Posted on 08/06/2007 3:57:01 PM PDT by mdittmar
MONCKS CORNER, S.C. (AP) - Two men found with several pipe bombs in their car near a Navy base were charged Monday with possession of an explosive device, authorities said.
A joint state-federal investigation was under way to see whether there was any terrorism connection but no link had been found yet, said FBI spokeswoman Denise Taiste. The Navy base is the site of a brig where enemy combatants have been held.
Ahmed Abda Sherf Mohamed, 24, and Yousef Samir Megahed, 21, both students at the University of South Florida in Tampa, were driving through the area on Saturday to vacation at a North Carolina beach for Mohamed's birthday, their defense attorney said.
"They admitted to having what they said were fireworks. Based on the officer's judgment at hand, based on what he had seen, we judged it to be other than fireworks," Berkeley County Sheriff Wayne DeWitt said.
Mohamed, 24, said he made pipe bombs from items he bought at Wal-Mart, according to an affidavit with his arrest warrant.
Defense attorney, Dennis Rhoad, said the men have a reason for having the devices and it would become clear in later court hearings.
"The defendants deny the allegations the state and the sheriff have made against them," Rhoad said.
Prosecutor Scarlett Wilson asked for high bond, which was set at $500,000 for Mohamed and $300,000 for Megahed, because she said the men were dangerous and a risk to flee.
Mohamed is a native of Kuwait and Megahed is Egyptian, the sheriff said. Both are in the country legally.
Before details about the pipe bombs were released, the executive director of a civil rights organization for Muslims in Tampa criticized the arrest as racial profiling, an accusation South Carolina police denied.
"Definitely this is not related to terrorism," said Ahmed Bedier of the Council on American-Islamic Relations.
"Had these been two good ol' boys from South Carolina driving through and speeding—and even if they did have some fireworks—nobody would have been arrested," Bedier said.
The two men were stopped for speeding Saturday night on U.S. Highway 176 near Goose Creek, which is the site of the Naval Weapons Station and houses the U.S. Naval Consolidated Brig, a military prison where enemy combatants have been held.
They were heading west, away from Goose Creek, when they were pulled over about seven miles from the sprawling Navy facility, police said.
Officers became suspicious because the men quickly put away a laptop computer and couldn't immediately say what they were doing in the area or where they were going, DeWitt said.
A deputy then found what he thought were explosives in the 2000 Toyota Camry and called the bomb squad. Technicians confirmed the devices were pipe bombs and destroyed them, according to sworn statements in the arrest warrants.
Authorities closed a mile-long stretch of the highway Saturday night and didn't reopen it until about 4 a.m. Sunday.
University spokesman Ken Gullette said Mohamed is a civil engineering graduate student who came to the school in January. He earned his undergraduate degree in Cairo and was in the country on a student visa.
Megahed, who has permanent resident status in the United States, is an undergraduate and has been at the university since 2004, but has not declared a major, Gullette said.
Neither has ever been arrested by campus police or disciplined by the university, Gullette said. Both were enrolled in classes this summer. Gullette said the university is cooperating with authorities.
If convicted of the felony charge, the men would face from two to 15 years in prison.
Goose Creek, with a population of about 30,000, is about 20 miles north of Charleston.
___
Associated Press writers Katrina A. Goggins in Columbia and Mitch Stacy in Tampa contributed to this report.
(This version CORRECTS the charge the men face to possession of an explosive device instead of posession of an incendiary device.)
Mosque-itos...
I can't wait to hear this one.
Explosives Found Near Goose Creek SC; FBI on Scene
Posted by Milwaukee_Guy
On News/Activism 08/04/2007 7:47:14 PM PDT · 177 replies · 6,078+ views
ABC News 4 ^ | Saturday August 4, 2007 | Milwaukee_Guy
Earth to Ahmed: The rules are different for young male Arab nationals and good ol' boys from South Carolina. And how the h*!! would you know that this is "definitely" not related to terrorism? Is it because the real terrorists keep you apprised of every detail of their activities, since you're one of them?
“Ahmed Abda Sherf Mohamed, 24, and Yousef Samir Megahed, 21”
Yeah..no worries! Just a couple of average Joes...gee, they sound like blond Mormon Greenlanders! No problem...everyone goes on vacation to NC beaches with pipe bombs now. It’s the thing to do!
Criminy! Sarc.
Are we at war or not? What nation in it's right mind allows immigration from Islamic states when the terrorists who hate our gutts are almost exclusively made up of Islamacists? CAIR has certain done it's work.
We only had these devices in our possession to kill non-believers!
Names: Mohamed & Megahed
Cult: Islam
Possession: pipe bombs
If it smells like an Islamist.....
A joint state-federal investigation was under way to see whether there was any terrorism connection but no link had been found...
Ahmed Abda Sherf Mohamed, 24, and Yousef Samir Megahed, 21...
ARE THE AUTHORITIES BLIND? THERE’S A LINK RIGHT THERE.
yeah, I mean is there any conceivable legit reason for possession of a pipe bomb,,hey maybe they are studying explosives 101.
If your name is Mohamed or Megahed and you are from the ME and you are a Muslim, it is very bad form to be traveling around any part of the United States with things that explode or could be made into bombs. Stupidity is not a defense and the Council on American-Islamic Relations can go fly a kite. We know GOBs when we see them and ya’ll ain’t it..........!
Including the active ingredients?
Nations that go out of their way to show how "enlightened" they are and elevate political correctness above national security are never in their right mind.
Reason? Fishing?
Couldn’t agree more...
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