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FOX News - August 16, 2007
Allegations may be false, FBI says
TAMPA. FL. - Behind bars in a South Carolina jail, it's unlikely 21-year-old Youssef Megahed and 24-year-old Ahmed Muhammed know how much media attention their case is getting.
It's all over the television, in the newspaper, and on the blogosphere. Stories about the two USF students accused of having bomb-making materials in their car are everywhere.
The jury isn't out yet, in fact, there hasn't even been a probable cause hearing - but that hasn't stopped the speculation.
"They've been held for ten days," says Megahed's defense attorney, Andrew Savage. "The government has the resources to know what they're up to by this period of time. If you were an Irishman from New York, you wouldn't be subjected to the kind of scrutiny that these guys are.
The FBI tells FOX 13 News it's all the scrutiny and speculation that prompted them to release a statement about the case -- a rare move in an ongoing investigation.
The FBI says they're in the process of analyzing information gathered from the many interviews, record checks, and searches they've conducted over the past couple of weeks.
They also said in the statement that "there is the possibility that the publicly reported allegations involving the students may be proven to be false."
When we asked the local FBI office what that meant, they told us they're not exonerating or implicating either of the two men. "We're asking folks not to make leaps of information in making connections that may not be there. Let the facts developed through the investigation dictate the conclusion at the end," the statement read…..
Yusef Megahed and Ahmed Muhammed remain behind bars in the Berkeley County Detention Center. So far, they're facing state charges of possession of an incendiary or explosive device.
Megahed is being held on $300,000 bond; Muhammed on $500,000 bond….
http://www.myfoxtampabay.com/myfox/pages/News/Detail?contentId=4089020&version=1&locale=EN-US&layoutCode=TSTY&pageId=3.2.1
St. Petersburg Times – August 16, 2007
FBI's caution puzzles experts
Abbie Vansickl
TAMPA - For days after the arrest of two University of South Florida students accused of having pipe bombs, the FBI remained silent.
On Wednesday, the agency released a statement telling the public it's possible there's no merit to the accusations against Youssef Megahed, 21, and Ahmed A. Mohamed, 26. Both were arrested Aug. 4 in Goose Creek, S.C., on charges of possession of explosives.
"The FBI would like to remind everyone that this is an ongoing investigation and there is the possibility that the publicly reported allegations involving the students may be proven to be false," it read.
An FBI spokesman said the agency is still investigating, that it released the statement only because there's so much interest in the case, and it wants to be fair.
"We're just making a request for everybody to be very objective at this time, very neutral," said Special Agent Dave Couvertier.
But local legal experts say there's likely more to it. "That is a highly unusual statement from the FBI," said Tampa lawyer John Fitzgibbons, a former federal prosecutor. Other legal experts agreed, but no one knew what to make of it.
"Well, who knows what that means?" said Ed Page, a lawyer who has experience in Tampa and Washington, D.C. "Perhaps the initial assessment that the trunk contained pipe bombs was inaccurate. That's a weird statement, I've got to tell you, to be coming out of the FBI."
Fitzgibbons saw two scenarios. First, the FBI may not have a strong case against the students. Second, the Department of Justice may require a statement of that sort in its communication with the media…..
http://www.sptimes.com/2007/08/16/Hillsborough/FBI_s_caution_puzzles.shtml
Charleston Post and Courier – August 12, 2007
Area Muslims see prejudice
Arrest of Egyptian students stirred unfair reaction, they say
Adam Parker
The message Imam Mohamed Melhem delivered during the Friday afternoon prayer service at the Central Mosque of Charleston emphasized the unity of Islam and its universal message of peace.
But in the wake of the recent arrests of two Egyptian students driving through Goose Creek, he also expressed the collective frustration of local Muslims, many of whom think the public reaction to the arrests has been exaggerated and unfair.
"The media went crazy," Melhem said. "Most Muslims are good citizens and good contributors to society."
And nothing much is yet known about the two students, he said, so why the rush to judgment?
"We believe in the system and the court of law and believe it will be fair," he said.
At the mosque, Mehmet Bilgen, a radiologist, said Islam has become the latest monolithic "enemy" of the United States. It used to be communism and fascism and drug kingpins in Central and South America. Now, it's a religion that most Americans don't really understand, Bilgen said.
Youssef Megahed and Ahmed Mohamed, both in their 20s, each were charged with possession of an explosive device after authorities said they found pipe bombs in Megahed's car during a traffic stop on Aug. 4. The two men, students at the University of South Florida, told authorities the items found in the car were fireworks. The FBI, which performed the initial search of the vehicle, has not indicated whether the material seized constituted a pipe bomb or other explosive device.
Numerous reactions to the story have been posted on Charleston.net, many of which express concern and assume guilt, and some of which are overtly hostile. "I BELIEVE in racial profiling," one person wrote. "It does NOT matter how small the 'home-made bombs' were that were discovered in the trunk of that car, but that they WERE discovered!" another wrote. "Personally, I prefer to throw these boys into the lake and let the gators take care of 'em. Let their Allah save them then," wrote a third.
Central Mosque President Alan Is'mail Ali said Muslims are most concerned with taking care of their families and looking out for one another, but those priorities are not newsworthy. Only Islamic extremism gets the headlines, and that contributes to misunderstanding, Ali said. Americans tend to generalize about Muslims, and that causes Muslims to believe that the war against terrorism is really a war against Islam, he said.
"Anyone who claims (to be) a Muslim and then recklessly and intentionally hurts or even kills, either non-Muslims or even Muslims, in the name of Islam, is a spineless degenerate!" Ali said.
Melhem said that he has received phone calls from people asking if the two Egyptian students were affiliated with the Central Mosque. He wondered why people should assume this as they have been living in Florida.
"Muslims are good and do the right thing," he said. "If we see anything suspicious, we are part of the community, we help." But when Muslims feel threatened by a system they perceive to be prejudiced, they are less likely to cooperate with that system, Melhem said.
Anti-Muslim incidents were up 25 percent nationally in 2006, according to the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR). The rise was attributed to post-9/11 fear of Muslims and violence overseas.
Chaudhry Sadiq, director of the South Carolina chapter of CAIR, said that jumping to conclusions about the two Egyptian students only compromises the values of the U.S. and puts Muslim communities on the defensive.
Media reports of the Goose Creek episode have been highly exaggerated, Sadiq said. "All the time, resources and energy could have been applied to peacemaking." …..
http://www.charleston.net/news/2007/aug/12/area_muslims_see_prejudice12847/
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