US soldier cites faith as motive for plot
Army private faces up to life if convicted of charges including attempting to use a weapon of mass destruction
Waco, Texas: A Muslim US soldier accused of planning to bomb Fort Hood troops says he wasn't seeking vengeance but justice for people in Iraq and Afghanistan, according to a recording played at his federal trial Wednesday.
Army Private First Class Nasser Jason Abdo is heard telling his mother during a recorded jail visit that "their suffering is my suffering".
Abdo, 22, is accused of planning to detonate a bomb inside a Killeen restaurant frequented by troops from the nearby Texas Army post and then shoot any survivors.
He faces up to life in federal prison if convicted of attempting to use a weapon of mass destruction and five other charges. He was AWOL from Fort Campbell, Kentucky, when he was arrested last July at a motel in Killeen, a city about 241 kilometres southwest of Dallas.
Abdo is heard telling his mother that "it's all true" and "the reason is religion. He says what he did was selfless because he was trying to avenge the United States' wrongful treatment of people he considers his family, and that he used every resource he had "to make things as right as possible".
"I'll be all right," he is heard saying. "I made this decision".
A pressure cooker containing smokeless powder and other material was found in Abdo's motel room, Sgt 1st Class Brad Grimes told jurors Wednesday. Other components to make a bomb were found in his room and backpack — and were listed in a magazine article about making bombs that also was found in his belongings, said Grimes, who is with Fort Hood's Explosive Ordnance Disposal unit.
Jurors in US District Court in Waco were shown the article, which tells "my Muslim brother" that anyone could make a bomb with items that are not dangerous alone — such as clocks and batteries — and would not arouse suspicion when someone buys them.
Killeen police Sgt Eric Bradley testified that officers began investigating July 26 after a gun store employee reported that a man acted suspiciously when he bought 2.7 kilograms of smokeless gunpowder, shotgun ammunition and a magazine for a semi-automatic pistol, while seeming to know little about the items.
