Somali Charged with Plotting to Blow Up Ohio Mall
A Somali man living in Ohio was charged with plotting with al Qaeda supporters to blow up a shopping mall in Columbus, Ohio, Attorney General John Ashcroft said on Monday. According to an indictment unsealed in Columbus, Ohio, on Monday, Nuradin Abdi, 32, attended a camp in Ethiopia for military-style training in “preparation for violent jihad.” Ashcroft said after receiving his training in Africa, Abdi returned to the United States and he and others “initiated a plot” to blow up a Columbus area shopping mall. “The American heartland was targeted for death and destruction by an al Qaeda cell which allegedly included a Somali immigrant who will now face justice,” Ashcroft told reporters. In the indictment handed up by a grand jury in Columbus, Abdi was charged with conspiracy to provide material support to al Qaeda and with obtaining and using fraudulent travel documents. Full Story