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An Ohio truck driver with ties to al-Qaeda, who was allegedly involved in plots to derail trains, bomb airports and sabotage the Brooklyn Bridge, pleaded guilty to two felony charges, according to documents unsealed Thursday. The arrest of Faris and the plea deal, reached on May 1, was kept secret because of the sensitivity of the case.
The truck driver, Lyman Faris, 34, of Columbus, Ohio, is believed to have received instructions directly from senior al-Qaeda leaders, including Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, who is in U.S. custody overseas and has provided U.S. interrogators with valuable intelligence about the terror group’s worldwide reach. Faris pleaded guilty to providing material support to terrorists and conspiracy to provide support. This support included “dealings involving cash, thousands of sleeping bags, plane tickets and cell phones.”
Faris, also known as Mohammed Rauf and a native of Kashmir, was instructed by a senior al-Qaeda operative to obtain “gas cutters” equipment that would enable him to sever the cables on “a bridge in New York City” believed to have been the Brooklyn Bridge. Faris was told to refer to the cutters as “gas stations”.
The statement says that Faris researched the bridge on the Internet and traveled to New York in late 2002 to examine the bridge, concluding that “the plot to destroy the bridge by severing the cables was very unlikely to succeed” because of its security and structure.
In addition, the senior al-Qaeda operative told Faris that he should obtain tools that could be used to derail trains in the United States, the affidavit says. These tools were to be referred to in code as “mechanics shops.” He was also allegedly involved in a plot to drive a truck loaded with explosives onto an airport tarmac to blow up a plane, sources said.
Faris’ meetings with al Qaeda leaders occurred in 2000, 2001 and early 2002 in Afghanistan and Pakistan. They including meetings with bin Laden himself in 2000.
Faris was also asked by bin Laden associates in late 2000 to look into ultralight aircraft that could be used as escape planes by al-Qaeda operatives, prosecutors say. In addition, Faris helped al-Qaeda obtain 2,000 lightweight sleeping bags that were shipped to Afghanistan for use by al-Qaeda members.
Faris originally came to the United States in May 1994 and became a U.S. citizen in December 1999 and worked as an independent trucker for several years.
Source: US DOJ