Posted on 02/21/2006 10:00:52 AM PST by presidio9
A federal grand jury has indicted three Ohio men on terrorism charges alleging they plotted to kill U.S. and coalition military personnel in Iraq and other countries.
The three men were arrested over the weekend and were to be arraigned in federal courts in Cleveland and Toledo on Tuesday afternoon, said Assistant U.S. Attorney David Bauer.
According to the indictment unsealed Monday, the three suspects recruited others to train for a violent holy war against the United States and its allies in Iraq.
The indictment says they traveled together to a shooting range to practice shooting guns and studied how to make explosives.
The indictment alleges that one of the men, Mohammad Zaki Amawi, twice threatened to kill or inflict bodily harm against President Bush while speaking with others.
Prosecutors say the plot began in November 2004.
Amawi is a citizen of Jordan and the U.S.
The others are Marwan Othman El-Hindi, a U.S. citizen born in Jordan; and Wassim I. Mazloum, who came to the U.S. from Lebanon in 2000.
(Excerpt) Read more at cnn.com ...
I started a live thread and the mods killed it.
I didn't know that! Thanks for that information.
Amawi is a citizen of Jordan and the U.S.
Been to a Gold Star Chili of late ? everytime you do you support jordanians who know where it ends up from there !
The mods are very busy today.
CNN: Waiting for AG Alberto Gonzales momentarily.
Presser has started. One need only hear the names of the three indicted to know they are Muslims.
AG: Defendants have been living in the US and engaging in weapons training. All three have manufactured IED's.
One of them engaged in construction of timing devices and his aim, he said, was to target US assets.
AG: Three defendants educated themselves on how to make suicide bomb vests and plastic explosives and carried out their own training exercises. One sought mortar training and provided material support including money, computers and personnel to co-conspirators in the Middle East.
The used their business to justify travel to Iraq and a dummy corporation to raise $$ for jihad.
Downloaded a web site on how to use suicide bomb vests and passe dinformation on to another individual.
One of them also threatened bodily harm against the President of the United States. Life sentences possible.
See my comments below for a partial transcript.
FBI spokesperson: (John Pistole) We remain committed to protecting Americans. Enhanced intelligence capabilities have helped achieve victories to defend the country.
They will take questions at the end of the presser.
Re#25 Perhaps. I would hope the DOJ knows...
These are not Ohio men, no matter what their papers purport. They are Mohammedans currently resident in Ohio.
Be Ever Vigilant!
L
http://www.investigativeproject.org/1469/terror-cases-share-desire-to-kill-americans
“Terror Cases Share Desire to Kill Americans”
IPT News
October 21, 2009
http://www.investigativeproject.org/documents/case_docs/1100.pdf
#
Note: Photos included.
http://www.toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20091021/NEWS02/910210355
Article published October 21, 2009
“Second man sentenced to 12 years in prison in Toledo terrorism case”
By ERICA BLAKE
BLADE STAFF WRITER
SNIPPET: “A second Toledo-area man, Marwan El-Hindi, was sentenced to 12 years in prison Wednesday afternoon in U.S. District Court, following the morning’s 20-year sentence of Mohammad Amawi.
Both could have faced life in prison.
El-Hindi also was sentenced to an additional 1 1/2 years in prison on an unrelated theft and fraud conviction in which he and another man conspired to take $40,000 from the government. This sentence also carries a $20,000 fine.
In addition to their prison time, Judge James Carr ordered both Amawi and El-Hindi to supervised release for the rest of their lives.”
UPDATE:
October 22, 2009
http://cleveland.fbi.gov/dojpressrel/pressrel09/cl102209.htm
Three Sentenced for Conspiring to Commit Terrorist Acts Against Americans Overseas
WASHINGTON—Three Ohio residents, Mohammad Zaki Amawi, 29, Marwan Othman El-Hindi, 46, and Wassim I. Mazloum, 28, have been sentenced to prison terms ranging from more than eight years to 20 years for conspiring to commit terrorist acts against Americans overseas, including U.S. military personnel in Iraq, and other terrorism-related violations.
The sentences, which were handed down yesterday by U.S. District Court Chief Judge James G. Carr in the Northern District of Ohio, were announced by David Kris, Assistant Attorney General for National Security; Stephen M. Dettelbach, U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Ohio; and C. Frank Figliuzzi, Special Agent in Charge, Cleveland Division of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).
Judge Carr sentenced Amawi to a term of 20 years’ incarceration followed by life on supervised release. El-Hindi was sentenced to a term of 13 years’ incarceration, including 12 years for the terror violations and 18 months for a separate fraud conviction. Mazloum received a sentence of 100 months’ or 8.3 years’ incarceration followed by life on supervised release.
In February 2007, Amawi, El-Hindi, and Mazloum were charged in a superseding indictment with conspiring to kill or maim persons outside the United States, including U.S. military personnel serving in Iraq, and conspiring to provide material support to terrorists. Amawi and El-Hindi were also charged individually with distributing information regarding the manufacture or use of explosives, including suicide bomb vests and Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs).
On June 13, 2008, a jury convicted the defendants on all counts. Amawi, a citizen of Jordan and the United States, and El Hindi, a naturalized U.S. citizen born in Jordan, were each convicted of one count of conspiring to kill or maim persons outside the United States, one count of conspiring to provide material support to terrorists, and two counts of distributing information on explosives. Mazloum, a U.S. legal permanent resident from Lebanon, was convicted of one count of conspiring to kill or maim persons outside the United States and one count of conspiring to provide material support to terrorists. The convictions represented the nation’s first successful trial of a “homegrown terror cell” for terrorism related crimes.
At trial, the government proved that all three defendants engaged in a conspiracy, beginning sometime prior to June 2004, to kill or maim persons outside the United States, including U.S. armed forces personnel in Iraq. As part of the conspiracy, the defendants conducted firearms training and accessed and copied instructions in the construction and use of explosives— including IEDs and suicide bomb vests. In addition, the defendants conspired to recruit others to participate in jihad training; researched and solicited funding sources for such training; and proposed sites for training in firearms, explosives and hand-to-hand combat to prospective recruits.
The government also proved that all defendants conspired to provide material support and resources, including personnel, money, explosives and laptop computers, to terrorists, including a co-conspirator in the Middle East, who had requested such materials for use against U.S. and coalition forces in Iraq. For example, among other activities, Amawi communicated with a contact in the Middle East on chemical explosives and traveled to Jordan in August 2005 with laptop computers intended for delivery to mujahideen “brothers.”
The government also proved that Amawi knowingly distributed a guide describing the step-by-step process for manufacturing chemical explosive compounds, as well as a video entitled, “Martyrdom Operation Vest Preparation,” which described the step-by-step construction and use of a suicide bomb vest. Amawi distributed these materials with the intent that they be used for training others to commit a crime of violence, including the killing of U.S. nationals overseas.
The government further proved that El-Hindi knowingly distributed a slide show demonstrating the preparation and use of IEDs against apparent U.S. military vehicles and personnel, as well as the video entitled “Martyrdom Operation Vest Preparation.” El-Hindi distributed these materials with the intent that they be used for training others to commit a crime of violence, including the killing of U.S. nationals overseas.
Assistant Attorney General Kris, U.S. Attorney Dettelbach and Special Agent in Charge Figliuzzi thanked the many different agencies that worked on this case. The investigation was conducted by the FBI and the Joint Terrorism Task Force in Toledo, Ohio, with support from the FBI in Chicago, and with the assistance of the Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigation Division; the U.S. Secret Service; U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement; the Drug Enforcement Administration; the Ohio Highway Patrol; the Toledo Police Department; and the Lucas and Wood County Sheriff’s Departments.
This case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Thomas E. Getz and Justin E. Herdman of the National Security Unit of the U.S Attorney’s Office in Cleveland, as well Assistant U.S. Attorneys Gregg N. Sofer of the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Austin, Texas, and Assistant U.S. Attorney David I. Miller of the U.S. Attorney’s Office in New York, (both formerly of the Justice Department’s Counterterrorism Section) and Trial Attorney Jerome J. Teresinski of the Justice Department’s Counterterrorism Section. The U.S. Attorney’s office in Detroit also provided assistance in this case.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.