British Terror Suspect Had Images of Capitol, U.S. Officials Say

AP via TBO ^ | Nov 4, 2005 | Mark Sherman

[ncountylee]

WASHINGTON (AP) - A terror suspect arrested in England had images of the Capitol and other Washington landmarks on his computer, according to federal authorities who were skeptical that an attack on the capital was being planned.

Younis Tsouli, 22, was one of three men charged with a variety of terrorism offenses. One of the charges against Tsouli alleges that a video stored on the hard drive of a computer in his bedroom showed how to make a car bomb and another showed a number of places in Washington.

The charge sheet did not name the places. However, a U.S. law enforcement official who spoke on condition of anonymity Friday, said the Capitol was among the locations contained in short video clips.

Terrance Gainer, chief of the U.S. Capitol Police, discounted the idea of a serious threat to the Capitol.

"I don't believe there's any direct threat to the Capitol," he said. "I believe that's shared by the intelligence community."

A U.S. counterterrorism official who also spoke on condition of anonymity said investigators believe the men may have been involved in "jihadist bravado."

The law enforcement and counterterrorism officials asked not to be identified because the investigation is continuing.

Tsouli, Waseem Mughal, 22, and Tariq Al-Daour, 19, made a brief appearance Friday in a London court, speaking only to confirm their names and ages. Judge Daphne Wickham ordered the three, all from the London area, to remain in custody until another court appearance Nov. 18.

Scotland Yard said the arrests were not linked to the July suicide bombings in London, which killed 56 people, including the four attackers.

[RightWhale]

Pictures of the Capitol? Maybe an architecture student.

[realpatriot]

"jihadist bravado."

So, how is this different from Atta????

[ladyinred]

Oh? Are we sure British intelligence isn't lying again like they did about the WMD of Saddam? /sarcasm

[Proud_USA_Republican]

Tsouli is also charged with conspiring with Wassem Mughal, 22, also arrested, to cause explosions in Britain and with Tariq al-Daour to commit credit-card fraud. Mughal is charged with having in the bedroom of his home in Chatham, Kent, a town southeast of London, a DVD entitled “Martyrdom Operations Vest,” as well as a document in Arabic entitled “Welcome to Jihad” and a piece of paper containing the words “Hospital=attack,” according to the Scotland Yard document. Mughal is also accused of possessing a document containing a recipe for rocket propellant and “guidance-containing explosion.”

Counterterrorism officials in the United States and the United Kingdom said that the new criminal charges against the London suspects were the result of an elaborate international investigation, codenamed Operation Mazhar by Scotland Yard, into a suspected jihadi network stretching from London to Washington to the Bosnian capitol of Sarajevo. According to the officials, the U.K. suspects are believed to have been in e-mail contact, via Hotmail accounts, with a suspected major jihadi recruiter who used the Internet nom de guerre “Maximus.” According to the officials, Maximus was initially based in Sweden, but then moved to Bosnia, where investigators believe he helped to run a network recruiting disaffected European youth to go to Iraq to join the insurgency. Investigators believe the network engaged in extensive credit-card fraud to finance its activity and raise funds for jihadi group.