Mohamed Osman Mohamud appeared in court in the US state of Oregon after being arrested on Friday while trying to set off what he thought was an explosives-laden van near a Christmas tree lighting ceremony in Portland.
The grand jury indictment alleged that he, "without lawful authority knowingly attempted to use a weapon of mass destruction, specifically a destructive device or explosive bomb, against a person or property". The device, in fact, was a fake supplied by undercover agents from the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) who had contacted Mohamud months before and pretended to be accomplices in the plot.
"Our investigation shows that Mohamud was absolutely committed to carrying out an attack on a very grand scale," said FBI special agent Arthur Balizan ahead of the Portland court hearing. But Mohamud's defense lawyer said his client had been led on by the undercover agents. "The information released by the government raises significant concerns (about the) government manufacturing crime -- or entrapment," said lawyer Stephen Sady. "Government agents suggested key actions to this teenager, spent thousands of dollars on him, specified components, drove Mr Mohamud around, and were instrumental in setting up Friday's events."
Mohamud could face life in jail if convicted, in a trial set to last two weeks in February, according to CNN. According to court documents, in June an FBI undercover agent contacted Mohamud -- a Somali-born naturalised US citizen -- pretending to be an associate of a contact in Pakistan he had exchanged emails with last year.
Mohamud told the agent he had wanted to conduct holy war against infidels since the age of 15, and suggested the plot to bomb Friday's traditional pre-Christmas ceremony in the Oregon capital. In comments cited by an affidavit, Mohamud said he was looking for a "huge mass that will... be attacked in their own element with their families celebrating the holidays," the documents said. "It's going to be a fireworks show... a spectacular show," he was quoted as saying.
Mohamud also collaborated with the undercover FBI agents in detonating a device in a rehearsal in a remote location, and recorded a video in which he read a written statement that offered a rationale for his bomb attack. He was arrested last Friday, shortly after trying to detonate the fake bomb as the Christmas tree ceremony got under way in Portland's Pioneer Courthouse Square. US Attorney General Eric Holder said Mohamud clearly wanted to mount the attack. "But for his interaction with the FBI, he might have come in contact with somebody who, in fact, would have made his plans tragically real."
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