The ESL Free Press

Christmas Tree Bombing Stopped

A Somali-American teen is charged with trying to bomb a Christmas ceremony in Portland, Oregon, on Friday as an act of jihad (Muslim religious war).

The charges say Mohamed Osman Mohamud planned to set off a car bomb at a gathering where a Christmas tree would be lit up for the holidays.

Mohamud is 19. He was born in Somalia and later became an American citizen. FBI agents say he told them he started thinking of violent jihad when he was 15.

In 2009, the charges say, Mohamud began emailing a man in Pakistan about joining in jihad. FBI agents, posing as jihadis, got in touch with Mohamud. They say he asked them to help him plan an explosion.

The agents say they helped Mohamud build a fake bomb and "set it off". Then they arrested him.

The FBI agents say they gave Mohamud chances to drop his plans. They reminded him there would be many children at the ceremony. They said they would not look down on him if he changed his mind. But, they say, Mohamud said he wanted to attack people who were spending the holidays with their families.

source

printable:Download Christmas Tree Bombing Stopped, FBI Says.pdf (21.6K)

Terrorist Found Guilty by Civilian Court

Ahmed Khalfan Ghailani was found guilty on Wednesday of taking part in bombing the American Embassies in Kenya and Tanzania in 1998. Ghailani, a Tanzanian, was tried in a New York court. He is the first prisoner from Guantanamo to have this instead of a military trial.

Ghailani was found guilty only of plotting to destroy the Embassies. He had also been charged with 224 counts of murder, one for each of the people killed in the bombings. But he was not found guilty of these.

At the trial, the jury learned that Ghailani had bought the truck and the explosive gases for one of the bombings. The attacks were carried out by suicide bombers.

The day before the attacks, Ghailani left Africa for Pakistan. He used a fake passport. Two other Al-Qaeda members went with him.

source

printable:Download Terrorist Found Guilty by Civilian Court.pdf (22.0K)

Arms Dealing Suspect Taken to U.S. for Terrorism Charges

Viktor Bout, a Russian, has been extradited (sent for trial) from Thailand to the U.S. He is charged with planning to sell weapons to terrorists.

The charges say Bout was an international arms dealer. He had a fleet of planes and sold weapons all over the world. They included missile systems and aircraft.

In March 2008, the charges say, Bout met with two people who asked him to sell weapons to the Colombian terrorist group FARC. The two were actually working with the U.S. government's Drug Enforcement Administration. (The DEA was involved because FARC is also the world's largest supplier of cocaine.)

The meeting was secretly recorded. The charges say Bout :

• offered to sell weapons and aircraft to FARC
• offered to send trainers to teach members to use the weapons
• said he supported FARC in its fight against the U.S.

He was arrested by Thai police after the meeting.

Since he is accused of plotting to harm Americans, there are charges against him in the U.S.

source

printable:Download Arms Dealing Suspect Taken to U.S. for Terrorism Charges.pdf (21.6K)

Terrorist Supporter's Wife Pleads Guilty

The wife of Zachary Chesser, who pleaded guilty to trying to support terrorism, has pleaded guilty herself. She admits she lied to the government about her husband's plans.

Proscovia Kampire Nzabanita is from Uganda. She now lives in the U.S. and is married to Chesser. She and her husband tried to go to Somalia in 2009, so he could fight in a jihad (Muslim holy war). But they couldn't go because her mother wouldn't give Ms. Nzabanita her passport. (Her mother suspected why they wanted to go.) Later, Ms. Nzabanita had a baby and couldn't travel.

Chesser tried again to go to Somalia. He told his wife to say he was going to Uganda to get a copy of her birth certificate. This is what she told a Secret Service agent who questioned her later.

Ms. Nzabanita also admits she had her baby son's new passport sent to a friend's house so her mother wouldn't find out about it. Also, she and her husband destroyed things in their apartment that might show what he planned to do.

She does not have to go to prison. But she will have to leave the U.S.

source

printable:Download Terrorist Supporter's Wife Pleads Guilty.pdf (21.0K)

 

Lone Offender in Lone Star State

The FBI says "lone offenders", who do not belong to any terrorist or criminal group, can still be very dangerous. They say the story of Hosam Smadi shows this.

Smadi was a Jordanian living in the U.S. He was only 19 when he tried to blow up a large building in Dallas, Texas. Smadi has been sent to prison for 24 years.

The FBI first noticed him posting on a radical Islamic site. Many people posted there, saying violence against Americans was good. But Smadi went further. He kept posting that he wanted to do something.

Smadi didn't belong to any terrorist group. He had become an extremist on his own. Online, he was looking for someone to teach him to build bombs.

The FBI could tell this was not an empty threat. It could have had Smadi deported, because his visa had expired. Instead, three FBI agents who spoke Arabic got in touch with him.

They posed as al-Qaeda members. Smadi wanted them to help him make "the next 9/11 attack". He wanted to destroy a tall building and kill thousands of people. Fountain Place, a large office building in Dallas, was chosen.

The agents built a fake bomb for Smadi. As soon as he had put it in the building, they met him -- and arrested him.

The FBI says there could still be many more like  him.

source

printable:Download Lone Offender in Lone Star State.pdf (20.0K)

 

 

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Plotting with the Wrong People

A man was arrested on Wednesday for planning to bomb the Metrorail train system in Washington, DC.

Farooque Ahmed believed he was working with al-Qaeda members, the charge says. But the people he saw were all part of an FBI investigation.

There was never any danger, the FBI says.

Ahmed is a U.S. citizen born in Pakistan. He is accused of taking pictures of Metrorail stations and planning the best times and places to put bombs on the trains.

source

printable:Download Plotting with the Wrong People.pdf (18.3K)

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Charged with Lying About Terrorism

Hameed Shehadeh, a U.S. citizen, has been charged with lying about things involving terrorism -- a trip he took to Pakistan, and his reasons for trying to join the U.S. Army.

Shehadeh is 21 and now lives in Hawaii. While living in New York, he traveled to Pakistan on a one-way ticket. But he was not allowed in. When Shehadeh went back to the U.S., police and the FBI questioned him many times about his trip. He said he had gone for a friend's wedding and a university visit. The charge says he meant to join the Taliban or a similar group.

Later, Shehadeh tried to join the U.S. Army. He was turned down because he did not tell about his trip to Pakistan. The charge says Shehadeh meant to go to Iraq with the Army, then desert and join Iraqi rebels.

source

printable:Download Charged with Lying About Terrorism.pdf (21.4K)

 

Pakistani Student Sentenced for Plans to Support Taliban

A Pakistani who went to the U.S. on a student visa has been sent to prison for 15 years. He has been found guilty of planning to send money to the Taliban, and illegally owning a gun.

Adan Mirza was living in Houston, Texas. He went to a community college. On weekends, he and others went camping to practice using guns. They were training for a jihad (Muslim war).

Mirza and the others planned to send money to the Taliban. He also had a gun, which is illegal for foreign students living in the U.S.

source

printable:Download Pakistani Student Sentenced for Plans to Support Taliban.pdf (19.3K)

Homegrown Jihad, Threats, and the Internet

Zachary Adam Chesser, age 20, pleaded guilty on Wednesday to trying to help a terrorist group. He also admits to threatening the writers of the TV show South Park and using the Internet to encourage jihad (Muslim holy war).

Chesser tried, twice, to go to Somalia to fight in a jihad. Once he took his baby son with him so he would look innocent. But he was not able to go either time.

He also posted on jihadist sites. He suggested readers should start leaving packages in public places. The packages would be harmless -- but after awhile, this would make people think any package was harmless. Then jihadis could leave a bomb in one.

Chesser also called for violence against the writers of South Park, who had made fun of Muhammad. He posted where to find them and said readers should "visit".

The U.S. Attorney says, “Zachary Chesser seriously endangered the lives of innocent people who will remain at risk for many years to come." He says homegrown jihadists like Chesser are a serious threat.

source

printable:Download Homegrown Jihad, Threats, and the Internet.pdf (20.3K)

 

 

 

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