Post by vinjak on Aug 3, 2009 21:16:05 GMT -5
MIAMI (Reuters) - U.S. authorities Monday revealed the identity of an eighth suspect in an alleged plot by a North Carolina group to carry out terrorist attacks overseas.
Jude Kenan Mohammad was charged along with seven others with conspiracy to provide material support to terrorists and conspiracy to murder, kidnap, maim and injure people, according to an indictment unsealed by a U.S. District Court in North Carolina.
When the charges were made public last week, only seven of the suspects were named.
Prosecutors allege that the group's ringleader, Daniel Patrick Boyd, trained in terrorist camps in Pakistan and Afghanistan from 1989 to 1992. They say he fought in Afghanistan against the Soviet Union, and used that experience to set up his own organisation to train fighters and plot attacks abroad.
The United States has been on heightened security alert since the September 11 attacks in 2001, when al Qaeda militants using hijacked jetliners killed 2,749 people. U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder warned last week of the increased "radicalisation" of Americans in recent months.
The indictment alleges Boyd and others travelled to Gaza, Israel, Jordan, Pakistan and Kosovo to plan or engage in attacks.
Prosecutors said there no indication the group was connected to any international militant organisation or plotted any attacks in the United States. The indictment did not accuse the group of carrying out any attacks.
Those indicted beside Boyd and Mohammad were Hysen Sherifi, Anes Subasic, Zakariya Boyd, Dylan Boyd, Mohammad Omar Aly Hassan and Ziyad Yaghi.
Seven of the eight are U.S. citizens. Sherifi, a native of Kosovo, is a legal permanent resident of the United States, according to the indictment.
A court hearing in the case was scheduled for Tuesday.
(Reporting by Jim Loney)
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