Posted on 08/06/2007 11:27:50 AM PDT by Lexington Green
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 had not declared a major. He was registered for three hours this fall, Gullette said.
Ahmed Bedier, spokesman for the Council on American-Islamic Relations in Tampa, said that Megahed is a permanent legal resident studying engineering at USF whose family has lived in the Tampa area for years. "This is his home," Bedier said.
Mohamed, who is from Egypt, is at USF on an exchange program, Bedier said.
Megahed's family members only heard news of his arrest while watching CNN, Bedier said. "They never received a phone call," he said.
A representative of the Council on American-Islamic Relations accompanied family members to South Carolina late Sunday, Bedier said.
Bedier said he has seen reports coming out of South Carolina that the men merely had fireworks in their car. "We need to know what the facts are," he said.
In South Carolina, Berkeley County sheriff's Lt. Vince Lombard said authorities stopped the men for speeding, then found the suspicious item. Police detonated the item. Lombard would not say what the device was or what bomb technicians from neighboring Charleston County exploded about 2:45 a.m. Sunday. The item made a loud bang, similar to a firecracker, when it was demolished.
The men were being held Sunday pending a charge of unlawful possession of an explosive device, according to officials in South Carolina.
No charges had been filed as of Sunday afternoon, Berkeley County Chief Deputy Butch Henerey told The Post and Courier of Charleston for a story posted on its Web site Sunday.
A terrorism task force is reviewing evidence, said FBI spokesman Richard Kolko.
"At this point, it is too early in the investigation to say there is any link to terrorism," Kolko said.
He referred questions about the suspects, whom he did not identify, to local authorities. The sheriff's office would not comment to The Associated Press but planned a news conference Monday morning.
Authorities closed a mile-long stretch of U.S. Highway 176 at about 7 p.m. Saturday, and federal officials said there was "no immediate threat." It reopened at about 4 a.m. Sunday.
Goose Creek is home to the Naval Weapons Station, which houses the U.S. Naval Consolidated Brig, a military prison where enemy combatants have been held.
The car was heading west, away from Goose Creek, when it was pulled over about 7 miles from the sprawling Navy facility, Lombard said.
Goose Creek, with a population of about 30,000, is about 20 miles north of Charleston.
Valerie Kalfrin of The Tampa Tribune and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
We also allow them into our military.
http://www.cnn.com/2003/US/South/02/20/professor.arrest/
Federal authorities arrested Kuwaiti-born University of South Florida professor Sami Al-Arian, 45, described as the North American leader of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ), and three others.
http://blogs.tampabay.com/breakingnews/2007/08/usf-confirms-me.html
Interesting tidbit in this blog from the St. Pete Times. USF police report that they have had contact with these students before...whatever that means.
From the article:
“USF police have been in contact with the FBI but declined to go into any specifics about their investigation. They also said have had contact with both of these students in the past.
“We’ve had very minor contact with them,” said Lt. Meg Ross.
In response to a question about whether the students knew Sami Al-Arian, a former USF professor convicted of providing assistance to a terrorist group, USF officials said there’s no reason to believe these two students have any connection with any previous incidents at the school.”
DOUBLE GUILTY!!!
Sounds like they bought a “quarter stick” in a state where it was legal, and got caught with it in a state where it is not.
States decide at what point a firework is OK for a civilian to own and when it’s a deadly explosive, its the grams of blackpowder or flash that determines legal status.
When the bomb squad destroyed it, all the witnesses said it sounded like a firecracker.
Not bad, Tampa Tribune. 549 words and “Muslim” not mentioned once. /s
Appeared at a fundraiser or two for Hamas I believe it was.
Interesting, a "Mohamed" with civil engineering expertise and explosives.
Yep!
University of ?South Florida, home of the infamous Sami al Arien.
Just what is is that makes this a hot bed for mooselimb activists?
New info.
Dry run?
Why are Arabs from these countries allowed to come to the U.S. to study and take three hours of study? Ridiculous!!!!
Because the treasonous jerks that occupy the halls of our government in DC won’t shut it down.
They are getting too much money from the Jihadis to care.
I was thinking the same darn thing...6 hours & 3 hours? Where I come from that is maybe one or two classes max! Who are they kidding?!
These people are enormously clever at using our laws to get around us.
And we’re very weak on getting them out. We’d probably kick out some kid from Mexico or Argentina who was trying a scam like that, but we’re afraid to do anything to muzzies.
‘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. ‘
Badeye says they are both baby terrorists.
USF? Does Sami al Arian ring a bell?
Goose Creek is home to the NNPTC (Navy Nuclear Power Trainging Center) - glow worm school.
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