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TAMPA - A former University of South Florida student will be sentenced today for holding a rifle at a shooting range for less than three minutes. Karim Moussaoui was convicted in April of a federal weapons charge of possessing a firearm in violation of his student visa. The Moroccan native and engineering student had gone to the Shoot Straight Tampa shooting range with a friend, Youssef Megahed, last summer and posed for pictures holding a .22-caliber rifle Megahed had rented. Because Megahed is a legal, permanent resident of the United States, he was allowed to posses and rent the weapon....

Remember Ahmed Abdellatif Sherif Mohamed, one half of the Muslim duo caught driving on an obscure highway near Goose Creek, South Carolina in the middle of the night, with pipe bombs, laptops, and Korans, back in August of last year? The claimed it was "just fireworks" and that they were going to spend a weekend grilling or something. Yup, "grilling" Americans. They were driving near a military installation which stores nuclear weapons and held terrorist enemy combatants. With the Yemeni Mohamed was Yousef Megahed, an Egyptian. They both smiled in their mugshots and in court proceedings. "Just Fireworks" Terrorist Ahmed...

TAMPA – The explosives trial of a former University of South Florida student will likely be put on hold after prosecutors appealed a judge's evidence ruling this afternoon. A judge ruled today that prosecutors may not use certain evidence in the trial, which had been scheduled to start Monday, of a former University of South Florida student accused of transporting explosives. Ruling in the case of Youssef Megahed, Judge Steven D. Merryday said prosecutors had missed a court deadline for sharing evidence with the defense and barred the government from using files taken from the Megahed family home computer. Late...

Afghanistan to Ask NATO for Bigger Army Afghan officials will go to the NATO summit in Romania Thursday with a request: pay to increase our national Army by 40 percent. A bigger Army, Afghan officials argue, will allow the US and other coalition members to scale back in the coming years. This appeal comes amid pleas from the US and Canada for other NATO members to commit more to the Afghanistan mission, which many analysts say has floundered over the past year for lack of resources and a coherent strategy. France is expected to contribute another 1,000 forces and...

After Youssef Megahed and Ahmed Mohamed were arrested in South Carolina, deputies recorded the men talking to each other in Arabic in the back of a patrol car. Megahed's attorneys want a judge to limit the use of the recording at the men's upcoming trial, arguing that the recording largely is unintelligible. Consequently, they argue, transcripts of translations of the conversations are so limited that any comments that are intelligible are out of context. Megahed and Mohamed were arrested Aug. 4 after deputies found pipe bombs in the trunk of their car, authorities said. The defense has filed different transcripts...

Twelve days before they were scheduled to go on trial, two former University of South Florida students are facing new charges handed up by a federal grand jury. The new seven-count indictment adds terrorism and weapons charges against one of the defendants, Ahmed Mohamed. It also includes a new charge against Mohamed and Youssef Megahed relating to the devices found in the trunk of their car when they were arrested Aug. 4 in South Carolina. It replaces a two-count indictment handed up last year. Experts say the new indictment shows the prosecution trying to ensure success at trial by offering...

Petraeus: Al Qaida Trying to 'Come Back In' U.S. military officials said there will be no significant reduction in coalition troops in the Baghdad area as part of an effort to stop the Al Qaida offensive in northern Iraq. They said Al Qaida was trying to reenter Baghdad and reverse its losses in 2007. "Al Qaida is trying to come back in," U.S. military commander Gen. David Petraeus said. "We can feel it and see it, and what we're trying to do is rip out any roots before they can get deeply into the ground." Read More Militants Assert...

HILLSBOROUGH COUNTY (Bay News 9) -- USF student Youssef Megahed has been granted bail on federal explosives charges and could be released on house arrest next week. Bail was set at $200,000. The government has filed an appeal. A U.S. District Court Judge is expected to review that appeal next week. Megahed will remain in jail until that time. Megahed, 21, and fellow USF student Megahed Ahmed Mohamed, 26, were arrested in August after being pulled over for speeding near Charleston, S.C. Police said the pair had pipe bombs and other items in their car. The students have said they...

TAMPA, Fla. - A judge on Thursday ordered that a terrorism-related charge against an Egyptian student accused of transporting explosives will be handled in a separate trial from the explosives counts. Ahmed Abdellatif Sherif Mohamed and another Egyptian student, Youssef Samir Megahed, were arrested last summer in South Carolina over material found in their trunk. Prosecutors say it was explosive material; the defense says it was homemade fireworks. Mohamed also is charged with a terrorism-related count stemming from a video found on a laptop computer in the car. The video, which Mohamed is accused of producing, shows how to turn...

Two days before he was to graduate, a University of South Florida student was arrested Thursday on a weapons charge in connection with a case against two other students accused of transporting explosives. Karim Moussaoui, 28, went to a shooting range with the two other students, Youssef Megahed and Ahmed Mohamed, on July 11, according to a complaint filed in U.S. District Court. Moussaoui told the FBI he took pictures and didn't fire any weapons, the complaint states. Mohamed, 26, and Megahed, 21, both Egyptian nationals, were arrested in South Carolina on Aug. 4 and charged with having explosives in...

In the terrorism case of two young Egyptian nationals and University of South Florida students arrested August 4 in South Carolina, fascinating twists and turns abound. There’s a secret recording of the defendants discussing strategy shortly after their arrest. There’s a You Tube video in which one of the defendants gave instructions in Arabic on converting a remote-control toy into a bomb detonator, which one defendant allegedly told police was made to help people in Arab countries “defend themselves against the infidels invading their countries,” specifically “against those who fought for the United States.” That’s not all. The father of...

TAMPA -- Youssef Megahed, detained by federal authorities on explosives charges, is revoking any permission he gave to government agents to search his home or anything else. Assistant Federal Public Defender Adam Allen, Megahed's attorney, filed a notice with the court today withdrawing any consent to search items taken from Megahed after his arrest on Aug. 4. "The filing of this notice is not an admission by the defendant that he has previously given voluntarily consent but is designed to put the government on legal notice that, to the extent the defendant has previously given any voluntary consent to search,...

TAMPA - Lawyer John Fitzgibbons notified a judge this morning that he officially is representing a University of South Florida student accused of helping terrorists. Fitzgibbons also notified the court that his client, Ahmed Mohamed, is pleading not guilty to charges of illegally transporting explosives and trying to help terrorists by teaching or demonstrating the use of explosives. Mohamed waived his right to an arraignment, entering the plea by mail. The high-profile lawyer's clients have included a teacher who had sex with a student, an "American Idol" contestant involved in a dispute at Hyde Park Café and a restaurant owner...

An Egyptian college student accused of making an Internet video demonstrating the construction of a detonator for terrorist bombs pleaded not guilty to federal charges Wednesday. Ahmed Abdellatif Sherif Mohamed, 24, remained jailed on charges of distributing information relating to explosives, destructive devices, and weapons of mass destruction. His arraignment was set for Thursday. Mohamed, an engineering student suspended by the University of South Florida, and another Egyptian student, Youssef Samir Megahed, 21, also are charged with carrying explosive materials across state lines. They were arrested during an Aug. 5 traffic stop in Goose Creek, S.C., about 15 miles northwest...

One of two Muslim USF students facing federal explosives charges continues to wait to be released on bond By 970WFLA.com Friday, October 5, 2007 TAMPA, Fla. (970 WFLA) – A federal judge will take his time on ruling whether or not one of two Muslim University of South Florida students will be allowed out on bail while awaiting trial on charges he transported explosives across state lines without a license. U.S. prosecutors filed appeal following a federal magistrate judge allowed Youseff Samir Megahed, 21, to be released on $200,000 bond. Megahed and his alleged co-conspirator, Ahmed Mohamed, were arrested in...

An odd video raises new questions about the USF students who caused a national security scare. Ahmed Mohamed and Yousef Megahed are already charged with driving explosives across state lines. Now prosecutors say Megahed's brother tried to send a sinister code through a jail-house camera.

As his son appeared in federal court on explosives charges, Samir Megahed struggled with the overwhelming strain of the prosecution and family problems. 'We're under big stress,' the 60-year-old said in a telephone interview. Megahed said he is recovering from a heart attack he suffered 11 days ago. 'I am good now,' he said. On Monday, he said, his 68-year-old brother died in Egypt. Samir Megahed is unable to travel to be with his brother's family because he is hoping his son, Youssef, will be released on bail. One of the conditions of a bail order is that the entire...

TAMPA - As his son appeared in federal court on explosives charges, Samir Megahed struggled with the overwhelming strain of the prosecution and family problems. 'We're under big stress,' the 60-year-old said in a telephone interview. Megahed said he is recovering from a heart attack he suffered 11 days ago. 'I am good now,' he said. On Monday, he said, his 68-year-old brother died in Egypt. Samir Megahed is unable to travel to be with his brother's family because he is hoping his son, Youssef, will be released on bail. One of the conditions of a bail order is that...

COLUMBIA, S.C. --A college student facing a terrorism-related charge made a video showing how to detonate explosives using a remote control toy, and the demonstration was uploaded to a popular Web site before the native of Kuwait was arrested in South Carolina, according to court documents.

In a 12-minute video posted on YouTube, an Egyptian man wearing a white shirt, khaki pants and rubber gloves explains in Arabic how to turn a toy boat into a bomb.

A laptop computer deputies found when they pulled over two University of South Florida students in South Carolina contained a video made by one of the men showing how to use a toy to detonate a bomb remotely, a federal prosecutor said Friday. On that video, the student, Ahmed Mohamed, said the detonator could "save one who wants to be a martyr for another day, another battle," ... The prosecutor said that video was posted by Mohamed on YouTube... Also on the laptop were "jihadi" images and footage of rockets used by Hamas... Hoffer disclosed the computer evidence Friday as...

Prosecutors: USF students had explosive materials, instructions. TAMPA - Pipes stuffed with fertilizer, Karo syrup and kitty litter. Bullets and fuses. A laptop with Internet searches about martyrdom, Hamas and Qassam rockets. Video instructions for turning a child's toy into a detonator. After weeks of silence, the U.S. Attorney's Office opened up about its case against two University of South Florida engineering students facing explosives charges, implying that Youssef Megahed and Ahmed Mohamed had something sinister in mind when they left Tampa in early August and headed north. Despite the grim implications of what the government presented, prosecutors said they...

TAMPA, Fla. -- A college student indicted on explosives charges may be released from custody on bond and under such conditions as 24-hour electronic monitoring, a judge ruled Friday at a hearing that also revealed details on the allegations. Youssef Samir Megahed's entire immediate family must also surrender their passports, U.S. District Court Magistrate Judge Elizabeth Jenkins said after a hearing at which bond was set at $200,000. It was not immediately clear how soon Megahed would be released. Members of his family, which attended Friday's hearing, declined to comment. Megahed, 21, and Sherif Mohamed, 24, both students at the...

Tampa, Fl -- The lawyer from South Carolina that has represented the pair flew in to help the suspects find new council. He met with the family to come up with a strategy for the release of Youssef Megahed and Ahmed Mohamed. They were arrested in August for carrying explosives in their car. He predicts the government will fight hard to keep the men detained. He says had the men been of any other ethnicity they would have been ticket for speeding and continued on. Andy Savage, Attorney “The Justice Department now in these types of cases, no matter how...

Two Egyptian students at the University of South Florida were indicted Friday for carrying explosive materials across states lines and one of them was charged with teaching the other how to use them for violent reasons. Ahmed Abdellatif Sherif Mohamed, 24, an engineering graduate student and teaching assistant at the Tampa-based university, faces terrorism charges for teaching and demonstrating how to use the explosives. He and Youssef Samir Megahed, 21, an engineering student, were stopped for speeding in Goose Creek, S.C., on Aug. 4, where they have been held on state charges. The two men were stopped with pipe bombs...

They said it wasn't terror, but it was. Muslim student pipe bombers with mysterious liquid (fireworks, my ass)  tied to terror search and Ramadan Shallah and Tarik Hamdi (hat tip Bill Warner) RAMADAN ABDULLA IS FBI MOST WANTED TERRORIST Ramadan Abdullah Mohammad Shallah is wanted for conspiracy to conduct the affairs of the designated international terrorist organization known as the "Palestinian Islamic Jihad" (PIJ) through a pattern of racketeering activities such as bombings, murders, extortions, and money laundering. Shallah was one of the original founding members of the PIJ and is presently the Secretary-General and leader of the organization, which...

I checked the title, and didn't find it posted. ~~~~~~~~~ Update: Yahia Megahed’s Hi5 profile is gone 6:20pm Eastern. Eeenteresting. Via Dan Riehl, Yahia Megahed’s Hi5 profile has now been removed: *** Last weekend, I noted the arrest of Yousef Megahed, 21, and Ahmed Mohamed, 24, in the vicinity of the Naval Weapons Station, located in Goose Creek, South Carolina. National media scrutiny since the men were charged with possession of pipe bombs has been scant. Some MSM reports read like CAIR press releases. The AP dispatch carried in the Miami Herald concludes: “Some have suggested the men were targeted...

TAMPA - The FBI searched a Temple Terrace home Saturday morning in connection with the two University of South Florida students jailed in South Carolina on charges of possessing a pipe bomb. Authorities had a search warrant for 12402 Pampas Place, FBI special agent Dave Couvertier said. He would not say what authorities were looking for, what was removed or how the house is connected to the two students. The house is owned by Noor and Ana Salhab, according to the Hillsborough County property appraiser's Web site. Ahmed Bedier, executive director of the Tampa office of the Council on American-Islamic...

Update: According to video top right here, the Feds have moved to put a hold on the SC suspects as regards their immigration status, which means even if they do make bond they would be transferred to Federal Prison instead of being released. Also, even if cleared of any current charges, they could be deported depending on the outcome of that process. Also court documents specifically state "several pipe bombs" were in the trunk of their vehicle. While the FBI has now seized home computers and Wal-Mart security tape in the investigation into Yousseff Samir Megahed and Ahmed Abda Mohamed...