3 Muslims arrested in US

Three men have been arrested and charged with plotting terrorist attacks against U.S. and coalition troops in Iraq and other countries.

Mohammad Zaki Amawi, 26, Marwan Othman El-Hindi, 42, and Wassim I. Mazloum, 24, were charged with conspiring to kill or injure people in the Middle East and with providing the “support and resources” to do so.

Two of the men were arrested in Toledo, Ohio, and the third was arrested in Jordan and brought back to Ohio.

A federal grand jury has indicted Toledo-area residents Mohammad Zaki Amawi, Marwan Othman El-Hindi, and Wassim Mazloum on a total of five counts for alleged terrorist activities. Here is a summary of the federal indictment:

• COUNT 1: Conspired to kill or maim people outside of the United States. Mr. Amawi, Mr. El-Hindi, and Mr. Mazloum watched, downloaded, and talked about “jihadist” training material. Mr. Amawi attempted to obtain chemical explosives and smuggle laptop computers into the Middle East. Potential sentence if convicted: Life imprisonment for conspiring to kill; 35 years in prison for conspiring to maim and a $250,000 fine. If convicted and released from prison, deportation of Mr. Mazloum, a Lebanese citizen.

• COUNT 2: Conspired to provide material support and resources for killing a U.S. national. All three defendants attempted to use “money, training, explosives, communications equipment, computers,” and themselves to wage jihad against the U.S. military and coalition forces in Iraq. Potential sentence if convicted: 15 years in prison, $250,000 fine. If convicted and released from prison: deportation of Mr.
Mazloum, a Lebanese citizen.

• COUNT 3: Distributed information about an explosive device. Mr. Amawi downloaded a video for suicide bombers entitled “Martyrdom Operation Vest
Preparation” and distributed it via a computer disk.
Potential sentence if convicted: two years and nine months in prison.

• COUNT 4: Threatened to kill or inflict bodily harm upon the President. Mr. Amawi verbally threatened to kill President Bush in the presence of another person.
Potential sentence if convicted: one year and four months in prison.

• COUNT 5: Threatened the President.
Mr. Amawi threatened to kill President Bush in the presence of another person. Potential sentence if convicted: one year and four months in prison.

Also in Toledo, a charity called KindHearts had its assets frozen by the U.S. Treasury Department. The charity is accused of funneling money to terrorist organizations in the Middle East.