Terror Threat Hits Really Close to Home - Columbus mall bomb plot

I was reading the news today and found this article at usatoday.com.

I live 2 1/2 hours from Columbus and am down there all the time, I was just there on Friday and again Yesterday as a matter of fact.

I guess we're not safe anywhere.

Man charged in plot to blow up Ohio mall

WASHINGTON (AP) � A Somali native living in Ohio has been charged with plotting with other al-Qaeda operatives to blow up a Columbus-area shopping mall, according to an indictment unsealed Monday.
The four-count indictment, returned by a grand jury in Columbus, Ohio, charges that Nuradin Abdi, 32, conspired with admitted al-Qaeda member Iyman Faris and others to detonate a bomb at the unidentified shopping mall after he obtained military-style training in Ethiopia.

www.usatoday.com...

Abdi is also charged with fraud and misuse of documents by claiming that he had been granted valid asylum status in the United States. In fact, prosecutors say, he obtained that refugee document under false pretenses.

There also is one count each of conspiracy to provide material support to terrorists and conspiracy to provide material support to a designated foreign terrorist organization, in this case al-Qaeda.



One of the immigration charges contends that Abdi concealed his true destination when he applied on April 27, 1999, for a U.S. travel document. He said he was going to Germany and Saudi Arabia to visit Mecca and relatives.

In fact, "as the defendant well knew, he planned to travel to Ogaden, Ethiopia, for the purpose of obtaining military-style training in preparation for violent Jihad," the indictment says.

The training allegedly included use of guns, bombs and guerrilla warfare.


This is the first I've heard of this guy and his case. Or at least I don't remember hearing about it.



[edit on 14-6-2004 by Banshee]

its on cnn too. www.cnn.com...

also, a couple of days ago, a Syrian man, from Massachusetts, was caught for messing up the bar codes to get stuff for less then theyre worth. when they went into his home, they found advance computer equipment, flight simulation software, guns, and pictures of osama bin laden on the wall.

www.thedailyitemoflynn.com...

www.boston.com...


these two events probably arent related, but you never know

www.cnn.com...

Okay so you guys already posted this link, but I wanted to say that I was right about ALQ plans to attack shopping malls using bomb rigged fuel tankers. Of course the article says they will not discuss the details. But if you do a search under my name envolving tanker and mall. You will see that several weeks ago I posted a possible scenario where the terrorists will try and blow a mall by using tankers and ramming them through the entrance area's then setting off a massive fuel explosion.

Curious huh

www.abovetopsecret.com...

posted on 12-3-2004 at 11:33 AM edit quote

I think it has to do with explosions connected to Oil, like an oil refinery or maybe even gas stations or Fuel Trucks.

An explosion of fuel oil, gas, refined petroluem etc causes huge black/ oily fireballs and can be massive. Think the OKC bombing of the federal building but 10 or 100 times more powerful as McVeigh used a fertalizer agent and diesel fuel as his medium. If you were to take a fuel tanker and set it off with some mid grade demolition explosives the resulting explosion would be enormous, add in the sharpnel of the tanker itself and you have a huge mobile anti personal bomb.

Just crash it into a busy multi level shopping mall, right through the entrance door and set it off.



[edit on 14-6-2004 by robertfenix]

[edit on 14-6-2004 by robertfenix]

Creepy! I don't live in OH but I travel there regularaly (about 1 week a month) and I usually stay at a hotel accross the street from the Polaris Mall - and I have no doubt that would be the mall they would hit. It is by far the nicest, largest and busiest mall in Columbus. Not to mention it is right near a major highway. Hey, and don't forget there was a sniper in that same area not too long ago.

I worked in Columbus for several years, and believe me, it's hard to find an area of the country that is more "white bread" than Columbus. Many national consumer polls are taken among the populace just because the population is so middle-of-the-road American.

If you wanted to strike terror into the heart of the average apathetic American heart, do it in a place like Columbus.

I'm glad they caught the scumbag before he did his dirty work.

Competency evaluation ordered in Ohio mall plot

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) � A federal magistrate on Wednesday ordered a man charged with plotting to blow up a shopping mall to be transferred to a federal psychiatric facility to determine if he is mentally competent.
The evidence Magistrate Mark Abel used to determine why Nuradin Abdi should be sent to the facility was not disclosed publicly.

Authorities have accused Abdi, 32, of plotting to blow up a mall with admitted al-Qaeda member Iyman Faris, who is now imprisoned for never-acted-on plans to sabotage the Brooklyn Bridge.

www.usatoday.com...

Authorities have a third suspect under surveillance and are trying to determine how many others might have been involved, U.S. Attorney Gregory Lockhart said earlier.

"I don't know that we know at this point know who all the people he (Abdi) was associated with are," Lockhart said.



Abdi is charged with providing material support to al-Qaeda, conspiracy and document fraud. If convicted, he could get up to 80 years in prison.

Abdi, who operated a small cell phone business, was arrested last November at his apartment, just after Thanksgiving when malls across America were crowded with shoppers. He was held at first on immigration violations, authorities said.



Is he competent to stand trial ? Hmmm, he operated cell phone business, so he's probably not too "dumb", just another ploy by attornys to get him off the "hook".



[edit on 16-6-2004 by elevatedone]