U.S. plot (Fort Dix) suspects had no intent to kill: attorneys

Reuters on Yahoo ^ | 12/16/08 | Jon Hurdle

[NormsRevenge]

CAMDEN, New Jersey (Reuters) – Five Muslim men accused of planning an attack on a U.S. army base had no intention of following through even though they shared Muslim anger toward America after September 11, defense attorneys said on Tuesday.

The men, all born outside the United States, plotted but did not execute an attack on Fort Dix in New Jersey and discussed attacks on other installations including Dover Air Force Base in Delaware and the U.S. Coast Guard in Philadelphia, prosecutors say.

They were arrested in May 2007 and face life in prison if convicted.

In closing arguments after a seven-week trial in federal court, attorneys said two FBI informants who infiltrated the group tried to manipulate the defendants into planning the attack and buying guns.

One of the FBI's cooperating witnesses, Besnick Bakalli, told defendant Dritan Duka, that he wanted to "kill someone" but Duka rejected the provocation, Duka's attorney Michael Huff told jurors.

"We are good the way we are. We are not going to kill anything," Duka said in a conversation recorded by Bakalli.

But Assistant U.S. Attorney William Fitzpatrick, in his closing rebuttal, held up an M-16 and an AK-47 that the men are accused of buying and said: "They cannot credibly argue that these weapons are anything other than weapons of war."

[piasa]

As for the 3 illegal ones, they entered long ago:

...The brothers entered the United States near Brownsville, Texas, in 1984, the source said, which would put their ages at 1 to 6 when they crossed the border.The source said there is no record of them entering by way of a regular border crossing, so they are investigating whether they were smuggled into the country. -----Fox

[piasa]

The charge of unlawful possession of machine guns against Dritan Duka and Shain Duka stems from their purchase of three fully automatic AK-47s and four fully automatic M-16s at a residence in Cherry Hill. After the purchase from a cooperating witness, the Duka brothers were arrested by special agents of the FBI. The other defendants were arrested at other locations at about the same time.-------- "Five indicted in plot to kill soldiers at Fort Dix," News Transcript ^ | 6/27/07 , Posted on Saturday, June 30, 2007 8:05:00 AM by Libloather

In the legal filing, the government said Mohamad Ibrahim Shnewer gave another inmate a copy of an Al Qaeda-produced DVD last month. Guards found the disc in a book in the detention center's law library. Government lawyers said in the filing that "the fact the defendant Shnewer and, perhaps, his co-conspirators may be spreading jihadist recruitment videos to other inmates clearly raises grave security concerns for the warden, and, again, supports the reasonableness of continued administrative detention for these defendants."... The government also said that suspect Eljvir Duka and another inmate were passing notes. In one note, the government said, Duka wrote, "Now you see why we were going to sacrifice all for the sake of Allah in jihad" and referred to the fight "we weren't able to finish." ...(Excerpt) Read more at foxnews.com ...---------U.S.: Fort Dix Attack Plot Suspects Promoting Terror in Jail Fox News ^ | December 12, 2007 Posted on 12/12/2007 5:40:38 AM PST by 3AngelaD

(Their "fight" being an attack on American personnel at Ft. Dix.)

[smokingfrog]

Just like Billy Ayers.