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In a
rare incidence of good luck, a plan to blow up King Fahd Mosque in
Culver City,
California, U.S.A. was thwarted by the Federal Bureau
of Investigation (FBI).
The
destruction was planned for November 2001, during Ramadan the
holiest month
of
the year. Mr. Usama Mahda, the community liason for King Fahd
Mosque said of the
plot, ”There would have been hundreds and hundreds of people,
American citizens. It is
scary. It’s sad and it’s disgusting. No Muslims,
Jews or Christians should suffer like that.”
Leading the plot against the mosque were top officials from the
militant Jewish
Defense League (JDL). The chairman of the JDL, Irv Rubin and the
West Coast
coordinator, Earl Krugel, were taped and observed planning the crime
by the FBI after an
informant contacted them, revealing plans in motion.
Krugel was taped in his home saying to the informant that Arabs
needed a ‘wake-up call’
and that the JDL needed to do something more militant
to one of the Arabs ‘filthy’ mosques.
A
final meeting towards the execution of the plot was held December
11, 2001.
Upon closure of the meeting, the FBI agents descended upon Krugel
and Rubin,
confiscating 5 pounds of explosive powder, fuses, pipes, dozens of
loaded rifles and
various handguns from the home of Earl Krugel. FBI officials
described the bomb
components as relatively sophisticated.
Rubin and Krugel were arrested and held without bail pending the
arraignment on
December 31 and were indicted on January 10th, 2002 of
conspiring to bomb the King
Fahd
Mosque and the offices of Darrell Issa, an Arab American
congressman. The
charges include conspiracy, conspiracy to use a destructive device,
attempted arson,
attempted arson at a US government facility, possession of a
destructive device in
furtherance of a crime of violence, solicitation to commit a crime
of violence, possession of
a
machine gun and possession of unregistered firearms. If properly
sentenced the two
men could spend a maximum of 35 years in prison.
The
Arab American Anti-Discrimination Committee is hoping that these
indictments will lead to the prosecution of those responsible for
other heinous acts of terrorism and
vigilantism against Arabs and Muslims.
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