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THURSDAY, JULY 22, 2010
Bomb near Iraq mosque kills 15; U.S. soldier dies in road blast
by Ernesto Londoño and Hassan Shimmary
baghdad — A car bomb out- side a mosque killed at least 15 people and a U.S. soldier was killed in a roadside bombing in separate attacks Wednesday in northern Iraq, American and Iraqi officials said. The two incidents in Diyala province underscored the sever- ity of Iraq’s security challenges as U.S. forces prepare to nominally end their combat mission next month and Iraqi politicians con- tinue a months-long fight over who will govern the country. The bombing near the mosque happened about 5:30 p.m. in Abu Saida, a village northeast of the provincial capital, Baqubah, offi- cials said. The mosque is close to a popu-
The clowns’ pilgrimage
lar outdoor market and several coffee shops, and the area was crowded at the time of the explo- sion because worshipers were leaving evening prayers, Mayor Kareem al-Sraiwi said. Mohammed Najem, who was among the 30 people wounded in the blast, said he visits the area every day after work. “I say frankly the reason for this is the politicians because they are fighting for seats and we are dying before their eyes,” he said. “They don’t do anything, just condemn and denounce.” Iraqi politicians have been ar- guing over who is entitled to form the incoming government since the March elections, an im- passe that could drag on for months. In recent days, the top vote-
getter, former prime minister Ayad Allawi, has held meetings
with Prime Minister Nouri al- Maliki, who leads the second- largest coalition. Allawi also met with Shiite cleric Moqtada al- Sadr, who earned kingmaker sta- tus after the political wing of his movement made a strong show- ing in the vote. There were no signs that either
meeting led to a breakthrough. In Washington, the top U.S. commander in Iraq told report- ers Wednesday that the political crisis would not affect plans to re- duce the number of U.S. troops here by the end of next month. “I feel very comfortable that we will be at 50,000 probably by the last week of August,” Gen. Ray Odierno said during a press brief- ing at the Pentagon.
londonoe@washpost.com
Shimmary, a special correspondent, reported from Baqubah.
EDUARDO VERDUGO/ASSOCIATED PRESS
A clown attends Mass on Wednesday at the Basilica of Guadalupe in Mexico City. Hundreds of clowns ended their annual pilgrimage to the basilica to pay their respects to the Virgin of Guadalupe.
Oakton High graduate charged with trying to join terrorist group
arrest from A1
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the latest in a wave of homegrown terrorist suspects. Thirty-four Americans have been charged by U.S. authorities since January 2009 with direct involvement in international terrorism. The list includes would-be Times Square bomber Faisal Shahzad. Chesser, who was identified with a terrorist group for the first time, is charged with trying to join al-Shabab. There’s no indica- tion that he carried out any act of terrorism. But counterterrorism analysts warn that his evolution from propagandist to alleged terrorist-enlistee exemplifies the growing trend of young Amer- icans whose passports and ap- pearance make them valued po- tential operatives. Another recent example in- cludes five young men from the Alexandria area who were con- victed in Pakistan of trying to join the fight against the United States in Afghanistan. Many of the sus- pects contacted al-Qaeda or relat- ed groups in Pakistan, Afghani- stan, Yemen and other countries via the Internet, and slipped away from their families. “The significance of this case is the proliferation of U.S. citizens who are becoming radicalized — eating and drinking up propagan- da and taking steps on behalf of terrorist causes,” said a federal law enforcement official who spoke on condition that he not be named because he is not author- ized to speak to the media. Chesser was scheduled to ap- pear in court Thursday morning, and court records listed no attor- ney. Megan Chesser, his step- mother, said the family would not comment. Relatives of his wife also declined to comment. Chesser, a George Mason Uni-
versity dropout whose parents live in Centreville, told the FBI that he only recently became reli- gious and grew a beard, took the name Abu Tallah Al-Amrikee and married a Muslim woman in 2009, according to court papers. He allegedly looked to online vid- eos, chats and over-the-counter CDs “almost obsessively,” before creating a stream of YouTube sites, blogs and postings spread-
ing the call “to fight jihad,” the pa- pers say. In particular, he said he ex-
changed e-mails directly with the Yemeni cleric Anwar al-Aulaqi, who helped direct Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab’s attempt to blow up a Detroit-bound plane on Christmas. U.S. authorities have designated the U.S.-born Aulaqi as a global terrorist and targeted him for killing. In a July 13, 2009, e-mail sent from his GMU account and ob- tained by court order, Chesser asked Aulaqi “for an interpreta- tion” of two dreams he had, ex- plaining that he “had prayed to Allah to let him be in Al-Shabaab.” In an October 2009 diary entry obtained through a search war- rant at his home, Chesser wrote, “I ask Allah to make [my writings] a source of inspiration as well as a real-life ‘how-to-guide’ on how to reach the fields of Jihad.” He said he stopped talking with his mother, who received death threats for his “South Park” post- ing, while his mother-in-law hid his wife’s passport to prevent her from going overseas with him. “These allegations underscore the need for continued vigilance against homegrown terror threats,” U.S. Attorney Neil H. MacBride said in a statement. “We can’t fight terrorists alone,” said Shawn Henry, assistant di- rector in charge of the FBI’s Wash- ington Field Office. “Religious leaders of all faiths, family mem- bers and particularly the younger members of our communities need to speak up and speak out against individuals who partici- pate in actions like those alleged here.” In April, Chesser wrote about “South Park’s” creators on the Revolution Muslim blog, posting, “We have to warn Matt [Stone] and Trey [Parker] that what they are doing is stupid and they will probably wind up like Theo Van Gogh,” a Dutch filmmaker killed in 2004 after he attacked the treatment of women in Islamic so- ciety. “This is not a threat, but a warning of the reality of what will likely happen to them,” he wrote. Court filings do not say what first drew Chesser to the FBI’s at-
tention. But he was interviewed by Special Agent Paula G. Menges in May and June 2009. Chesser told her that he had created You- Tube sites such as AlQuranWaAla- Hadeeth and Themujahid-
blog.com, and posted numerous videos and chats advocating his desire to “LearnTeachFightDie” for Islam, as one of his usernames stated, according to court papers. Chesser had tried to travel to Somalia via Kenya in November 2009 to join al-Shabab but decid- ed against it because his mother- in-law hid the passport belonging to his wife, Proscovia Nzabanita, the court papers say. After being told he was on the no-fly list July 10, Chesser was re- leased. It is not clear where he went, but he contacted Menges again July 14, saying he had planned to join al-Shabab but had a “change of heart” after the Ugandan bombings, the court pa- pers say. Chesser said he planned to trav-
el to Uganda by way of Dubai and Ethiopia, and from there, go to Kenya and bribe a border guard for as little as $20 to enter Soma- lia, court papers say. In court- ordered wiretaps, he told his wife that he would be in Uganda for a day and would fly with their in- fant son as part of his “cover.” He told the FBI that al-Shabab wanted laptops and cameras and planned six-week boot camps starting after Ramadan, the Mus- lim holiday, this fall. Ibrahim Al-Khalaf, a 2009
graduate of Oakton High School and a former president of the Muslim Students Association, said he thought Chesser convert- ed to Islam his senior year. “He was a really nice kid. He smiled at everybody,” Al-Khalaf said. But Chesser criticized other students’ faith at MSA meetings. “We were more liberal, and we used to try to educate everybody and create a positive environ- ment,” Al-Khalaf said. “But Zach would say, ‘If you do this, you are going to hell. If you do that, you are going to hell.’ ”
hsus@washpost.com chandlerm@washpost.com
Staff researcher Julie Tate contributed to this report.
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