Free Republic

When Osama bin Laden was banished from Sudan in 1996, he left the country in a rented Soviet jet — an aged and antique Tupolev flown by a Russian pilot he did not trust. With him were a few bodyguards, his military commander, Saif al-Adel, and two sons named Sa’ad and Omar — both young men in their late teens. Although it was the corrupt Islamic government of Sudan that had robbed Osama bin Laden of much of his vast personal wealth, he blamed America for his misfortunes, according to Pulitzer Prize-winner Lawrence Wright. “He held America responsible for the...

Two men from East Elmhurst, Queens have been arrested and charged with plotting to blow up a Manhattan synagogue. Mayor Michael Bloomberg was joined by top city law enforcement officials at City Hall earlier today in announcing the arrests of Ahmed Ferhani, 26, and Mohamed Mamdouh, 20. Ferhani, who is from Algeria, and Mamdouh, was is from Morocco, are both charged with engaging in terrorism, weapons possession and hate crimes. An arraignment is expected later today. Police Commissioner Ray Kelly says the men told undercover officers that they hated Jews and wanted to kill them. He also says they had...

CNN) -- Suspicious packages found in at least two locations abroad that were bound for Jewish organizations in the United States "apparently contain explosive material," President Barack Obama said Friday, calling the discovery "a credible threat against our country." The packages led to increased searches of cargo planes and trucks in several U.S. cities, said law enforcement sources with detailed knowledge of the investigation. U.S. officials believe that al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, commonly referred to as AQAP, is behind the incident. Obama confirmed that the packages originated in Yemen, the stronghold of al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula.

Is it possible that the Bronx Four operated alone, without any connection to foreign terrorists. In an elaborate sting operation, four African-American Muslim men were arrested Wednesday night in New York City for attempting to bomb two synagogues in the Bronx and for conspiring to shoot down military planes at an Air National Guard base in Newburgh, NY. James Cromitie, David Williams, Onta Williams and Laguerre Payen were friends who had met while serving time in prison and it was there that they converted to Islam. The bombs in their possession were fake; supplied to them by an FBI informant...

EXCLUSIVE: Four New York City men were arrested Wednesday in connection with an alleged plot to blow up New York City synagogues and other city locations, WNBC's Jonathan Dienst has learned. Raids by the FBI-NYPD Joint Terrorist Task Force in the Bronx captured the suspected ringleader and three followers in what law enforcement sources are calling a homegrown terrorist plot. Investigators stress the suspects' meetings had been infiltrated early on and there was "no chance" the alleged plot could succeed. Investigators said several of the suspects are Muslims who allegedly talked about destroying two Jewish temples, including at least one...

NEW YORK — For nearly a year, Shahed Hussain would slip into his role as a wealthy Pakistani businessman and head for Newburgh. He was “Maqsood” when he arrived at local mosque Masjid Al-Ikhlas driving a BMW, or maybe Hummer depending on the day. He was there to listen for Islamic extremism and report back to the FBI, he said. Hussain testified on Friday in the federal trial of four Newburgh men accused of trying to shoot down planes at Stewart Air National Guard Base and blow up a synagogue and Jewish center in the Bronx. The men — James...

There has been suprisingly little reportage of the actual details of would-be shopping mall terrorist, Mr. Talib Abu Salam Ibn Shareef's mindset and intentions. So as a public service, here the FBI agent's affidavit (pdf file) in easy to read format. Talib Abu Salam Ibn Shareef STATE OF ILLINOIS)) COUNTY OF COOK)AFFIDAVIT1. I, Jared Ruddy, Federal Bureau of Investigation, being duly sworn, state as follows: I am a Special Agent in the Federal Bureau of Investigation (“FBI”) and have been so employed for more than two years. I am currently assigned to an FBI Counterterrorism squad as well as the...

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Belgian police on Friday arrested a man suspected of trying to blow up a synagogue in what could be the latest in a string of anti-Jewish attacks across Europe linked to violence in the Middle East.Jules Mathieu, a spokesman for the public prosecutor's office, said the man was suspected of having placed five gas bottles in a car and torching it in front of the synagogue in a densely populated area of the southern town of Charleroi.There was no explosion and the blaze was rapidly put out by firefighters based nearby.Several synagogues and Jewish buildings in European...

The Jerusalem Post recently reported that the four Jihadists who recently shot up an Oslo synagogue also planned to kidnap and behead Norway’s Israeli ambassador Miriam Shomrat. Involved were two Pakistani nationals, a Turk and a “Norwegian.” “Sunday’s shooting came less than a week after an Al Qaida plot targeting the site was uncovered,” JihadWatch reported. And now the Kosovo connection....

Homegrown terrorist Jeffrey Leon Battle considered America the “land of the kaffirs,” or unbelievers, and the American people “pigs.” He once lamented to an acquaintance—who happened to be a government informant—that the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks did not sufficiently damage the U.S. economy. “This is the land of the enemy,” he said of his own country in a May 8, 2002, conversation secretly recorded by the government. He explained to a friend how his “burning desire” to become an Islamic martyr had inspired his aborted quest to join forces with al Qaeda in Afghanistan, where he could kill American...

German Arrested in Riyadh for Alleged Al-Qaeda Link M. Ghazanfar Ali Khan, Arab News Staff RIYADH, 6 April 2003 — The German Foreign Office has confirmed the detention of a German national in Saudi Arabia. He was allegedly involved in a terrorist attack on a Tunisian synagogue last year which killed 21 people, including 14 German tourists. The German national has been identified as Christian Ganczarski, a Muslim sometimes known as Abu Ibrahim. Ganczarski, 36, who is also wanted in the US, was arrested in the Kingdom after Germany provided information to the Saudi government. The suspect was arrested and...

Investigators say Ramses Uthman broke into Temple Beth El in the October of 2000 and used a significant amount of gas to set fire to the temple. Federal, state and local officials believed the fire was set intentionally. Last November, Uthman became the prime suspect. They say the 29-year old Palestinian has an extensive criminal record. A trip by authorities to Dearborn, Michigan, one of Uthman's known addresses, turned up information that he had been treated for burns there not long after the temple fire. Investigators say the person who drove Uthman to the temple that night provided information, which...

German investigators say they have evidence that Mohamed Atta, the suspected ringleader of the Sept. 11 attacks, and two accomplices trained at Qaeda camps in Afghanistan from late 1999 to early 2000. They have also established a clear link between Al Qaeda and a recent attack on a Tunisian synagogue, a top official said. The timing of the Afghanistan training, outlined yesterday by a senior investigator, provides the strongest evidence so far that plans for the attacks on the United States were worked out there. Less than six months after leaving Afghanistan, Mr. Atta and the other two men...