Plot to attack Jewish and military facilities; Pakistani held
Dated 17/8/2005
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New York, Aug 17. (PTI):A Pakistani national has been arrested in connection with an investigation into a possible plot to attack Jewish and military facilities in California on September 11 to coincide with the anniversary of the 2001 terrorist attacks, officials said today.
The Pakistani national was identified as Hammad Riaz Samara, 21, and was taken into custody on August 2. The plot was hatched inside a cell at the New Folsom State Prison, a maximum-security prison, outside Sacramento in California State.
Law enforcement officials were quoted as saying that Peter Martinez, a former Oakland street gang member, and his cellmate Kevin James organized the plot and recruited as many as 13 other inmates in a jihad against the United States. The two inmates have since been placed in special confinement, according to officials.
It quotes Edward Caden, a retired prison administrator in California as saying "Prisons are a prime, prime target for terrorist recruiting. It is a ripe population." The plot, which called for dozens of casualties as "part of a holy war" against the United States, was foiled after Levar Washington, a former inmate at the Folsom Prison, and his accomplice were arrested for a string of gas station robberies.
A list of potential targets, which included three National Guard facilities in the Los Angeles area, as well as the Israeli Consulate and a couple of synagogues, was found in Washington's home. Media reports quoted law enforcement officials as saying that Samara was arrested after that but his link to the plot was not immediately clear.
