Algerian charged over millennium bomb plot
An Algerian man has been charged with helping a terrorist trained by Osama bin Laden in the failed plot to bomb Los Angeles International Airport during millennium celebrations.
US authorities on Thursday served Samir Ati Mohamed, 32, with an extradition warrant. Canadian authorities said Mohamed had been in custody in Vancouver on alleged immigration violations since July.
Authorities filed charges against Mohamed under seal last month. A criminal complaint made public Friday accuses him of trying to get weapons for Ahmed Ressam so Ressam could raise money for the Los Angeles attack by robbing banks.
The plot was foiled when Ressam - who trained in bin Laden-financed terrorist camps in Afghanistan - was arrested entering the country in late 1999 with a trunkload of explosives.
He pleaded guilty and agreed to testify against other terrorism suspects in hopes of reducing a potential 130-year sentence.
Mohamed allegedly agreed ‘‘to get Ressam two hand grenades and a machine gun with a silencer,’’ according to an FBI affidavit.
The complaint also accuses him of working with another man, Mokhtar Haouari, to obtain ‘‘a credit card in an alias for Ressam’s use in connection with his planned terrorist operation and jihad work.’’
Mohamed ended up providing a 9mm semiautomatic pistol with a silencer, knowing Ressam intended a terrorist attack in the United States, court papers said.
Ressam used the pistol in an August 1999 holdup attempt at a Montreal currency exchange, papers said.
The complaint charges Mohamed with two counts of conspiring to commit international terrorism. If convicted, he could receive life in prison.
Ressam became the key witness in a New York trial at which Haouari was convicted of participating in the same plot. Ressam told the court he and Mohamed talked about ‘‘blowing up a neighborhood in Canada where there was an Israeli interest.’’
Mohamed suggested that any bomb ‘‘be implanted in a gasoline truck for a larger and more serious explosion,’’ Ressam testified.
He also said Mohamed and some friends wanted to start their own training camp in Afghanistan.
Haouari, who faces up to 50 years in prison, had been scheduled for sentencing this month.
A judge postponed the sentencing until December 17 after prosecutors revealed Ressam had failed to disclose the Montreal robbery attempt information that the defense could have used to attack his credibility.
Haouari’s lawyer has said he will seek a new trial. No sentencing date for Ressam has been set.
