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Man arrested for Christmas ceremony bomb plot
Source: Agencies |
November 29, 2010, Monday
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A SOMALI-born student has been arrested after telling an undercover FBI agent in August at a Portland, Oregon hotel in the United States he had found the ideal location for a terrorist attack: the city's Christmas tree lighting ceremony, and trying to carry out the?attack.
Mohamed Osman Mohamud told the agent that he had dreamed of carrying out an attack for years, and the city's Pioneer Courthouse Square would be packed with thousands, "a huge mass that will ... be attacked in with their families celebrating the holidays," said an affidavit.
On Friday, Mohamud parked what he thought was a bomb-laden van near the ceremony and then went to a nearby train station, where he dialed a cell phone that he believed would detonate the vehicle. Instead, federal authorities moved in and arrested him. No one was hurt.
The case is the latest in a string of alleged terrorist plots by US citizens or residents, including one at Times Square in which a Pakistan-born man pleaded guilty earlier this year to trying to set off a car bomb.
Officials said Mohamud had no formal ties to foreign terror groups, although he had reached out to suspected terrorists in Pakistan.
Authorities have not explained how a young Muslim man described by friends as an average university student who drank an occasional beer and hung out with fraternity friends became so radicalized.
FBI agents say they began investigating after receiving a tip from an unidentified person who expressed concern about Mohamud.
At 15, he told undercover agents, he made a prayer for guidance, "about whether I should ... go, you know, and make jihad in a different country or to make an operation here."
Mohamud graduated from high school in Beaverton, although few details of his time there were available Saturday. He dropped out of Oregon State University in Corvallis on October 6, the school said. He hadn't declared a major.
Yosof Wanly, imam at the Salman Alfarisi Islamic Center in Corvallis, said Mohamud was a normal student who went to athletic events, drank the occasional beer and was into rap music and culture. He said Mohamud was religious but didn't come to the mosque consistently.
Officials have been working with Muslim leaders across the US, particularly with the Somali community, trying to combat the rise in radicalization.
Mohamed Osman Mohamud told the agent that he had dreamed of carrying out an attack for years, and the city's Pioneer Courthouse Square would be packed with thousands, "a huge mass that will ... be attacked in with their families celebrating the holidays," said an affidavit.
On Friday, Mohamud parked what he thought was a bomb-laden van near the ceremony and then went to a nearby train station, where he dialed a cell phone that he believed would detonate the vehicle. Instead, federal authorities moved in and arrested him. No one was hurt.
The case is the latest in a string of alleged terrorist plots by US citizens or residents, including one at Times Square in which a Pakistan-born man pleaded guilty earlier this year to trying to set off a car bomb.
Officials said Mohamud had no formal ties to foreign terror groups, although he had reached out to suspected terrorists in Pakistan.
Authorities have not explained how a young Muslim man described by friends as an average university student who drank an occasional beer and hung out with fraternity friends became so radicalized.
FBI agents say they began investigating after receiving a tip from an unidentified person who expressed concern about Mohamud.
At 15, he told undercover agents, he made a prayer for guidance, "about whether I should ... go, you know, and make jihad in a different country or to make an operation here."
Mohamud graduated from high school in Beaverton, although few details of his time there were available Saturday. He dropped out of Oregon State University in Corvallis on October 6, the school said. He hadn't declared a major.
Yosof Wanly, imam at the Salman Alfarisi Islamic Center in Corvallis, said Mohamud was a normal student who went to athletic events, drank the occasional beer and was into rap music and culture. He said Mohamud was religious but didn't come to the mosque consistently.
Officials have been working with Muslim leaders across the US, particularly with the Somali community, trying to combat the rise in radicalization.
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