Hydrablog

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/11/29/AR2007112902630.html
Explosives Suspect Denied Separate Trial
Associated Press
Friday, November 30, 2007; A12 [bush administration] [federal judiciary and doj] [prosecuting domestic jihadis] [not exactly a stellar record] [followup] [here we go again] [the Egyptian college students in S. Carolina] [********]
TAMPA, Nov. 29 -- Two Egyptian college students facing federal explosives charges will be tried together, a judge ruled Thursday.
One of the defendants, Youssef Samir Megahed, asked U.S. District Judge Steven D. Merryday to sever the cases. Merryday denied that motion without comment.
Megahed and fellow University of South Florida student Ahmed Abdellatif Sherif Mohamed were stopped on Aug. 4 by police for speeding near Charleston, S.C. [*****] Officers said they found materials to build explosives in the trunk of the car.
Both were indicted on charges of transporting explosive materials.
Mohamed also faces charges of making and posting on the Internet a video showing how to convert a remote-controlled toy into a detonator for a bomb. According to the FBI, Mohamed said he made the video "to assist those persons in Arabic countries to defend themselves against the infidels invading their countries." [********]
The stop occurred near a Navy weapons station, but prosecutors have presented no evidence showing the men planned an attack. [**********]
Megahed's attorney, Adam Allen, said his client went on a trip to Carolina beaches with Mohamed and knew nothing about the contents of the trunk.
Both men remain in jail. Their trial is expected to be next year.
© 2007 The Washington Post Company