Mackinac Bridge Terror Target

August 12, 2006

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Tuscola County prosecutors filed terrorism-related charges Saturday against three men who they say bought dozens of cell phones Friday in Caro in a globally coordinated plot involving the Mackinac Bridge.

They charged brothers Adham Abdelhamid Othman, 21, and Louai Abdelhamied Othman, 23, along with their cousin, Maruan Awad Muhareb, 18, with identical counts of collecting material to support terrorist acts and surveillance of a vulnerable target with intent to committ terrorism.

Update:
A magistrate set bond at $750,000 for each of the men, who are charged with collecting or providing materials for terrorist acts and surveillance of a vulnerable target for terrorist purposes. No pleas were made at the arraignment at a District Court in Caro, about 80 miles north of Detroit.

Officials have not said what they believe the men intended to do with the phones, most of which were prepaid TracFones. But Caro’s police chief said cell phones can be used as detonators, and prosecutors in a similar case in Ohio have said that TracFones are often used by terrorists because they are not traceable.

“All we did is buy the phones to sell and make money,” Louai Abdelhamied Othman told the magistrate. He said it wasn’t the first time the group had been questioned.

“We’ve been checked by the FBI before,” he said. “They even gave us their card and everything.”

Tuscola County Prosecutor Mark E. Reene told The Saginaw News that investigators believe the men were targeting the Mackinac Bridge. He declined to say what led investigators to that belief

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