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Somali-Born Teen Plots Car Bombing in US Northwest

   VOA News 27 November 2010
   This  image  provided  by the Mauthnomah County Sheriff's Office shows
   Mohamed  Osman Mohamud, 19, arrested and charged with attempted use of
   a weapon of mass destruction

Photo: AP

   U.S.  prosecutors  say  an  Oregon teenager of Somali descent has been
   arrested  in  an  alleged  terrorist plot to car-bomb a Christmas tree
   lighting  event  in  the  northwestern city of Portland, Oregon Friday
   night.
   Authorities  say  19-year-old  Mohamed  Osman  Mohamud  was taken into
   custody  by  agents  from the Federal Bureau of Investigation after he
   dialed a cell phone intending to detonate a bomb, but instead rang for
   the FBI in a sting operation. Â
   Mohamud   had  earlier  been  given  phony  explosives  by  undercover
   officers, who first learned of his alleged plot last year.
   Prosecutors  say  Mohamud  unwittingly unveiled his plan to undercover
   officers  by  e-mail  several  months  ago,  while  believing  he  was
   contacting an accomplice in Pakistan. Â
   Mohamud  will appear in federal court in Portland Monday on a criminal
   complaint of attempting to use weapons of mass destruction.

   Some information for this report was provided by AP, AFP and Reuters.

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