Three naturalized U.S. citizens in Ohio were indicted Tuesday for their role in assisting terrorism on U.S. targets overseas, specifically American military personnel in Iraq. The indictment, which was unsealed Monday, said the men plotted to kill U.S. and coalition military personnel in Iraq and other countries. On at least two separate occasions, among other charges, at least one of the men verbally threatened to kill or inflict bodily harm on President Bush, the indictment says.Before anyone thinks this is simply a couple of big talkers...
"These defendants have been living in the United States, where they have been engaging in weapons training and seeking help in order to kill people abroad, including our troops," Gonzales said.But what is most interesting is how the US caught these three men:
The men named in the indictment are: Mohammad Zaki Amawi, who was a citizen of Jordan and the United States who lived in Toledo until August 2005; Marwan Othman El-Hindi, a naturalized U.S. citizen born in Amman, Jordan who lives in Toledo; and Wassim Mazloum, a legal U.S. resident who operated a car business with his brother in Toledo after entering the United States from Lebanon.
The indictment also notes that a fourth person, referred to as "the trainer," was a U.S. citizen but was not named as a conspirator. One official told FOX News that law enforcement was tipped to the activities of these three men by this informant, who is an ex-U.S. military man who fought overseas and was living in Toledo. He is described as "a respected member of the Muslim community" who came forward and gave information to the authorities.This is a very good sign, albeit it a single instance. Though this is in America, and that makes it easier to do so, it is comforting to see that some Muslims are willing to do what is necessary to fight terrorists - even turning in members of their own community. Hopefully, this will be a growing trend.
"The trainer" has a U.S. military background and in 2002 was solicited by El-Hindi to assist in providing security and bodyguard training, among other things.
Technorati tags: Terror, Plot, Arabs, Informant, Ohio.
People have been starting to notice that the number of US Citizen Muslims who have been involved in terrorism is really, really small.
ReplyDeleteAlso worth noting is the incredibly small number of Indian Citizen Muslims doing so -- I'm unaware of a single Indian who has been accused of involvement with Al Qaeda -- and India has more Muslims than any country in the world except Indonesia.
Something is different in both those countries.
Yes and no. There was still a swastika in our building a few weeks ago.
ReplyDelete(Oh - the assumption is that it was them. Most of our building is Jewish; there's an old lady; a really nice hispanic family; and an Arab family who has had their share of issues.)
ReplyDeletecharliehall, it may be true that there is a small percentage of Muslim INVOLVED in terrorism in the United States. However, the number of American Muslims SUPPORTING terrorism (through rallying, sending money, etc) is very high.
ReplyDelete-OC