News Archive 2005- Federal intelligence sources say
"we have confirmation that al-Qaida and terrorist networks use the Southern U.S.
border as a prime point of entry."
5-8-07 News Synopsis - 6 'Islamic militants' charged in plot to
attack soldiers at Fort Dix, N.J.
Of the 6 - 3 are Muslim illegal aliens. Dritan Duka, Eljvir Duka and
Shain Duka. The terror cell is described by investigators as disciples of Osama Bin Laden.
Among the evidence seized was the downloaded will and testament of two Sept. 11 hijackers.
One of the videos appeared to be the "last will and testament" of two of the
Sept. 11, 2001, hijackers, and another contained "images of Osama bin Laden and other
Islamic extremists making speeches which call the viewer to join the jihadist movement or
holy war.
FORT DIX, N.J. (AP) - Six foreign-born Muslims were arrested and accused of plotting to
attack the army's Fort Dix and massacre scores of U.S. soldiers, a plot investigators say
was foiled when the men took a video of themselves firing assault weapons to a store to
have the footage put onto a DVD.
The defendants, all men in their 20s from the former Yugoslavia and the Middle East,
include a pizza deliveryman suspected of using his job to scout out the military base.
Authorities said there was no direct evidence connecting them to any international terror
organizations such as al-Qaida. But several of the men said they were ready to kill and
die "in the name of Allah," according to court records.
Their goal was "to kill as many soldiers as possible" in attacks with mortars,
rocket-propelled grenades and guns, prosecutors said.
They also allegedly spoke of attacking a navy installation in Philadelphia during the
annual army-navy football game, when the place would be full of sailors, and conducted
surveillance at other military installations in the region.
"This was a serious plot put together by people who were intent on harming
Americans," U.S. Attorney Christopher Christie said. "We're very gratified
federal law enforcement was able to catch these people before they acted and took innocent
life."
Investigators said they infiltrated the group with an informant well over a year ago and
bided their time while they secretly recorded the defendants, five of whom lived in Cherry
Hill, a Philadelphia suburb about 30 kilometres from Fort Dix.
One defendant, Eljvir Duka, was recorded as saying: "In the end, when it comes to
defending your religion, when someone ... attacks your religion, your way of life, then
you go jihad."
The six were arrested Monday night trying to buy AK-47 assault weapons, M-16s and other
weapons from an FBI informant, authorities said.
They appeared in federal court Tuesday in Camden and were ordered held without bail for a
hearing Friday. Five were charged with conspiracy to kill U.S. military personnel; the
sixth was charged with aiding and abetting illegal immigrants in obtaining weapons.
Four of the men were born in the former Yugoslavia, one was born in Jordan and one came
from Turkey, authorities said. All had lived in the United States for years. Three were in
the United States illegally; two had green cards allowing them to stay in this country
permanently; and the sixth is a U.S. citizen.
One suspect spoke of using rocket-propelled grenades to kill at least 100 soldiers,
according to court documents.
"If you want to do anything here, there is Fort Dix and I don't want to exaggerate,
and I assure you that you can hit an American base very easily," Mohamad Ibrahim
Shnewer was recorded as saying last August.
"It doesn't matter to me whether I get locked up, arrested or get taken away,"
Serdar Tatar was quoted as saying. "Or I die, it doesn't matter. I'm doing it in the
name of Allah."
The men trained by playing paintball in the woods in New Jersey and taking target practice
at a firing range in Pennsylvania's Pocono Mountains, where they had rented a house,
authorities said.
They often watched terror training videos, clips featuring Osama bin Laden, a tape
containing the last will and testament of some of the Sept. 11 hijackers, and tapes of
armed attacks on U.S. military personnel.
Asked if those arrested had any links to al-Qaida, White House spokesman Tony Snow said it
appears "there is no direct evidence of a foreign terrorist tie."
In court documents, prosecutors said the suspects came to the attention of authorities in
January 2006 when a shopkeeper alerted the FBI about a "disturbing" video he had
been asked to copy onto a DVD.
The video showed 10 young men in their early 20s "shooting assault weapons at a
firing range ... while calling for jihad and shouting in Arabic 'Allah Akbar' (God is
great)," the complaint said. The 10 included six of those arrested, authorities said.
By March 2006, the group had been infiltrated by an informant who developed a relationship
with Shnewer, and the informant secretly recorded meetings last August, according to court
documents.
One of the suspects, Tatar, worked at his father's pizzeria and made deliveries to the
base, using that opportunity to scout out Fort Dix for an attack, authorities said.
"Clearly, one of the guys had an intimate knowledge of the base from having been
there delivering pizzas," Christie said.
The men also allegedly conducted surveillance at other area military installations,
including Fort Monmouth in New Jersey, Dover Air Force Base in Delaware, and a
Philadelphia Coast Guard station.
Besides Shnewer, Tatar and Duka, the other three men were identified in court papers as
Dritan Duka, Shain Duka and Agron Abdullahu.
Fort Dix is used to train soldiers, particularly reservists. It also housed refugees from
Kosovo in 1999. |
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