Somali get 10 years in Ohio bomb plot

COLUMBUS, Ohio - A judge on Tuesday sentenced a Somali immigrant to 10 years in prison for plotting to blow up an Ohio shopping mall with a man later convicted of being an al-Qaida terrorist.

Nuradin Abdi, a cell phone salesman before his arrest, will be deported to Somalia after serving the sentence. U.S. District Judge Algenon Marbley imposed the sentence as part of a plea deal Abdi agreed to in July.

In a 20-minute statement to the court, Abdi's attorney Mahir Sherif said his client apologized to the people of the United States, the people of Ohio and the Muslim community.

"He apologizes for the things he thought about and the things he talked about and the crimes he pleaded guilty to," Sherif said. "He wants to make it very, very clear that he does not hate America."

The alleged plot was never carried out and Sherif long maintained Abdi was guilty at most of ranting about the United States' handling of the war in Afghanistan.

Abdi pleaded guilty to one count of conspiring to provide material support for terrorists. Three charges were dropped as part of his plea deal; Abdi could have received 80 years in prison had he been convicted of all the counts he had faced.

Prosecutors said Abdi made threatening comments about the unspecified shopping mall during a meeting with two other alleged terrorists on Aug. 8, 2002, at a coffee shop in suburban Columbus.

Abdi and the two "could attack the mall with a bomb," Abdi told his friends as they sipped $11.25 in refreshments at the coffee shop, according to court documents.

One of the men with Abdi that day was Iyman Faris, who pleaded guilty in May 2003 to providing material support for terrorism. A Pakistani immigrant, Faris was convicted of plotting to destroy the Brooklyn Bridge and sentenced to 20 years in prison.

The third man alleged to be at the meeting is Christopher Paul, a U.S. citizen who grew up in suburban Columbus. He was charged in April with plotting to bomb European tourist resorts frequented by Americans as well as overseas U.S. military bases, and his trial is scheduled for January 2009.

Abdi was arrested in November 2003. His attorneys have said he was upset at the war in Afghanistan and reports of civilians killed in bombings by the U.S.-led invasion.

Prosecutors also say Abdi gave stolen credit card numbers to a man accused of buying gear for al-Qaida, and lied on immigration documents to visit a jihadist training camp.

Abdi's attorneys have said that the stolen credit card numbers were never used and that the Justice Department never alleged what organization they believed was running the camp, what Abdi intended to do with the training, or whether he ever actually went.

Here's some info on Mr. Paul...add Columbus, Ohio to the search. There's alittle here:

The Christopher Paul case: a potential case study of the

Islamization of America Submitted by admin on Fri, 2007-04-13 12:32. Editorials

"At last inspection, Mr. Al-Akhras and Mr. Mirza, we have not seen any torch-carrying Christian fundamentalists beating down the doors of the neighborhood mosques in Columbus over the arrest of Christopher PAUL. Conversely, the element of the American public paying attention to the strategies and tactics of the duplicitous can feel the heat of the torches you carry."--Douglas J. Hagmann

By Douglas J. Hagmann, Director

13 April 2007: Everyone in America needs to understand that our enemy, Islamists whose goal is nothing less than turning the US into an Islamic state, divide and destroy us from within and cripple us as a world power, are here en masse and actively working toward this goal. Over the past generation and despite the September 11, 2001 attacks, Islamists with malevolent intentions have been welcomed into America and coddled with classic Western naivety, to the peril of every citizen of this country.

It is incumbent for everyone to understand that our enemy has adopted a two-prong approach that is enjoying significant and unprecedented success. First, we have Muslim "activists," posing as proponents of religious equality using our own laws and freedoms to provide practical and legal sanctuary to a secondary group of Islamists. This second group consists of the actual warriors of Islamic jihad. The latter lack the polished sophistication and patience of the former, and are training to conduct actual terrorist operations in the U.S. While the actual jihadist foot soldiers are actively engaged in survival and paramilitary training, teaching other followers their skills, and disseminating instructional materials over the Internet, through mosques, Islamic centers, Muslim bookstores and other outlets in America, the former group runs "operational interference" through the use of well polished “good-will ambassadors” who are duping otherwise educated and reasonable Americans, from the citizens at large to members of the media, and even our own politicians and law enforcement officials, into believing that the intentions of both groups are benign. Nothing can be further from the truth, and the longer we ignore this strategy, the more effective this strategy becomes. Click "read more" above to continue reading.

This strategy for the Islamization of America needs to be understood and exposed in order to be defeated. Recent and historical examples of this strategy at work are plentiful, and have recently taken on a more aggressive approach since the 1990’s. Perhaps the best current example of this strategy can be observed with the case of Christopher PAUL, the Columbus, Ohio man arrested this week on terror related charges. PAUL, 43 a U.S. citizen and self-proclaimed follower of Islamic jihad, faces a number of charges that would identify him as a member of the latter group previously referenced. Although he has not yet been convicted of any crime, it is of critical importance to observe the process of this criminal prosecution from its inception to identify the tactics I reference herein.

Immediately following the announcement of PAUL’S arrest, Ahmad Al-Akhras, vice chair of the Columbus chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, has publicly voiced concern over a "potential public backlash against the Muslim community," while concurrently planting the seeds of doubt about the government’s case in the minds of anyone who will listen. According to Al-Akhras, he knows the defendant and claims that the charges are "out of character." He has publicly described PAUL as "a loving husband," adding that his wife and parents "are a good family…"

Without regard to the guilt or innocence of PAUL, it is important to note that the public posture of Al-Akhras is one of possible or anticipated victimization of the Muslim community in Columbus. This victimization status has been an instrumental tactic in shifting the focus from the event (in this case, the arrest of Christopher PAUL), to a misguided perception that lacks any historical foundation. Nonetheless, it is the cornerstone by which the public case of religious persecution will be built.

Next, Adnan Mirza, the executive director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations in Columbus, Ohio, has gone on the record to state that "it's unfair to judge the whole Muslim community based on allegations against one individual," also noting, "Thus far we haven't heard of any threats." Said Mirza, "We all try to be a little bit more vigilant. I would think the community has come closer because we all are viewed with suspicious eyes.” Once again, despite the complete absence of any such public outcry against the Muslim community in Columbus or elsewhere, an advocate for the Muslim community is shifting the focus from the charges against PAUL and advancing the notion of religious victimization and profiling.

The guilt or innocence of Christopher PAUL will be decided in and confined to a court of law based on the weight of evidence against him. Meanwhile, the unrestrained court of public opinion is being actively and effectively manipulated by unsubstantiated allegations of religious discrimination, profiling, and the completely unfounded characterizations of a non-existent “lynch-mob” mentality by Americans against the Muslim community at large.

At last inspection, Mr. Al-Akhras and Mr. Mirza, we have not seen any torch-carrying Christian fundamentalists beating down the doors of the neighborhood mosques in Columbus over the arrest of Christopher PAUL. Conversely, the element of the American public paying attention to the strategies and tactics of the duplicitous can feel the heat of the torches you carry.

Homeland Security