What is it about Pakistani-Americans? So many of these so-called American citizens are waging jihad against the country which welcomed them and offered unlimited opportunity to them and their families. But there now is a list as long as my arm of American-born muslims of Pakistani descent who have been caught plotting to blow up American interests in the homeland.
This is the latest example:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/oct/27/washington-alleged-terror-plot-arrestMan held over 'terror plot' on Washington DC subway
Pakistani-American charged with attempting to help al-Qaida plan attack which would have involved multiple bombingsA Pakistani-American was charged today with plotting a terrorist attack near Washington DC that would have targeted the capital's subway system and could have led to mass casualties.
The FBI said the man, who lived in Ashburn, Virginia, about 30 miles from Washington, was caught in a sting operation and believed that he was dealing with al-Qaida operatives who were in fact FBI agents.
Farooque Ahmed, 34, who was born in Pakistan and later became a US citizen, is accused of attempting to provide material support to al-Qaida and collecting information to help in planning a terrorist attack on the subway that would have involved multiple bombings.
He was arrested earlier today and charged in Alexandria, Virginia. If convicted, he faces up to 50 years in jail. The attacks were to have been carried out next year.
The arrest will renew fears in the US that the biggest threat to national security comes not from groups operating outside the country but from homegrown terrorists.
The FBI, who began watching him in April, said that at a meeting with agents that he believed were al-Qaida he agreed to carry out surveillance of the Arlington subway station, which is in Virginia and is part of Washington's metro transport system.
The FBI said that at a meeting on September 28 Ahmed offered suggestions for planting explosives on trains.
The US assistant attorney general for national security, David Kris, said: "Today's case underscores the need for continued vigilance against terrorist threats and demonstrates how the government can neutralize such threats before they come to fruition. Farooque Ahmed is accused of plotting with individuals he believed were terrorists to bomb our transit system, but a co-ordinated law enforcement and intelligence effort was able to thwart his plans."