Davenport police say mysterious box isn't a bomb
A device found in a box wasn’t a bomb. But what it was may be out of this world.
Police were called to a Davenport home Sunday after a resident found a box with what looked like a bomb inside.
A police bomb squad removed the box for examination, and Capt. David Struckman said the device wasn’t a bomb.
Jessica Harper, of Bettendorf, said she left the box behind when she moved out of the house last month.
She said an eccentric friend of her mother sent the box a year ago but they never opened or threw it away.
‘‘He’s an astrologer who believes aliens live under ground,’’ she said.
She said the device was supposed to create vibrations that would keep aliens away.
Struckman wouldn’t say what it was.
‘‘It looked very dangerous, but it was not an explosive device,’’ he said.
http://desmoinesregister.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20051018/NEWS/51018003/1001
Three accused of plotting Jewish attacks
10/18/2005, 2:28 p.m. ET
By NICOLE LANGE
The Associated Press
DUESSELDORF, Germany (AP) — Three men on trial for plotting to attack Jewish targets in Germany insisted Tuesday that they never belonged to a terrorist organization.
The men, along with another defendant, are accused of belonging to Al Tawhid, a radical network believed to be linked to al-Qaida and headed by Jordanian militant Abu Musab al-Zarqawi — now a prominent figure in Iraq. All four were arrested in April 2002.
Mohamed Abu Dhess, a Jordanian who is accused of heading the group's German cell, told the Duesseldorf state court that Muslims are people of peace — and "we do not believe in weapons as a means."
"I dug deep into my memory and could find nothing related to terrorism," he said.
Abu Dhess, along with co-defendants Ashraf al-Dagma and Ismail Shalabi, is charged with membership in a terrorist organization, attempted instigation of weapons offenses and document fraud.
Prosecutors have asked that Abu Dhess be sentenced to eight years in prison, and al-Dagma and Shalabi to seven years and six months each.
"I never planned attacks against Jewish, Israeli or any other targets in Germany," al-Dagma told the court Tuesday.
Al-Dagma confessed that he made fake passports, but insisted they were only for his own use as he never had his own passport. "But I was never a member of a terror group," he said.
The fourth defendant, Djamel Mustafa, is charged with supporting a terrorist organization, breaking firearms laws and document fraud. Prosecutors have sought a seven-year sentence for him.
Much of the prosecution's case has been built around testimony from Shadi Abdellah, who was arrested at the same time as the other four and confessed to plotting to attack Jewish targets, saying the group discussed Berlin's Jewish Museum and a Jewish-owned discotheque or bar in Duesseldorf.
Abdellah admitted being part of the Al Tawhid group, saying he befriended leader Al-Zarqawi in 2000 while in Afghanistan to undergo al-Qaida paramilitary training.
Al-Qaida in Iraq, which is led by Al-Zarqawi, has claimed responsibility for executing numerous hostages, including the beheadings of Western hostages.
Abdellah told authorities the Duesseldorf-based cell operated largely apart from its parent group and chose its own targets and arranged for its own explosives and weapons.
In exchange for his testimony at this and two other German terror trials, Abdellah was given a reduced sentence of four years and was released in November after serving about half his time. He was also put in Germany's witness protection program.
The trial opened in February, 2004. A verdict is expected on October 26.
http://www.nj.com/newsflash/war/index.ssf?/base/international-15/1129660442155871.xml&storylist=njterror