2 Arrests in Plot to Bomb Synagogue

img class="size-full wp-image-85837 alignleft" title="synagogue bomb plot" src="http://www.frumforum.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/synagogue-bomb-plot.jpeg" alt="" width="172" height="129" /><CNN reports:

Two men suspected of planning an attack on a Manhattan synagogue with guns and a grenade were arrested Wednesday, marking the end of a seven-month undercover operation by New York police officers.

The suspects, Ahmed Ferhani and Mohamed Mamdouh, were detained in midtown Manhattan after buying two loaded Browning semi-automatic pistols, one Smith & Wesson revolver, ammunition and a grenade, according to Police Commissioner Ray Kelly.

At least a dozen police officers swarmed Ferhani, who was at the time placing the weapons in the trunk of his car. Mamdouh was arrested on a street nearby moments later.

Each faces terrorism and hate-crime-related charges and, if convicted, could confront the prospect of life behind bars without the possibility of parole.

Ferhani, a 26-year-old unemployed resident of Queens, is a native of Algeria who traveled to the United States in 1995, claiming asylum.

"Muslims are abused all over the world, and I ain't going to take it," prosecutors quoted Ferhani as saying; his conversations with an undercover police officer were secretly recorded.

Prosecutors say Ferhani sold narcotics in an effort to finance the planned attacks.