UPDATED: May 8 (Bloomberg) -- U.S. authorities arrested six men identified as ``Islamic radicals'' on charges of plotting to kill American soldiers at the Fort Dix Army base in New Jersey. The men were arrested last night and charged with conspiring to use machine guns and other weapons in a planned attack that was thwarted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation. They scouted military bases, trained with weapons and discussed killing soldiers, according to a complaint filed in federal court in Camden, New Jersey.
``There is no evidence that they received direction from an international terrorism organization,'' White House spokesman Tony Snow said today. ``There is no direct evidence of a foreign terrorist plot.'' | Another case of SJS = Sudden Jihad Syndrome |
The arrests followed a 15-month undercover investigation by the FBI that began after an individual went to a retail store seeking to make a copy of a DVD depicting 10 young men shooting assault weapons while shouting ``God is Great'' in Arabic, according to a complaint filed yesterday in Camden. On Jan. 31, 2006, a store official notified the FBI about the DVD, the complaint said. Federal agents used two informants to record meetings and phone calls with the suspects as they weighed attacks on several military bases before settling on Fort Dix, the complaint said. The base, in central New Jersey, is located about 20 miles from the state capital in Trenton.
Four of the suspects were born in the former Yugoslavia, one is from Jordan and another from Turkey, according to Michael Drewniak, a spokesman for U.S. Attorney Christopher Christie. The six men are scheduled for an initial appearance today in Camden federal court. Christie will hold a news conference at 2:30 p.m. in Camden.
One of the FBI informants, identified in the complaint as CW-1, developed a relationship with Mohamad Shnewer, one of the accused men, federal authorities said. Shnewer gave the informant a DVD with ``various jihadist images,'' according to the complaint. Shnewer told the informant to review two other video files stored on his laptop computer, including ``what appears to be the last will and testament of at least two of the hijackers'' involved in the terror attacks on Sept. 11, 2001, the complaint said. Another video showed ``images of Osama bin Laden and other Islamic extremists making various speeches in which the speakers call the viewer to join the jihadist movement,'' court papers said.
Besides Shnewer, the complaint identifies the suspects as Serdar Tatar, Dritan Duka, Eljvir Duka, Shain Duka, and Agron Abdullahu. The alleged conspirators believed that Abdullahu was a sniper in Kosovo and that CW-1 had experience in the Egyptian military, the complaint said. Shnewer showed the other informant, CW-2, ``a number of videos'' on his laptop that ``depicted armed attacks on and the killing of United States military personnel,'' the complaint said.
At meetings with CW-1 in early August, Shnewer said that he, Tatar and the three Dukas were part of a group planning to attack a U.S. military base, specifically Fort Dix, and a nearby naval base, the complaint said. Schnewer said six or seven jihadists could kill at least 100 soldiers by using rocket-propelled grenades or other weapons, and that they could train in the Pocono Mountains in Pennsylvania, according to court papers. ``Shnewer also said that he and others in the group had saved money to pay for the weapons and that they were not afraid to die,'' the complaint said.
A few days later, CW-2 asked Shnewer ``what made him think of Fort Dix as a target,'' the complaint said. Shnewer replied: ``My intent is to hit a heavy concentration of soldiers.'' In mid-August 2006, Shnewer and CW-1 scouted the Lakehurst Naval Air Station in New Jersey and the Dover Air Force Base in Delaware, the complaint said.
The informants recorded many conversations with the Dukas as they discussed plans to buy rocket-powered grenades and machine guns, the complaint said. Tatar told CW-1 that he would get a map of Fort Dix from his father's pizzeria near the facility. The Duka brothers rented a house in Gouldsboro, Pennsylvania, and traveled there in early February with Abdullahu to practice firing the weapons, the complaint said.
CW-2 met with Dritan and Shain Duka on March 10, when the informant asked about Tatar, the complaint said. ``Shain Duka explained that Tatar wanted to join the U.S. Army so that he could kill U.S. soldiers from the `inside,''' the complaint said. ``When CW-2 asked about Tatar again, Dritan Duka remarked, `He had only one mind, how to kill American soldiers.''' The Dukas later said that, ``rather than waging jihad overseas, they could do so in the United States,'' the complaint said.
The case is USA v. Dritan Duka, 07-m-2046, U.S. District Court, District of New Jersey (Camden). |