Va. man charged in fake bomb plot against D.C. subway

A Virginia man has been arrested and indicted on charges he tried to help people he believed were al-Qaida operatives in planning to bomb subway stations in and around the nation’s capital.

The FBI says the public was never in danger because its agents were aware of the man’s activities before the alleged planning took place and monitored him throughout.

Farooque Ahmed, 34, a naturalized citizen born in Pakistan, was arrested Wednesday. He was indicted on charges of attempting to provide material support to a designated terrorist organization, collecting information to assist in planning a terrorist attack on a transit facility and attempting to provide material support to carry out multiple bombings to cause mass causalities at Washington-are metro station. 

Federal investigators said that, starting in April, Ahmed met several times with people he believed were al-Qaida operatives.

During one of those meetings, investigators said, he agreed to watch and photograph a hotel in Washington and a metro station in Arlington, Va. He also was accused of participating in surveillance, recording video of a subway station in Arlington on four different occasions, and agreeing to get security information about two stations.

Investigators said in a Sept. 28 meeting he gave diagrams of Arlington metro stations to a person he thought was part of al-Qaida and gave suggestions about where to put explosives on trains to kill the most people in simultaneous attacks planned for 2011.

At the White House, press secretary Robert Gibbs said President Barack Obama was aware of the investigation before Ahmed was arrested. Gibbs also offered assurances that the public was never in danger.

In a statement, David Kris, assistant attorney general for national security, said the case “demonstrates how the government can neutralize such threats before they come to fruition.” “Farooque Ahmed is accused of plotting with individuals he believed were terrorists to bomb our transit system, but a coordinated law enforcement and intelligence effort was able to thwart his plans,” Kris said.

Ahmed faces up to 50 years in prison if convicted.