Al Qaeda's hardmen: New York terror suspect is wannabe model who worked as MAKE-UP salesman at Saks (and his co-conspirator has a record for kicking a poodle)
(Sometimes you just can't make this stuff up!!)
Last updated at 5:18 PM on 13th May 2011
- First terror plot since Bin Laden's death on synagogue and major landmark
- Moroccan taxi dispatcher and Algerian cosmetics salesman arrested
- Police display huge arsenal of weapons bought by the pair
- Ringleader sought asylum in America in 1995
One of the terror suspects arrested for allegedly planning to attack New York synagogues dressed as a Hasidic Jew used to work as a make-up salesman for Saks Fifth Avenue, it emerged today.
27-year-old Ahmed Ferhani, who quit his job to try to become a male model, was caught with taxi dispatcher Mohammad Mamdouh, 20, on Tuesday night in a dramatic police sting operation as they tried to acquire a fearsome arsenal of weapons from an undercover NYPD officer.
The surprising background of the would-be terrorists emerged after they made their first court appearance last night.
Scroll down for video footage
Terror suspects: Ahmed Ferhani, left, and Mohammad Mamdouh appeared in Manhattan Criminal Court in New York yesterday
Manhattan District Attorney Cy Vance Jr. said Ferhani and Moroccan pal Mamdouh were to sneak into 'a major synagogue in Manhattan' disguised as Hasidic Jews, complete with 'peyot', or side curls, and beards.
He said: 'He [Ferhani] was committed to violent jihad, and his plan became bigger and more violent with each passing week.'
Mamdouh, of Moroccan descent and Ferhani, of Algerian descent, were arrested late on Tuesday night allegedly trying to buy weapons in exchange for drugs. It was during the sting that one of the suspects confessed to the plot the kill Jews, the court heard.
Sting: Dramatic pictures taken on Tuesday night show the moment the alleged terrorists were seized by police
Arsenal: The guns, ammunition and hand grenade seized by police when they arrested two 'homegrown' terrorists said to have planned attacks on a synagogue and the Empire State Building
One of the suspects is a U.S. citizen and the other is a legal resident. Both already had weapons in their possession, police said.
It emerged today that both had been arrested for robbery last year. Ferhani has a criminal record for narcotics, and was allegedly trying to sell drugs to fund the gun deal.
Described as the alleged ringleader of the attack, he moved to America in 1995 when his family sought asylum from war-torn Algeria. He went on to work as a cosmetics salesman at Saks Fifth Avenue, but had been known to police for some time.
Yesterday, Ferhani's father, J. Ferhani, insisted his son was not an extremist, instead describing him as a wannabe model who drank alcohol and had a Christian girlfriend.
In court: Ahmed Ferhani, 27, and Mohammad Mamdouh, 20, during their court hearing today. At one point Ferhani mouthed the word 'innocent' to photographers and reporters in the gallery
Made up: Cosmetic salesman and wannabe model Ferhani poses for the camera
Home: The apartment complex where suspected terrorist Ferhani lives in the Whitestone neighborhood of Queens, New York
He told the New York Times his son was 'a good kid' who 'got involved with a bad kid'.
'He doesn't pray, he drinks,' he added.
Neighbours of Ferhani doubted he was capable of such an act, and described the pair as 'knuckleheads'.
Saks Fifth Avenue: The store where Ferhani worked as a make up salesman
One told the New York Daily News: 'There's no way they could be terrorists. They are too stupid. Him and his brother are always out in the street smoking pot and fighting.'
Mamdouh, who worked as a taxi dispatcher, moved to the U.S. from Morocco in 1999, and is an American citizen. He was set to serve 90 days in jail under a plea deal for a robbery last October.
He allegedly broke into the home of 23-year-old Joann Ocampo in Queens, stealing property worth $5,000, her laptop, jewellery, a bottle of vodka - and kicking her four-year-old poodle, Lulu, so viciously she ended up with broken ribs.
After hearing about the alleged plot, Miss Ocampo told the Daily News: 'I'm terrified, to be quite honest. He broke into my house. Luckily, I was not there that night.'
The alleged terror plot on synagogues and the Empire State Building is the first uncovered in Manhattan since Osama Bin Laden was killed almost two weeks ago, and will raise fears in a city already on high alert for reprisals.
Police had earlier displayed the pair's alleged weapon haul, which included two Browning semi-automatic pistols, a Smith and Wesson handgun, ammunition and a hand grenade, at a press conference yesterday after the suspects were arrested.
New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg confirmed at the meeting that police 'arrested two men who said they wanted to destroy a major synagogue in Manhattan and then purchased several weapons and a grenade from an undercover officer.'
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1386221/Terror-suspect-Ahmed-Ferhani-worked-Saks-Fifth-Ave-salesman.html#ixzz1MGxDxD44
