FBI: Muslims Turned In DC Bomb Plotter

The Virginia man charged with planning a terror attack on Washington DC’s Metro system was brought to the attention of authorities when members of the Muslim community reported that he had been trying to join a terrorist group, according to an FBI source. Farooque Ahmed—a suburban father with a good job—was then set up by agents who enlisted him in a fictional terror plot, AP reports.

Agents posing as al-Qaeda operatives supplied Ahmed with messages hidden in a Koran, and found that he was eager to kill commuters and committed to becoming a martyr, say FBI officials. Investigators are trying to determine how the 34-year-old man, who came to the US in 1993 and became a citizen in 2005, was radicalized. Ahmed is due in court today on charges including collecting information to assist in planning a terrorist attack on a transit facility, and attempting to provide material support to terrorists. (More Farooque Ahmed stories.)