Three Toledo men — two from Jordan, one from Lebanon — were indicted this morning in federal court on charges that they were conspiring to attack U.S. forces in Iraq as part of a “holy war” that included raising money, and recruiting and training others to fight.
Charged were: Mohammad Zaki Amawi, a Jordanian who lived in Toledo until August; Marwan Othman El-Hindi, a naturalized U.S. citizen born in Jordan; and Wassim I. Mazloum, who lived in Toledo after leaving Lebanon in 2000.
With the help of “trainer,” an unnamed informant who came forward and testified before a federal grand jury with crucial information, federal authorities allege that the trio were training in Ohio to attack targets in the Middle East — including U.S. forces — and had bomb-making and other weapons videos.
Mr. Mazloum operates a car business in Toledo with his brother and the indictment (use arrow down key to navigate PDF pages at bottom of this article) alleges that Mr. Mazloum said he could use his car business “as a cover for traveling in and out of Iraq.”
The men will have initial hearings today in federal courts in Toledo and Cleveland, according to Dave Bauer, assistant U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Ohio.
The indictment spells out that the men began plotting their training in 2004. In August, Mr. Amawi and “the trainer” flew to Jordan with the alleged intent of delivering five laptop computers to “mujadieen ‘brothers.’ ”
State records show Mr. Mazloum registered two car dealerships — City Auto on North Reynolds Road and Ram Auto on Monroe Street.
Yassar Elkechen, contacted at Ram Auto, identified himself as Mr. Mazloum’s uncle. He called the allegations “100 percent false” and said his nephew was a “good boy” who was in the mechanical engineering program at the University of Toledo.
The indictment is unrelated to allegations leveled by the U.S. Treasury department that KindHearts, a local charity, was funneling money to the terrorist groups of Hamas and al-Quaida. The treasury department has frozen KindHearts’ assets amid additional investigation.
However, U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales said the investigation of KindHearts was coordinated with the terror investigation out of the Toledo Joint Terrorism Task Force. The indictment claims that the men considered creating a “dummy” nonprofit organization to raise money for terrorism.
The indictment also alleges Mr. Amawi twice threatened to kill or inflict bodily harm against President Bush. The plot began in November 2004, prosecutors said.
In comments in Washington this afternoon, Mr. Gonzales said the arrest of the three men and their indictment made the country “safer.” He declined to answer whether the investigation was helped by warrantless surveillance.
John Pisotle, deputy director of the FBI, credited the arrests in part on “enhanced surveillance” but did not elabortate during the press conference at th U.S. Department of Justice attended by Mr. Gonzales and Gregory White, U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Ohio.
Read more in later editions of The Blade and toledoblade.com.
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