A Somali-American teenager arrested Friday on suspicion of plotting to bomb a holiday ceremony in Portland, Oregon, told an undercover FBI employee that he wrote articles published in an English-language jihadist magazine, including a story on fitness, an FBI affidavit says.
Mohamed Osman Mohamud, 19, told the undercover operative last summer that he had written articles for the online magazine Jihad Recollections under a pen name, according to an FBI affidavit filed with Mohamud's arrest warrant.
One of the articles Mohamud claimed to have written was "Getting in shape without weights," which was published in the inaugural issue of Jihad Recollections in April 2009, according to the affidavit.
In the article, the author – identified as Ibn al-Mubarak – writes that jihadists must prepare their bodies for war and "train as hard as possible in order to damage the enemies of Allah as much as possible."
The article implores readers to train without weights, in part because using them is "unrealistic for the Mujahid in the front lines anywhere in the world today," and because gyms are not Islamic environments, with their "music, semi-naked women [and] free mixing."
The piece describes stretches and warm-ups before instructing on ways to sculpt one’s legs (suggestions include walking at least 90 minutes a day, doing interval runs, crawling long distances and sitting against a wall for long periods) and strengthen one’s arms (100 to 150 push-ups per day, pull-ups, walking on hands).
"We find that [weights are] ... a major setback for the Americans and the NATO Crusading army as they cannot go to any battlefront without carrying along with them their bench, squat sets and sometimes even their machines," the article says.
U.S. authorities say Mohamud was arrested in connection with a plan to detonate what he believed to be a vehicle bomb at Portland's Christmas tree lighting on Friday night. He attempted to detonate the device, which was a fake planted by authorities in an undercover operation designed to undermine him, the Justice Department said.
A resident of Corvallis, Oregon, and a student at Oregon State University, Mohamud was arrested on suspicion of attempting to use a weapon of mass destruction, the FBI said. He will make his initial appearance Monday in federal court in Portland, the Justice Department said.
The arrest was the culmination of a long-term undercover operation during which Mohamud, a naturalized U.S. citizen from Somalia, was monitored closely as the alleged plot developed, the Justice Department said. Mohamud made the article claim to an operative involved in that undercover operation, according to the affidavit.
Mohamud said he wrote two other articles for Jihad Recollections, and that he also sent an article to another jihadist publication, Inspire, according to the affidavit. The court document does not identify those articles.
U.S. counterterrorism officials have said Jihad Recollections was produced by former North Carolina resident Samir Khan, who those officials now say they believe is living in Yemen. Intelligence officials also suspect Khan is the driving force behind Inspire.
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everyone has lots of opinions about what has happened, should happen, what is right and what is wrong. The real question is... what are you going to do about it?
The guy who tipped off the FBI about this guy did something.
If everyone cared and stood up for themselves and others, and talked to other people, even strangers about things they see then there would be less chance for people like this guy to slip through the cracks.
There is no terrorism in Islam. 'Islamic terrorism' is an oxymoron.
“The taking of one innocent life is like taking all of Mankind… and the saving of one life is like saving all of Mankind.” – Holy Qur’an, 5:33
Screw the Military/Industrial complex!!!!
U.S. out of Afghanistan now!!!!!
Bring our troops home!!!!!!!
Guys,
you got it all wrong. Muslims are not worshiping a profit of god, but my dog.. muhammed. God be praised that Muhammed is in good health and presently striking down the infidel's; darn cats!
" Slay the infidels wherever you find them". –Sura 2:191 " Allah is the enemy of unbelievers". - Sura 2:161
@mimichigan...."Military/Industrial complex" is old-school and went out with Eisenhower. Nowaday's we call it corporate fascism. Thought you might like to know! smile (just kidding. both terms work equally well)
Remember back in 2007 when the PEW Research Group reported that:
"1 in 4 (26%) U.S. Young Muslims OK with Homicide Bombings Against Civilians."
Come on people...what do you expect from this cult ideology called Islam?!?!
And that is just for Muslims living HERE in this country...not some Islamic arm pit like the Middle East!
Think about it...Mohamed Osman Mohamud is just your typical jihadist following Islam as his terrorist prophet intended. He is simply being a "good" Muslim, nothing less!
I smell a patsy!
I cant believe you people are ripping on phil so bad... GO PHIL!! too bad most of the country is as ignorant as most of the people on here.
So many haters on here too... You haters are just as bad as the jihadists !
Profiling in airports will help nobody, all a terrorist would have to do is ask a friend to carry the bag for him then. Look at how a pregnant woman named Anne Murphy was arrested in Israel 20 years ago for trying to smuggle in a bomb for her boyfriend. Profiling doesn't work, both the NYPD and Israel tried it and concluded it a failure.
What? How do these loosely associated ideas connect?
FBI catches a naturalized citizen, of which there are millions that peacefully contribute to our society, many of whom are Muslim. And somehow you wrap TSA and the president into this?
This boy represents a bad apple. There are others out there, both inside and outside the US borders. Just be thankful he was caught.
The TSA was your buddy warmonger Bush's idea....Remember, or are ya too dumb to think back that far?
Um, just one thing... THEY CAUGHT HIM. Before he DID ANYTHING. This undercover operation did absolutely everything right. This is a major success story for homeland security. If you want to, you can criticize the President and TSA and whoever else crosses your mind - but it doesn't make sense to criticize them with regards to THIS story.