Sunday
16 Sep 2007
USF Terror Suspect Had Two Passports, Different Names
By Annie Jacobsen in category The Al-Qaeda Threat
The St. Petersburg Times offers new details on University of South Florida terror suspects Ahmed Mohamed and Youssef Megahed (Egyptian transliteration: "Mujahid"). In addition to providing details about the explosives, ammunition, fuses, gasoline, bomb making instructions and martyr-referencing video that the pair were carrying when they were pulled over by police for speeding, the Times provides alarming details about Megahed's travel documents. These details include:
- Megahed had two different passports at his house: one with his photograph and name and a second passport with his photograph and a different name.
- On July 29th, one week before being arrested, Megahed and his brother went to Sears and had additional passport-sized photographs taken of themselves.
- Megahed was denied naturalization in March of 2006 because he'd not spent the requisite calendar days in the United States. During a five-year period, from 1998-2003, Megahed spent 1,600 of those days in Egypt (out of a total of 1,825 days).
- Authorities cited Megahed's travels to Saudi Arabia, Nigeria, and Canada to support their argument that he's a flight risk.
As I have written in my book, Terror in the Skies, Why 9/11 Could Happen Again, terrorists' travel documents reveal a wealth of information. Mala fide travelers move across international borders carrying fraudulent and/or manipulated passports and visas so as to evade authorities and avoid watch lists. What was Megahed doing with two passports with the same photograph but different names — and why did he need more passport photos of himself?
Megahed's co-conspirator in the bomb plot, Ahmed Mohamed, reportedly has a terror past in Egypt. Why wasn't Mohamed watch-listed? And if he was watch-listed, then how did he obtain a student visa with the blessing of the US State Department?
Sixteen days ago, I called Maura Harty's Office in search of an answer. Harty resides over the State Department's Bureau of Consular Affairs and it is her office that is tasked with preventing mala fides such as Mohamed from coming to America under the auspices of being a student. I'm still waiting for an answer.
Anyone interested in reading more about how terrorists travel should read the Monograph on 9/11 and Terrorist Travel.
Photo credit: Mary Ann Chastain, Associated Press. ABC News caption: Youssef Samir Megahed, 21, stands as co-defendent Ahmed Abdellatif Sherif Mohamed, 24, looks on during a bond hearing Aug. 6, 2007, at the Berkeley County Court House in Moncks Corner, S.C. The two Egyptian students from the University of South Florida were indicted Friday Aug. 31, 2007, on charges of carrying explosive materials across states lines and Mohamed was accused of teaching Megahed how to use them for violent reasons.)