Feds: Student made bombing how-to video

By MEG KINNARD Associated Press Writer
Article Launched: 09/27/2007 06:05:29 PM MDT


Ahmed Abdellatif Sherif Mohamed, smiles at the cameras during... (AP Photo/Mary Ann Chastain/FILES)«1»COLUMBIA,



S.C.—A college student facing a terrorism-related charge made a video showing how to detonate explosives using a remote-controlled toy, and the demonstration was uploaded to a popular Web site before he was arrested, according to court documents.
Ahmed Abdellatif Sherif Mohamed, who was indicted last month on federal charges, told authorities he made the video "to assist those persons in Arabic countries to defend themselves against the infidels invading their countries," according to an FBI agent's sworn statement filed Tuesday.

Mohamed said "he considered American troops, and those military forces fighting with the American military, to be invaders of Arab countries," according to the statement.

Mohamed attorney Lionel Lofton did not immediately respond to an e-mail or telephone message seeking comment.

The video was uploaded to YouTube, according to court documents, but it was not clear whether it was ever publicly viewed. A company spokeswoman said Thursday there was no way to verify if the video had ever appeared on the site.

Mohamed, 24, and Youssef Samir Megahed, 21, both engineering students at the University of South Florida, were indicted last month on federal charges of transporting explosives across state lines. Authorities say they were found early that month with several pipe bombs in their car near a South Carolina Navy base.

The men have claimed the explosive materials were for homemade fireworks. On Thursday, Megahed's attorney said his client didn't even know the materials were in the vehicle.

Mohamed, a native of Kuwait, is in the U.S. on a student visa. Megahed is a permanent U.S. resident from Egypt. Both remain in custody.

Mohamed also faces a terrorism-related charge, which could be traced to the 12-minute video authorities found on a laptop computer when the men were stopped near the sprawling Charleston Naval Weapons Station, which houses a military prison where enemy combatants have been held.

In the video, Mohamed speaks in Arabic and "shows how a remote-control toy vehicle is constructed and operated, and gives instructions as to the range and distance the remote will operate," according to the FBI agent who searched the car. The video's narrator also explains how to convert the vehicle into a detonator, according to the affidavit.

The sworn statement also detailed what was in the 2000 Toyota Camry: 20 feet of fuse, a box of .22-caliber bullets, a drill, several gallons of gasoline, PVC piping and gun powder.

That's enough to do considerable harm, said Michael Hopmeier, a mechanical engineer who has worked with the federal government on counterterrorism.

"It basically depends on how you used it," said Hopmeier, president of a Florida-based engineering consulting firm, Unconventional Concepts Inc. "Four gallons of gasoline, some black powder and cord, if you go and you stick it on top of a control valve that is part of a major facility, you could really cause some damage."

Prosecutors are appealing a judge's ruling that Megahed may be released on $200,000 bail if his immediate family surrenders their passports and he doesn't have access to the Internet.

——





http://www.lcsun-news.com/apcontent/ci_7018189