Saudi Man Arrested In Texas For Bomb Plot
By VOA
A young Saudi man has been arrested in Texas for allegedly seeking to bomb targets in the United States, including the home of former president George W. Bush.
The U.S. Justice Department says 20-year-old Khalid Ali-M Aldawsari, a Saudi citizen, was arrested late Wednesday on a federal charge of attempted use of a weapon of mass destruction.
A Justice Department statement says Aldawsari had been researching targets and allegedly bought chemicals and equipment necessary to make bombs to carry out a violent act of jihad.
It says investigators tracking his online activity using electronic surveillance report he researched explosives and targets and often e-mailed himself information as part of the process. The Justice Department says an e-mail titled “Tyrant’s House” lists the Texas home of former president Bush.
Aldawsari could face life in prison if convicted. He is to make his first court appearance Friday.
Aldawsari entered the United States lawfully in 2008 on a student visa.
Justice officials say some of the e-mails Aldawsari sent himself contained violent jihadist messages and indicated he sought a particular scholarship in the United States for the purpose committing an attack.
One e-mail allegedly contained a message saying “one operation in the land of the infidels is equal to 10 operations against occupying forces in the land of the Muslims.”
Separately, a U.S. man has been sentenced to 25 years in prison for his support of a Somali terror group. Zachary Chesser was sentenced Thursday in a court near Washington for supporting the al-Shabab terror group and making threats to the creators of the South Park cartoon show for their depiction of the Prophet Muhammad. Chesser pleaded guilty last year.
