[size=4]FBI: Va. Men Planned Israel Attack[/size=4]
By TED BRIDIS, Associated Press Writer, 03-26-2002

WASHINGTON (AP) - Two men under federal investigation for possible ties to terrorist groups were denied entry to Israel in December after one was carrying a letter that the FBI believes indicated they planned to commit a suicide attack there, according to sworn court papers.

The papers, made public by the FBI Tuesday, accused one of the two men, Mohammed Osman Idris, 24, of Annandale, Va., of lying to a grand jury. He and his traveling companion, identified as Mohammed El-Yacoubi of Fairfax, Va., were stopped by authorities in New York while trying to fly to Jerusalem, the papers said.

In the documents filed in U.S. District Court in suburban Alexandria, Va., the FBI said that El-Yacoubi was carrying a four-page letter, written in Arabic, apparently from his younger brother, Abdalmuhssin El-Yacoubi, a student at the University of Virginia at Charlottesville, Va.

The pair also was carrying $2,000 in cash, a cellular telephone, a compass, calculator and [b]video camera[/b], the bureau said in its affidavit.

Although U.S. investigators allowed them to board the El Al flight from JFK International Airport in New York, authorities in Israel denied them entry, and they were forced to return to the United States, the papers said.

The affidavit quoted a passage from what it described as a suspicious letter: [b]"When I heard what you are going to carry out, my heart was filled with the feeling of grief and joy because you are the closest human being to my heart."[/b]

The letter also said: "It is incumbent upon me to encourage you and help you, because Islam urges Jihad for the sake of Allah," according to the FBI.

"I believe that Abdalmuhssin drafted this extraordinary letter to his brother under these circumstances because, based on his conversations with Mohammed, he believed that his brother was about to engage in terrorist activity that he might not survive," wrote FBI Special Agent John V. Wyman, in the affidavit, submitted in support of a criminal complaint.

See article at:[url]http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=514&u=/ap/20020326/ap_on_re_us/attacks_terrorism_4[/url]

Eric The(Astounded-YetAnotherVideoCamera!)Hun[>]:)]

Lots of people carry videocameras on trips.  They're called "tourists". [;)]

Uh-huh.

That's true.

But so what?

Mohammad Atta had tickets and some luggage. Was he a tourist, too?

Eric The(Realistic)Hun[>]:)]

Hey, you're the one who drew attention to the fact that these guys were carrying a video camera -- you tell me!

BTW, if they were terrorists, flying on El Al was quite a gutsy/dumb move, wasn't it?  

Post from renamed -

I believe them to be precisely what the FBI and the Israelis think that they are - potential suicide bombers.

Do you think they are [u]likely[/u] suicide bombers? If not, why not?

If they are, then they are certainly carrying the tools of the trade: cell phone, compass, and video camera.

In the hands of an elderly Jewish woman from Florida visiting her grandchildren on a [i][b]kibbutz[/b][/i], no problem!

In the hands of two Middle Eastern young men with a very strange letter in their possession, well, what do you think?

I [u]know[/u] what the FBI and the Israelis think.

What do you think the average IQ of a suicide bomber must be anyway? [:D]

The 'delivery system' of such a weapon is most likely the least intelligent part of the total package!

Eric The(ButThoseUbiquitousVideoCameras!)Hun[>]:)]