The trial of three Ohio men, indicted on terrorism charges for conspiring to recruit and train terrorists to attack Americans troops overseas, is set to begin in Toledo, Ohio, on April 1, 2008.
Mohammad Zaki Amawi, 28, Marwan Othman El-Hindi, 45, and Wassim I. Mazloum, 26, are charged with conspiring to kill or maim Americans abroad and conspiring to provide material support to be used to kill U.S. nationals.
Amawi and El-Hindi, both naturalized U.S. citizens from Jordan, are also charged with two counts of distributing information pertaining to the use of an explosive. In addition, El-Hindi is charged with making false documents and Amawi is charged with two counts of verbally threatening "to kill or to inflict bodily harm upon the President of the United States." If convicted, all three men face up to life in prison.
In November 2004, Mazloum, a permanent U.S. resident from Lebanon, and Amawi met with an undercover informant in Cleveland described in the court documents as "the trainer" to discuss and plan "violent jihad training," according to the indictment. El-Hindi also met with the informant to discuss traveling to the Middle East to help set up a terrorist training camp.
Following those meetings, the informant allegedly taught the three defendants how to shoot guns and build explosives - they practiced target shooting in Swanton, Ohio. Mazloum's brother, Bilal Mazloum, is charged with making false statements to FBI agents about going to an indoor shooting range with his brother.
Amawi and the trainer also watched several terrorist instructional videos, including one entitled "Martyrdom Operation Vest Preparation." The video, which demonstrated how to assemble and use an explosive suicide vest, was widely circulated online by Younis Tsouli (a.k.a. Irhabi007), who in 2007 was sentenced in Britain to 16 years in prison for incitement to commit acts of terrorism via the internet.
Amawi, El-Hindi and Mazloum also conspired to provide materials to "brothers" overseas, including money, training, explosives, communications equipment, computers and personnel, according to the indictment. Amawi told the informant that he was also trying to obtain chemical explosives to send abroad. In August 2005, Amawi and the trainer brought five laptop computers to Jordan, with the intention of giving them to "mujahideen brothers."
Two cousins from Illinois – Zubair Ahmed and Khaleel Ahmed – were arrested and charged in the same plot and will be tried separately. El-Hindi allegedly introduced the Ahmed cousins to the informant. During this meeting, the cousins allegedly discussed sniper tactics, surveillance techniques and said they were willing to travel abroad to carry out terror attacks.
