It's still possible they got some funding through al Qaeda...just not enough. Al Qaeda has been a little strapped for cash lately, I hear. His accomplice was working "at an American Express processing facility" , which makes me wonder if AMEX is where the red flags started popping up.
Feds indict Pakistani teen in plot to blow up Port Everglades
By Jeff Shields
sun-sentinel.com
Posted May 17 2002, 5:45 PM EDT
| FORT LAUDERDALE – The federal government on Friday unsealed an indictment charging a 19-year-old Pakistani immigrant with plotting to blow up the Florida Power & Light Co. plant at Port Everglades and other sites in South Florida. Named in the two-count indictment was Imran Mandhai, of Hollywood. A friend, Shueyb Mossa, 24, a naturalized U.S. citizen was charged with one count in the indictment. The government claims the two men were hunting targets in South Florida for their own “jihad” and planned to bomb electrical power stations and National Guard armories in the area. They also planned to follow up on the bombing with a list of demands to the United States and other governments around the world, the indictment alleges. In addition, the indictment alleges the men tried to acquire at least one AK-47 assault rifle for their terrorist operations and tried to obtain the release from custody of an unidentified individual who was described only as a “mujahedin” fighter. If convicted as charged, Mandhai and Mossa each face up to 20 years in prison and fines of up to $250,000 on the conspiracy count. Manhai faces another maximum of five years on a charge of soliciting Mossa to commit a crime of violence. Mandhai, who was studying computer science at Broward Community College, was arrested by the federal Immigration and Naturalization Service in February as he returned to the apartment he shared with his parents. He had been at an Islamic center in Pembroke Pines earlier that day. Officials said one of Mandhai's targets was the FPL plant at Port Everglades near the Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport and that he had planned to bomb it on April 27, 2001. They declined to say why the plot failed. Law officers and associates painted an ominous portrait of Mandhai, saying he became disenchanted with American life and was attracted to militant Islamic politics soon after he arrived in the United States in April 1998. In the spring of 2001, an FBI informant reported that Mandhai was trying to organize a jihad in South Florida to bomb electrical power stations and other sites. Mandhai, law enforcement officials said, told some associates that he had received training from a man he identified only as "the marine" on how to make bombs. Officials said that in April 2001, Mandhai discussed the importance of jihad with seven Arab men, whom they refused to identify, at a meeting in Miramar. That month, they said, he also tried to buy an AK-47 assault rifle at a gun show in Fort Lauderdale for $300, but his credit card was rejected. |
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