A US soldier who was accused yesterday of planning to attack troops near Fort Hood, Texas, has told investigators that he was acting in support of Major Nidal Hasan, the army psychiatrist who has been charged in the killing of 13 people at the base in 2009, according to congressional and federal officials.
Private Naser Abdo (21) was arrested in Killeen, Texas after authorities said they discovered bomb-making materials in his motel room, as well as a copy of an article from the al-Qaeda magazine Inspire, which is produced by the terrorist group's Yemen affiliate.
The officials said Abdo was planning to set off bombs at locations outside the base where soldiers gather and then to follow the explosions with gunfire.
“I would classify this as a terror plot,” police chief Dennis Baldwin told reporters in Killeen.
Officials said Abdo would be charged in federal court with possession of bomb-making materials, among other offenses.
It could not be ascertained whether Abdo has retained a criminal lawyer.
The emergence of another alleged plot to attack troops at the same base where Hasan is accused of striking may intensify fears that there is a growing terrorist threat from self-radicalised Americans and raise questions about whether the military can adequately identify internal threats.
Hasan was arraigned in military court this month on capital murder charges but has not entered a plea.
A US counter-terrorism official said authorities have not discovered any direct communication between Abdo and foreign Islamic extremists.
Attached to the 101st Airborne Division at Fort Campbell, Abdo recently sought conscientious objector status because he felt that as a Muslim he could not be deployed to fight in a war zone.
James Branum, an Oklahoma City lawyer who represented Abdo described Abdo as gracious, hospitable and “very devoutly religious,” saying he prayed five times a day.
Officials said that Abdo hitchhiked, paid for rides and caught buses from Kentucky to Killeen. After checking into an Americas Best Value Inn there, he went to the same gun store where Hasan bought a high-powered semiautomatic pistol two years ago.
David Cheadle, store manager of Guns Galore, said Abdo, dressed in street clothes, grabbed six cans of smokeless gunpowder but asked what smokeless gunpowder was - a question that prompted suspicion. He also purchased three boxes of 12-guage shotgun shells and a 40-caliber magazine for a semiautomatic handgun. It is not clear what kind of guns, if any, he had in his possession.
Abdo arrived in a taxi, paid $250 in cash and on the way out the door said, “I hope your days goes better than mine,” Mr Cheadle said.
“It just didn’t sit right,” he said, adding that Greg Ebert, an employee who spoke with Abdo, then called the police.
Washington Post-Bloomberg