U.S. Officials Arrest 8 in `Virginia Jihad Network' (Update3)

Bloomberg ^

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June 27 (Bloomberg) -- Eight men were arrested on charges they formed a ``Virginia jihad network'' with ties to the Kashmiri separatist group Lashkar-E-Taiba and planned terrorist attacks overseas, the U.S. government said.

The men, along with three others believed to be in Saudi Arabia, are accused of plotting to engage in a ``jihad,'' or holy war, in Kashmir, Chechnya, the Philippines and other countries. U.S. Attorney Paul McNulty, who announced the indictment today in Alexandria, Virginia, declined to say whether any attacks were planned in the U.S.

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indexing.

[swarthyguy]

Virginia is for Jihadis!

[Kathleen]

ping

[joesnuffy]

8 go out the door
10,000 come in uninvited

[AppyPappy]

putupon will be in later to blame this on Virginia Tech.

[habs4ever]

Was this group responsible for the Bali bombing?These guys maybe the AQ frontline terror killers in South East Asia.Bet you just thought they were here to make sticky rice and tamarind shrimp ;-)

[Physicist]

"Nixt tahm own thuh Vuhjinyuh Jeehawd Netwuhk, we gon' be showin' 'Deliveruhnce'. 'Deliveruhnce from th'Great Satan', that is..."

[OXENinFLA]

The men, along with three others believed to be in Saudi Arabia, are accused of plotting to engage in a ``jihad,'' or holy war, in Kashmir, Chechnya, the Philippines and other countries. U.S. Attorney Paul McNulty, who announced the indictment today in Alexandria, Virginia, declined to say whether any attacks were planned in the U.S.

Ok hold on now, if they were planing to attack Kashmir, Chechnya, or the Philippines how would they do that HERE IN THE US?

Of course Paul McNulty, declined to say whether any attacks were planned in the U.S.

Well Duh' then WHY WERE THEY HERE?

[freeperfromnj]

Ok hold on now, if they were planing to attack Kashmir, Chechnya, or the Philippines how would they do that HERE IN THE US?

You'd think these journalists would try to gather all of the facts and make sense of this stuff before they actually print it.

[Kathleen]

The father of one of those arrested alleged that his son is the "target of a witch hunt" on a radio news report. Color me skeptical.

[Cindy]

Related Link:
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/936679/posts

[truth_seeker]

"He said the charges could lead to ``dozens of years'' in prison."

I should hope that our justice system would send strong messages that messing with USA national security will cost them their lives, in prison or in hell.

"Dozens of years" comes close to my definition.

[Grampa Dave]

Thanks for posting this.

[putupon]

putupon will be in later to blame this on Virginia Tech.

Naw, if anything, Tek probably helped out in this case. Keeping Kilgore occupied trashing Mr. Jefferson's University with that goofy lawsuit, he wasn't screwing things by weaseling in the way he did on ya'll's pal Gov. MarkyMark's(D) circus.

[Grampa Dave]

Well, here is another Islamofacist groups in Virgina. Not all of them are on the West Coast.

I had not heard of this group, Lashkar-E-Taiba.

Makes one wonder if they had any tie ins with the al Fuqra thugs.

[browardchad]

The men gathered for training and worship in Northern Virginia and conducted war games at paint ball facilities, McNulty said. They were charged with providing support to a terrorist organization and weapons violations.

Speaking of paintball, MSNBC did a segment on this group, pre-arrest, a week or so ago. The leader is a black Gulf War I vet (the implication being that he is therefore a loyal American, just like John Mohammed, I suppose) who appeared in full Muslim garb and, of course, declared he was being persecuted. His spiel: "If white non-Muslims played paintball games every weekend, no one would think there was anything suspicious." If it weren't for a brief quote from Steven Emerson mentioning that the group had trained in overseas Al Qaeda camps after 9/11, and that the Feds had found incriminating docs on seized computers, you might think the DOJ was declaring war on paintball, per MSNBC.

[BOBTHENAILER]

``When individuals meet here in the shadow of our nation's capital to prepare for violent jihad, we will take action,'' Assistant Attorney General Alice Fisher said at the press conference.

Just another RAT complaint taken off the board by AG Alice Fisher. I'll bet they're madder 'n hell at her for doing her job and inadvertently making them, yawn, zzzzzzzz, once again, as usual, etc., look like fools.

[Future Useless Eater]

Well, here is another Islamofacist group in Virgina.
...
Makes one wonder if they had any tie ins with the al-Fuqra thugs.

I think you're right G.Dave, I wondered the same thing...

The eight men were arrested in Philadelphia, Baltimore, and Fairfax County, Virginia.
...
They also trained in military tactics at a paintball range in Spotsylvania County, Virginia.

Comparing this to the snipers...

• The sniper car was purchased in a suburb of Philadelphia (Camden NJ),
• Muhammad was seen several times in Baltimore,
• the snipers were seen often in Fairfax County,
• the snipers even did two shootings in Spotsylvania County.

I also noticed there are two paintball ranges very near the Spotsylvania shootings.

• One paintball range at 2152 Jefferson Davis Hwy,
• One sniper murder at 5324 Jefferson Davis Hwy,
  ...
  
• One paintball range at 4415 Plank Road,
• One sniper near-murder at 2900 Plank Road, Spotsylvania Mall,
  

If Muhammad/Malvo knew these other eight jihadists, that could help explain their familiarity and attraction to these areas.

It would also give them nearby safe-houses if needed.

The indictment names 11 people, only 8 were arrested:

• Randall Todd Royer, 30;
• Ibrahim Ahmed al-Hamdi, a Yemeni national and non-resident alien;
          [reportedly of Annandale VA, 4 miles from Falls Church ]
• Masoud Ahmad Khan, 31; [reportedly of Gaithersburg, MD]
• Yong Ki Kwon, 27, a naturalized U.S. citizen born in Korea;
• Mohammed Aatique, 30, a Pakistani national and H-1 visa holder;
• * Seifullah Chapman, 30;
• Hammad Abdur-Raheem, 35; [reportedly of Falls Church, VA]
• Donald Thomas Surratt, 30;
• Caliph Basha Ibn Abdur-Raheem, 29;
• * Khwaja Mahmood Hasan, 27, a naturalized U.S. citizen born in Pakistan; and
• * Sabri Benkhala, 28.
  
  * Chapman, Hasan and Benkhala are believed to be living in Saudi Arabia.

browardchad also pointed out...

The leader [Abdur-Raheem] is a black Gulf War I vet .., just like John Mohammed
I also found that Abdur-Raheem, of Falls Church VA, is ALSO a Washington native, and ALSO converted to Islam in 1994, just like John Allen Muhammad.

Muhammad/Malvo visited Falls Church VA at least 3 times, and during one of those visits killed the FBI employee.
Siezed from one of the eight persons (Khan) was a "printout of FBI headquarters"

Gaithersburg is just a few miles from the sniper shootings at Aspen Hill, and Rockville MD.

I'm nearly CONVINCED Muhammad/Malvo knew this gang, and I wouldn't be surprised if the fed's zeroed in on these Islamists because of contacts or connections with the DC snipers.

[Future Useless Eater]

correction... The sniper car was REGISTERED in a suburb of
Philadelphia (Camden).
It was supposedly purchased in a town a half-hour to the north of Philly (Trenton).