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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....

Former University of South Florida engineering student Ahmed Mohamed agreed Friday to plead guilty to a federal charge of providing material support to terrorists. For their part, prosecutors plan to drop six other charges against Mohamed, 26, when he is sentenced. Among the counts to be dropped are charges of illegally transporting explosive material, possessing an unregistered destructive device, and a student visa violation for possessing a firearm. "This plea agreement was at the request of our client after a very long and agonizing decision by both him and his family, and it was his decision to resolve this matter...

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...

It's a gloriously sunny afternoon, and Eddie Sutton has slipped away from his tomblike office at the University of San Francisco to return a phone call from the relative quiet of the lobby inside the aging War Memorial Gymnasium. The hoopla over Sutton has masked deep discontent among influential alumni and donors of the athletics program, unhappy over the manner and timing of Evans being jettisoned, and its potential effect on important efforts to recruit top-quality basketball players to a program that is clearly faltering. Much of that discontent centers on USF's new athletics director, Debra Gore-Mann, whose inconsistent explanations...

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...

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...

MIAMI -- On a video posted to YouTube.com this summer, a man speaking Egyptian-accented Arabic instructed viewers how to convert a remote-controlled toy car into a bomb detonator. The 12-minute lesson was referenced on the popular video-sharing Web site under the search terms "detonator from a distance," "suiciders" and "martyrdoms." A detonator could "save one who wants to be a martyr for another day, another battle," the man told viewers, according to federal prosecutors. Last month, authorities identified the instructor as Mohamed Ahmed, 24, a graduate engineering student at the University of South Florida. An Egyptian national, he'd been stopped...

The plot thickens. Read the St. Petersburg Times: (Hat tip - reader Lynne) Well, well, well: PVC pipe filled with homemade “low-grade explosive mixture” and a videotape instruction for turning a remote-controlled toy car into a detonator were among the items found in the car driven by two University of South Florida students arrested in South Carolina and now facing federal explosives charges, according to a federal prosecutor. An assistant U.S Attorney outlined the evidence confiscated from the car driven by two suspended USF students — describing a container and three pipes filled with a low grade explosive mixture. The...

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 -- PVC pipe filled with homemade "low-grade explosive mixture'' and a videotape instruction for turning a remote-controlled toy car into a detonator were among the items found in the car driven by two University of South Florida students arrested in South Carolina and now facing federal explosives charges, according to a federal prosecutor...The list also included a videotape that instructs viewers on how to convert a toy electric car into a detonator. Defendant Ahmed Mohamed has admitted making the tape, and in it he says he intended the instruction "to save one who wants to be a martyr for...

Charleston, S.C. (AP) -- With a federal indictment in place, state charges will be dismissed against two Egyptian-born students who were stopped last month with what authorities said were pipe bombs, a prosecutor said Tuesday. "I plan to dismiss the charges in favor of federal prosecution," said Scarlett Wilson, state prosecutor for Charleston and Berkeley counties. Ahmed Abda Sherf Mohamed, 24, and Yousef Samir Megahed, 21, both students at the University of South Florida in Tampa, were arrested on state charges of possession of an explosive device following an Aug. 5 traffic stop in Goose Creek.

Six years after 9/11, the mainstream reading of the War on Terror still circles around the essence of the conflict. Two young men indicted for charges of possession of explosives aren't yet perceived as part of an Urban Jihadist campaign inside the United States, despite the fact that a number of cells and of individuals have been arrested over the past years, all linked to Jihadism. Ahmed Abdellatif Sherif Mohamed, 24 and Youssef Samir Megahed (in Egyptian accent it reads “Mujahid”) 21, are affiliated with South Florida University in Tampa. As one reviews all news reporting (until this day), no...

The father of a University of South Florida student accused of transporting explosives across state lines along with another student facing a terrorism-related charge says his son is not a terrorist. "It's killing me," Samir Megahed said Saturday. "We have no charge like this in my family for 400 years. It's killing all my family in Egypt." Engineering students Ahmed Abdellatif Sherif Mohamed, 24, and Youssef Samir Megahed, 21, were indicted Friday on federal charges of carrying explosive materials across state lines. Mohammed also faces terrorism-related charges of teaching and demonstrating how to use the explosives. The students, both born...

Remember those two Egyptian "students" arrested in South Carolina back in early August for possessing what CAIR spokesman Ahmed Bedier claimed were fireworks but turned out to be pipe bombs according to state authorities?  They've now been indicted by the Justice Department in Florida.Ahmed Mohammed is charged with teaching and demonstrating how to use explosives in support of terrorism.  Both he and his sidekick, Youssef Megahed, are charged with transporting explosives across state lines.  They had already been charged in South Carolina with possessing pipe-bombs.  At the time of their arrest, they were in Goose Creek, about seven miles away...

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...

Temple Terrace, Florida - One week after USF students Youseff Megahed and Ahmed Mohamed made their first court appearance in South Carolina, authorities still haven't said exactly what material was in the trunk of Megahed's car. The students told deputies it was fireworks, the prosecutor called it a pipe bomb. But after visiting him in South Carolina, the Megahed family says they're even more convinced of his innocence. Mariam Megahed, Defendant’s Sister: “Youssef promised us he didn't have any bad intentions and once the true nature of the evidence is displayed, he will be exonerated.” On Sunday, real estate investor...

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...

TEMPLE TERRACE - One of the University of South Florida students accused of carrying explosives in a car near a South Carolina naval base last week had planned to move into a home FBI investigators searched Saturday. But Noor Salhab, a Realtor who owns the house at 12402 Pampas Place, said Sunday that he had not yet performed a background check on Ahmed Mohamed or received a rent check from the graduate student.

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...

Authorities executed a search warrant at a Temple Terrace home Saturday in connection with the arrest of two USF students earlier this week.The search took place at 12402 Pampas Place in Temple Terrace. Multiple agencies were at the scene, including the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office, the FBI, ATF, Secret Service and Immigration and Customs Enforcement

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...

FBI agents are reviewing surveillance video from a Wal-Mart store in connection with the arrest in South Carolina of two University of South Florida students, a Wal-Mart spokeswoman said. Agents also have seized a computer from the family home of one of the students, said a local advocate in contact with the family. Youssef Megahed, 21, and Ahmed Mohamed, 24, both of whom are enrolled at the university, were charged Monday under South Carolina statutes with possession of an incendiary or explosive device. Both were being held in a Berkeley County jail Wednesday. Mohamed's bail was set at $500,000 and...

MONCKS CORNER, S.C. (AP) -- Authorities say two Middle Eastern men arrested near a Navy base had several pipe bombs in their car. Authorities say 24-year-old Ahmed Abda Sherf Mohamed and 21-year-old Yousef Samir Megahed were charged Monday with possession of an incendiary device. An FBI spokeswoman says a joint state-federal investigation is under way to see if there was any terrorism connection but no link had been found yet. The Navy base is the site of a brig where enemy combatants have been held. According to an affidavit with his arrest warrant, Mohamed admitted he made the pipe bombs...

MONCKS CORNER — Two Florida students accused of having pipe bombs in the trunk of their car when they were pulled over in Goose Creek are "confused and scared," their attorney said Monday. Yousseff Megahed, 21, and Ahmed Mohamed, 26, both Egyptian citizens, were calm and polite in Berkeley County bond court. They were charged Monday with carrying explosive devices, which is a felony punishable by up to 15 years in prison. The weekend arrest drew national attention, because the U.S. Naval Consolidated Brig, a military prison where enemy combatants are held, and the Naval Weapons Station are nearby. An...

Goose Creek - Two men are being held in the Berkeley County Detention Center after police find explosive making devices in their car. The quantity of explosive making materials in that vehicle is unclear. The FBI (website) reports that there is no known link to terrorism. The Berkeley County Sheriff's Office believes that among materials in the car's trunk were a bomb and bomb making materials that include chemicals, fuses, and igniters. The men 21-year-old Yousef Megahed and 24-year-old Ahmed Mohamed were pulled over Saturday evening during a routine traffic stop near Myers Road and Highway 176. Few details about...

TAMPA -- The two men detained in South Carolina over the weekend after police said they found a suspicious item in their car are University of South Florida students, officials said. At a 1:30 p.m. news conference today, USF Spokesman Ken Gullette said Yousef Megahed is an undergraduate student and Ahmed Mohamed is a civil engineering graduate student. Mohamed is originally from Kuwait and completed his undergrad education in Cairo. He has been at USF since January and was registered for six hours during summer session, Gullette said. Megahed, originally from Egpyt, has been enrolled at USF since 2004 and...

The two Middle East-born men held in Berkeley County after explosive devices were found in their car have been charged with one count a piece of possession of an incendiary device. Police denied that the two were pulled over because they were of Arabian decent, stating that they acted suspiciously when pulled over for speeding on Hwy. 176 in Goose Creek. Both now living in Tampa, Fla., Yousef Samir Megahed, 21, originally from Egypt, and Ahmed Abda Sherf Mohamed, 24, originally from Kuwait, were going at least 15 miles over the posted speed limit when pulled over, according to the...

MONCKS CORNER, S.C. --Two Middle Eastern men arrested near a Navy base after police found a suspicious item in their car were charged Monday with possession of an incendiary device, authorities said. A joint state-federal investigation was under way to see if 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 being held Monday pending a...

GOOSE CREEK — Ingredients necessary to make pipe bombs were found Saturday in the trunk of a car being driven by two Florida college students, according to court documents. Now the men will have to post a combined $800,000 in bond to get out of jail, a circuit judge decided this afternoon. Youseff Megahed, 21, and Ahmed Mohamed, 24, have been charged with possession of an incendiary device, Berkeley County Sheriff Wayne DeWitt announced today. If convicted of the charges, the men could face between 2 to 15 years in prison. Mohamed’s bond was set at $500,000 while Megahead’s was...

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...

In what is being called a "wrongful birth" case, a jury awarded more than $21 million to a couple who claimed a doctor misdiagnosed a severe birth defect in their son, leading them to have a second child with similar problems. But because the doctor works for the University of South Florida, the family will have to persuade the Legislature to award most of the money. State law limits negligence claims against government agencies at $200,000. Daniel and Amara Estrada, whose two young sons aren't able to communicate and need constant care, sought at least enough money to care for...

The Cardinal Newman Society (CNS) has urged the University of San Francisco (USF)—a Jesuit, Catholic university—to cancel its invitation to pro-abortion Rep. Nancy Pelosi to deliver the university’s commencement address this Saturday. CNS also is opposing a posthumous honorary degree to pro-abortion politician Leo T. McCarthy. “Even as we celebrate the fact that a growing number of Catholic colleges are choosing exemplary commencement speakers and honorees, we learn that the University of San Francisco has chosen a much different direction,� wrote CNS President Patrick J. Reilly in a letter faxed to USF President Rev. Stephen Privett, S.J., today. “You are...

Cellular subscribers are paying hundreds of millions of dollars each year to subsidize land-line telephone service, enriching big telecommunications companies while providing little or no benefit to cell-phone users. The subsidies are intended to reimburse the companies for providing traditional phone service in rough terrain and rural areas where stringing lines can be costly. But rampant development has transformed some of these backwaters into booming subdivisions, with no real adjustment to the distribution formula; others, such as the oceanfront celebrity playground of Malibu, are receiving subsidies simply because of their difficult topography. Outdated formulas for tabulating the surcharges -- coupled...

Sheik Jamal Said stood before the packed mosque and worked the crowd like an auctioneer. Speaking Arabic, the prayer leader asked for a donation of $10,000. No one responded. He asked for $5,000, and three men raised their hands. < SNIP> The recipient of the worshipers' generosity was Sami Al-Arian, a Palestinian activist accused by the U.S. government of aiding terrorists. And the prayer leader's passionate appeal is a reflection of the ascendancy of Muslim hard-liners at the mosque, one of the most outspoken and embattled in the U.S. The mosque did not become this way without a struggle. Relying...

Ann Coulter will be speaking tonight at USF (University of South Florida), a quite liberal university. The following are some typical e-mails circulating on the campus e-mail system. The best way to end Ann’s nonsense is for no one to show up. Simple as that. Don’t bother protesting as that is what she wants. When only her die hard fans appear, and hundreds of seats stay empty, that will be a better message. The determination and definition of hate speech can be highly subjective depending on who you talk to. I hear of some who felt Michael Moore or Al...

 On the website, Why Islam (www.whyislam.org), there are found many things that would shock even the least squeamish of individuals.  Anti-Semitism, homophobia, terrorism and misogyny abound.  At the Muslim Students Association (MSA) of the University of South Florida (USF), an advertisement for Why Islam has been placed prominently on the group’s office door.  The question must be posed to the MSA and the university – Why?Walking across the campus of USF, one finds a number of reminders of the school’s most storied professor, Sami Al-Arian – the ever-growing Computer Science and Engineering Department, where Al-Arian taught class; The Castor Building,...

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE August 8, 2006CONTACT: Vivian Myrtetus (850) 656-9445Cell (850) 508-2654 NRA and Unified Sportsmen Endorse CristTALLAHASSEE – The National Rifle Association of America and the Unified Sportsmen of Florida yesterday endorsed the campaign of Charlie Crist, Attorney General and candidate for Governor. Citing Crist’s strong support of law-abiding gun owners and sportsmen, both organizations prefer Crist in the Republican Primary. “No one has been stronger in support of Second Amendment, self-defense, and anti-crime issues than Charlie Crist and we sincerely appreciate your solid pro-sportsmen, pro-Second Amendment, pro-freedom record,” said Marion Hammer, NRA past president and Executive Director of...

A co-defendant of a former college professor accused of terrorist ties has been released from jail and deported, more than five months after his trial ended, his attorney and federal officials said Wednesday. Sameeh Hammoudeh's attorney had sued the government this year to try to expedite the deportation, and a federal judge had given immigration officials until Wednesday to deport him or explain why they continued to hold him. Federal officials Tuesday took Hammoudeh, 46, to Jordan, where he crossed into the West Bank to be reunited with his wife and six children, said his attorney, Stephen Bernstein. "He's home...

AMPA - A judge revoked bail for two Saudi men arrested Friday for boarding a school bus and riding to Wharton High. Initially, Mana Saleh Almanajam, 23, and Shaker Mohsen Alsidran, 20, were held in Orient Road Jail on bails of $250 each on misdemeanor trespassing charges. Circuit Judge Monica Sierra decided to hold them at a court appearance Saturday so investigators could dig deeper into their pasts. A friend of the two University of South Florida students tried to post their bail Friday night, said Ahmed Bedier, Tampa director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, but a jail clerk...

TAMPA -- A judge on Monday sentenced former professor Sami Al-Arian to another year and a half in prison before he will be deported in his terrorism conspiracy case. Al-Arian, 48, was sentenced to four years and nine months, but he will get credit for the three years and three months he has already served while being held before and after his trial. His lawyer, Linda Moreno, asked the judge to release her client now, but the judge refused and called Al-Arian ``a master manipulator.''

TAMPA, Florida (Reuters) - Former Florida university professor Sami al-Arian has pleaded guilty to aiding the Palestinian group Islamic Jihad and agreed to be deported, U.S. officials said on Monday. ADVERTISEMENT Al-Arian and three co-defendants were charged in 2003 with helping the group carry out attacks in Israel. In December, a federal jury in Tampa found al-Arian not guilty on eight charges and failed to reach a verdict on nine others after a six-month trial. Prosecutors, whose failure to convict al-Arian after the jury trial was seen as a stiff blow to the U.S. government's attempts to prosecute terrorism suspects,...

Federal authorities have decided to deport a former University of South Florida professor and long-time Palestinian rights activist after failing to convict him on charges he helped finance terrorist attacks in Israel. Two lawyers familiar with the case say Sami Al-Arian has reached an agreement with prosecutors to plead guilty to a lesser charge and be deported. The lawyers spoke on condition of anonymity because the agreement had not been made public by the court. It isn't clear where Al-Arian will be sent. Al-Arian has been in jail since a Tampa jury acquitted him in December on eight of the...

WASHINGTON -- Federal authorities have decided to deport a former Florida professor and longtime Palestinian rights activist after failing to convict him on charges he helped finance terrorist attacks in Israel. Sami Al-Arian, who had met with U.S. presidents and other political leaders before his terrorism indictment in 2003, reached an agreement with prosecutors to plead guilty to a lesser charge and be deported, two lawyers familiar with the case said Friday. The arrangement requires the approval of a judge.

DETROIT - A Cleveland imam convicted of hiding terrorist ties has agreed to leave the United States, ending his deportation case, his attorney and government officials said Thursday. The agreement allows Fawaz Damra to resettle in Qatar, United Arab Emirates, Sudan, Egypt or the Palestinian territories, said Greg Gagne, a spokesman for the Justice Department's Executive Office for Immigration Review. A judge has approved the agreement with the Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, which will decide his destination. Damra is still in federal custody, said Robert Birach, a Detroit lawyer who negotiated for him. He declined to discuss more...

There it is. Turn on the news it should be on right about now. His co-conspirators too.

TAMPA - Jurors for the federal trial of Sami Al-Arian and three co-defendants began deliberating Tuesday, after 22 weeks in court. To give them more room and some exercise, U.S. District Judge James S. Moody told them they could move between their jury room and the courtroom, where dozens of boxes of evidence sit. This gives them a larger workspace, so they're not confined to the 16- by 18-foot jury room, where they spent much of their time during the four-day-a-week trial. During this time, they brought things to make it more homey: jigsaw puzzles of rural scenes, playing cards,...