Posted on 06/24/2002 12:23:15 AM PDT by sarcasm
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — José Padilla, accused of conspiring to explode a "dirty bomb" in the United States, worked at a suburban Taco Bell and discovered Islam in Fort Lauderdale.
Two young Pakistani immigrants from nearby Hollywood reportedly hatched a plan to attack South Florida power plants and a National Guard Armory.
And several of the Sept. 11 hijackers roamed the area's libraries, gyms and beachfront motels.
They all made their home — at least temporarily — in South Florida's Broward County, leading some to wonder if the growing suburban and tourist area north of Miami has become a common destination for would-be terrorists.
"If you want to have access to all kinds of things that might appeal to someone who is here for the wrong purposes and want to be able to have a certain level of anonymity, this is certainly the place to be," said Edward Mandt, dean of the Institute of Public Safety at Broward Community College.
With miles of strip malls, about 7.5 million tourists visiting every year and a growing degree of diversity, Broward County, and all of South Florida, is an ideal place to keep a low profile, many say.
Consider the past nine months:
• At least seven of the 19 men who crashed hijacked planes Sept. 11 had spent time in the county. Mohamed Atta and Marwan al-Shehhi went to a Hollywood bar the week before the attacks and played video golf. Seven others lived nearby in Palm Beach County's Delray Beach.
• Pakistani immigrants Imran Mandhai, 19, and Shueyb Mossa Jokhan, 24, of Hollywood were accused this spring of conspiring to bomb electrical transformers and the Israeli Consulate in Miami.
• Safraz Jehaludi, 21, a computer technician from Miramar, is being held on charges he sent the FBI anonymous e-mail messages threatening to blow up the White House and a Florida power plant.
Broward County's latest connection to suspected terrorism has surfaced with Padilla, who spent about a year in the county jail and lived in the county for much of the 1990s.
While federal law-enforcement officials have questioned whether Padilla became an extremist while in Florida, investigators have sought out those who worshipped at mosques with the man known then as "Ibrahim."
Adham Hassoun, 40, was arrested on an immigration violation earlier this month by members of the South Florida Joint Terrorism Task Force. Two newspapers reported Hassoun and Padilla were acquaintances at Masjid Al-Iman, a Fort Lauderdale mosque.
The cases have cast new scrutiny on South Florida's burgeoning Muslim community. Recent census figures do not list Muslims, but the number of Broward County residents listing their ethnicity as Arab increased 70 percent during the decade to nearly 11,000.
Wednesday, Muslim leaders said Muslims are being unfairly targeted in South Florida.
"The community is getting the feeling that there is free speech and the First Amendment in this county, but it doesn't apply if you're Muslim or Arab," said Khurrum Wahid, of the Florida chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations.
Rafiq Mahdi, prayer leader of Masjid Al-Iman, said the area cases have raised concern among his worshippers: "We don't mind the scrutiny. We do want it to be carried out with a degree of recognition of our civil rights as individuals."
So many travellers to Florida and the melting pot is a perfect blending spot.
Hell they can't even keep up with "foster" children and such in the state...what makes anyone think they can DETECT and stop a terrorists in FloriDUH???
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