Terrorists in the Heartland

Columbus, Ohio has become a breeding ground for potential terrorists as well as al-Qaida members. The latest group of men to be accused and detained was three men, one American, one Somali, and one Pakistani. Christopher Paul (43) was born and raised in the United States. He attended high school in Worthington, Ohio where he was a gymnast and then went on to graduated in 1983. Later in his life, Paul converted to Islam and married Frida Bashir who is from England.

The three men that were recently arrested were known to attend the same local mosque as well as meet with each other after prayers. Paul is being accused of not only becoming a member of al-Qaida but training other terrorists on how to construct bombs for attacks on innocent people (mostly Americans) around various European vacation destinations, and for targeting one American citizen whose name was not released. The other two men were accused of making plans for plots with Paul and other al-Qaida members.

However, Paul and his two immigrant friends are not the only members that have been busted in this terrorist cell that was imbedded in the heartland of America. On November 28th, 2003, federal agents detained Nurandin Abdi. Abdi, who is from Somalia, was in the United States illegally, and was arrested for conspiracy to attack a local shopping mall as well as lying to obtain travel documents in order to attend a terrorist training camp in Ethiopia.

Abdi was not the first of the group. Prior to his arrest, the FBI detained Iyman Faris, a Pakistani. Faris admitted to scouting out the Brooklyn Bridge for members of al-Qaida. Faris was a truck driver that lived in Columbus, Ohio and was a known friend of the other aforementioned men as well as an attendee of the same local mosque. Faris, who admitted his acts of terrorism, was sentenced to 20 years in prison, where he is now working on his fourth year.

With the indictment of Paul, federal officials stated that it is a "culmination of a four-year, eight country investigation". The group of men has been potentially linked to a terrorist in France, Karim Medhi, who had plotted an attack on Reunion Island in the Indian Ocean. Medhi is now serving a nine-year sentence in a French prison for his actions.

Paul will be held without bond and if found guilty he faces up to life in prison. Kemp, Paul's attorney scheduled a hearing today, April 13th, where Paul opted not to seek release on bond. Paul's wife, Bashir, and eight year old daughter attended the hearing. Bashir declined to make comments to the dispatch over the accusations and her husband's case. However, she did comment on the local news on how she didn't believe what he was being charged with. She also stated that "they" came into their home and took things without question.

On the other side of the coin, the local ACLU stated that "there is reason to be skeptical of terrorism charges brought by the U.S. government". Also, the local executive director of CAIR stated that the group is "concerned about the fallout the case may have for members of the Muslim community". Whether Paul and the other two men that were recently detained were just in the wrong place at the wrong time is yet to be determined. Obviously the fact that Faris and Abdi have given statements to the FBI about the men will not help their case. Today, Paul pled not-guilty to all three charges brought against him, but the fate of the other two men is still unknown.

The trial for Christopher Paul is scheduled to take place on June 18th. To see the full story of the indictment and the actual indictment papers, go to the sites listed in the links section.

*Sources*

-Columbus Dispatch Online. URL: http://columbusdispatch.com/dispatch/content/local_news/stories/2007/04/13/newterror.html . Mayhood, Kevin and Jodi Andes and John Futty. 2007Apr13.

-NBC4 Columbus Online. URL: http://www.nbc4i.com/midwest/cmh/news.apx.-content-articles-CMH-2007-04-13-0012.html . AP. 2007Apr13.