the U.S. Using slick propaganda, the Islamic State in particular has urged sympathizers worldwide to commit violence in their countries.

Others have done so. In May, just before he attacked a gathering in Texas of people drawing cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad, a Phoenix man tweeted his hope that Allah would view him as a holy warrior.

Two weeks ago, with Americans on edge over the Islamic State attacks in Paris that left 130 people dead, Comey said that U.S. authorities had no specific or credible intelligence pointing to an attack on American soil.

Since March 2014, 71 people have been charged in the U.S. in connection with supporting IS, including 56 this year, according to a recent report from the George Washington University Program on Extremism. Though most are men, "women are taking an increasingly prominent role in the jihadist world," the report said.

___

Contributing to this report were Associated Press writers Tami Abdollah, Ken Dilanian and Eric Tucker in Washington; Zarar Khan in Islamabad, Pakistan; Asim Tanveer in Karor Lal Esam, Pakistan; Brian Skoloff in Redlands, California; Kimberly Pierceall in San Bernardino, California; Lee Keath in Cairo, Egypt; and Gillian Flaccus, Christine Armario, Sue Manning and Justin Pritchard in Los Angeles.