Israel Matzav

7 Muslims arrested in North Carolina planned terror attacks in Israel

Seven men - who just happen to be Muslims - have been arrested in North Carolina and charged with planning terror attacks, including in Israel.

The indictment said Boyd, a US citizen, trained in Afghanistan and fought there between 1989 and 1992 before returning to the United States. Court documents charged that Boyd, also known as 'Saifullah,' encouraged others to engage in jihad.

Boyd's faith was so brash that, this year, he stopped attending worship services in the Raleigh area and instead began meeting for Friday prayers in his home.

"This is not an indictment of the entire Muslim community," Holding said. "These people had broken away because their local mosque did not follow their vision of being a good Muslim."

In 1991, Boyd and his brother were convicted of bank robbery in Pakistan - accused of carrying identification showing they belonged to the radical Afghan guerrilla group, Hezb-e-Islami, or Party of Islam. They were each sentenced to have a foot and a hand cut off for the robbery, but the sentenced was later overturned.

The wives of the men told The Associated Press in an interview at the time they were glad the truth about their husbands had finally become known. The wives said the couples had US roots but the United States was a country of "kafirs" - Arabic for heathens.

Jim Stephenson, a neighbor of Patrick Boyd in Willow Spring, said he saw the Boyd family walking their dog in the neighborhood. He said the indictment shocked the residents.

"We never saw anything to give any clues that something like that could be going on in their family," Stephenson said.

Hey folks - please open your eyes and look around you, before it's too late.

Two of the suspects are Boyd's sons: Zakariya Boyd, 20 and Dylan Boyd, 22. The others are Anes Subasic, 33; Mohammad Omar Aly Hassan, 22; and Ziyad Yaghi, 21.

Hysen Sherifi, 24, a native of Kosovo and a US legal permanent was also charged in the case. He was the only person arrested who was not a US citizen.

All were residents of North Carolina. No attorneys for the men were listed in court records.

Reached at her home in Silver Spring, Maryland, Boyd's mother said she had not heard of their arrests and knew nothing about the current case.

"It certainly sounds weird to me," Pat Saddler said. "That's news to me."

Boyd himself is 39....

The indictment claims Boyd traveled to Israel in 2007 with several of the defendants, hoping to engage in "violent jihad." The attempt was unsuccessful, though, and the men returned home, officials said.

I guess they hadn't hooked up with the ISM.

Not all Muslims are terrorists but it sure seems like all terrorists are Muslims.

UPDATE 10:23 AM

Al-Reuters reports that the group was planning attacks in Kosovo, Jordan and the Gaza Strip, but not in the United States. It also adds this little tidbit:

Additionally, the indictment accused Boyd and several of the others in the group with practicing with weapons they acquired -- mostly rifles and armor-piercing bullets according to the U.S. official -- and trying out military-style maneuvers.

The Washington Post, which reports that Boyd returned to the US from Afghanistan three years ago and started recruiting the rest of the group, also has more details on what the JPost described as a 2007 trip to Israel.

Several of the defendants traveled to the Gaza Strip, Jordan and Israel in 2006 and 2007, as conflict in the region escalated, the indictment said. Israeli forces and Palestinian militants waged a series of battles in Gaza in the summer of 2006, and Israel briefly invaded Lebanon in July 2006 after rocket attacks by Hezbollah militants. But most defendants appear to have been turned away from the fighting and did not inflict casualties, according to court papers.

Most but not all? Hmmm.

WaPo also reports that they were using AK-47's and M-14's and M-16's. Those are serious weapons.

And tinally, WaPo adds this:

Boyd is also charged with lying to customs and FBI agents two years ago about the purpose of his visit to Israel. The indictment mentions conversations between Boyd and another defendant who shared his views, and e-mail messages that Boyd sent to a third defendant that "extolled the virtues" of dying a martyr.

Members of the group "radicalized" younger converts to believe that "violent jihad was a personal obligation on the part of every good Muslim," the indictment said. The defendants, who include Boyd's sons Zakariya and Dylan, could all face life imprisonment if convicted.

The name of at least one other defendant appeared to be redacted in the indictment. A search is ongoing, another government official said.

Hmmm.

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 7:31 AM