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April 13, 2007
U.S. man accused of plot to bomb resorts
U.S. man accused of plot to bomb resorts
A federal grand jury indicted an Ohio man on charges of joining al-Qaida and conspiring to bomb European tourist resorts and U.S. government facilities and military bases overseas, officials announced Thursday.
Christopher Paul, 43, of Columbus, trained with al-Qaida in the early 1990s, the indictment issued Wednesday says.
The indictment says he told al-Qaida members in Pakistan and Afghanistan that he was dedicated to committing violent jihad.
Paul is charged with providing material support to terrorists, conspiracy to provide support to terrorists and conspiracy to use a weapon of mass destruction.
Fred Alverson, spokesman for the U.S. attorney's office in Columbus, said Thursday that he couldn't comment further on the case.
Paul was in the Franklin County Jail late Wednesday after a U.S. District Court hearing was postponed until his attorney, Don Wolery, could be present. Wolery did not immediately return a message seeking comment Thursday morning.
The indictment says Paul traveled to Germany about April 1999 to train co-conspirators to use explosives to attack European and U.S. targets, including government buildings and vacation spots frequented by American tourists.
It does not address specific resorts or buildings that might have been targeted, but it gives U.S. embassies, military bases and consular premises in Europe as examples.
Paul later sent a wire transfer of $1,760 from a financial institution in the U.S. to an alleged co-conspirator in Germany, prosecutors allege.
A fax machine in him home contained names, phone numbers and contact information for key al-Qaida leadership and associates, according to the indictment.
Paul also is accused of storing material at his father's house in Columbus, including a book on improvised land mines, money from countries in the Middle East and a letter to his parents explaining that he would be "on the front lines," according to the indictment.
His sister, Sandra Laws, answered the door at the home and said she and her father live there. She said the family will be speaking to Paul's attorney later Thursday and declined further comment.
Paul was born Paul Kenyatta Laws. He legally changed his name to Abdulmalek Kenyatta in 1989, then to Christopher Paul in 1994, according to the indictment.
After finishing his al-Qaida training in the early 1990s, he returned to Columbus to teach martial arts at a mosque, the indictment said.
Paul is married to a woman named in the indictment as F. Bashir, investigators said. Paul and Jenhawi, who have known each other about a year, attend the same mosque and their daughters play together, Jenhawi said. Paul's daughter is about 9 years old and is homeschooled, he said.
Two other Columbus men have been charged in federal investigators' terrorism investigation. Iyman Faris was sentenced in 2003 to 20 years in prison for a plot to topple the Brooklyn Bridge. Nuradin Abdi, accused of plotting to blow up a Columbus-area shopping mall, is awaiting trial on charges including conspiring to aid terrorists.
Wild Thing's comment..........
OH my gosh, have Nancy or Harry, heard about this,, they should have investigation into an invasion of his privacy...or abuses of the patriot act, something. Don't you just know they would want to.
Posted by Wild Thing at April 13, 2007 12:44 AM
Comments
Nice-he ought to be ashamed of himself.
I guess he doesn't realize that his child might be
killed too if war breaks out on this soil, too.
And homeschooling her keeps her from seeing the rest of the world's viewpoints.
He's a very bad man and something needs to be done about him and people like him.
There is a "special place" in Hell for people like him.
Posted by: Lynn at April 13, 2007 06:25 AM
Lynn, I think so too. Thank you for commenting about this.
Most of the time I don't think about being afraid but when I read stories like this it comes over me in a strong way. How they really have an agenda and are working on it all the time. Things we don't know about, I pray we never do have more attacks. But that is not reality and I know it.
Posted by: Wild Thing at April 14, 2007 12:29 AM
