Damn it All! ... Religion of Peace Hijacked Again!

An al-Qaida sympathiser has been arrested and charged over an alleged terrorist plot targeting New York police vehicles, postal facilities and US troops returning home from Iraq and Afghanistan.
Herald Sun

New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg said Jose Pimentel, 27, a US citizen of Washington Heights in the northern end of Manhattan, was described as a "lone wolf" and was "not a part of a larger conspiracy".

Pimentel, a native of the Dominican Republic who converted to Islam, has been charged with conspiracy to build a bomb for terrorist purposes.

He had been monitored by police since 2009, NYPD Commissioner Raymond Kelly said at a press conference with Bloomberg, and had decided to build a bomb about August this year as he grew increasingly aggressive.

Pimentel "made even some of his like-minded friends nervous" with his extremism, Kelly said.

Among his outlandish ideas included changing his name to Osama Hussein, in honour of his heroes -- slain al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden and executed Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein.

He relied largely on al-Qaida's Inspire magazine -- founded by US-born radical cleric Anwar al Awlaki, killed this year in a US drone strike -- according to Kelly, in particular "a notorious article entitled 'How to build a bomb in the kitchen of your mom".

Bloomberg said the suspect was motivated by his own resentment of the presence of troops in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The mayor said the man represented exactly the kind of threat US intelligence agencies have warned about.

Pimentel - also known as Muhummad Yusuf - was arrested at 3:30pm on Saturday without incident at his Washington Heights apartment.

"Yesterday afternoon New York city police officers arrested a 27-year-old al-Qaida sympathiser who was plotting to bomb police patrol cars and also postal facilities as well as targeting members of our armed forces returning from abroad," Bloomberg said.

Pimentel allegedly planned to fill home-made bombs with nails and first detonate them in mailboxes, so New Yorkers would know they had been targeted in an act of jihad - Islamic holy war.

Investigators told The New York Times that Pimentel bought bomb-making materials at a 99-cent store and at a Home Depot in the Bronx. He was under surveillance by police when he bought elbow joints, gloves and Christmas lights at the Home Depot.

Authorities built a duplicate of Pimental's alleged device, detonating it at a secure location, and at Sunday's press conference officials showed a video of the device blowing apart a car.

Kelly stressed police never had any intention of allowing Pimentel to create an active bomb - hence the timing of Saturday's raid, as he moved to the next stage of his weapon-building.

Kelly said the death of Awlaki on September 30 might have set Pimentel off and "motivated him and made him increase his tempo quite significantly."

Kelly also said Pimentel had made attempts to visit Yemen and had talked about going "to train for jihad," but never went.

He used to live in Manhattan, then moved for five years to Schenectady in upstate New York, before returning to New York City after his divorce.

Bloomberg lauded additional NYPD resources dedicated to counter-terrorism, saying, "This is just another case where our precautions paid off."

"There have been at least 13 previous terror attacks since 9/11 targeting New York City. This would be the 14th.

Because of such repeated threats, the NYPD remains focused on preventing another terrorist attack," the mayor said.

This case was reminiscent of another "lone wolf" plot in 2004, in which two local residents disgruntled over the treatment of prisoners in Iraq, plotted to plant a bomb in the Herald Square subway station, the mayor added.

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo said the arrest "demonstrates once again the effectiveness and bravery of our men and women in law enforcement."

"As families across our state gather this holiday season, we will continue to remain in close contact with our federal and local law enforcement partners to ensure the safety of all New Yorkers," he added.