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Terror suspect arrested
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Tarek Mehanna, 27, faces federal charges of conspiring to provide material support to terrorists following his arrest today in the Boston suburb of Sudbury, according to acting US Attorney Michael Loucks.
Federal authorities allege that Mehanna conspired with Ahmad Abousamra and others in the plots to attack a shopping mall with automatic weapons and to attack two members of the federal executive branch of government. They were not identified.
"Today's arrest, done in conjunction with a search of his home, involves broader and more serious charges," Loucks said.
Christina Sterling, the spokesperson for Loucks, said Mehanna appeared in federal court today and was ordered held without bail until his detention hearing on Oct. 30.
Mehanna was first arrested in November 2008 as he was about to leave the country and indicted in January 2009 on charges of lying to FBI agents conducting a terrorism investigation.
The co-conspirators allegedly had many discussions about getting automatic weapons and the logistics of attacking a mall simultaneously from different entrances and the possibility of attacking first responders.
They allegedly tried unsuccessfully to buy the needed weapons from Daniel Maldonado, who was later captured while fighting for Al Qaeda in Somalia and is now serving a 10-year jail term.
The prosecutors alleged that the conspirators went to Pakistan, Iraq, Syria, and Yemen, where they were turned down in attempts to get training from various terrorist groups.
In December 2006, Abousamra left for Syria two weeks after he was interviewed by the Joint Terrorism Task Force, Loucks said.
The Boston Globe reported that Mehanna’s friends and family described him as a maturing leader in the Muslim community, who planned to become a pharmacist in Saudi Arabia.
