PITTSBURGH: Syrian refugee charged with plotting to bomb a Pittsburgh church to inspire followers of Daesh has been ordered detained on Friday.
A criminal complaint alleges Mustafa Mousab Alowemer planned to bomb an unidentified church in Pittsburgh and purchased materials he thought were necessary to build a bomb.
His defense attorney, Sam Saylor, said that items bought at a hardware store do not imply intent to make bombs.
FBI agent Gary Morgan testified that Alowemer originally wanted two bombs to go off — one in the early morning and one when law enforcement would be responding.
Alowemer was wearing an orange jumpsuit on Friday morning for the preliminary examination and detention hearing in federal court.
Last month, at least eight people were killed and 15 wounded in a suicide bombing at a market in eastern Baghdad.
In November, explosions in several districts killed six people, most of them civilians.
SPEEDREAD
The 21-year-old Alowemer was born in Daraa, Syria and came to the US as a refugee in 2016, according to the FBI.
The 21-year-old Alowemer was born in Daraa, Syria and came to the US as a refugee in 2016, according to the FBI.
The federal court docket did not list an attorney for Alowemer and the Department of Justice did not return a message seeking whether he had an attorney who could comment on the charges announced on Wednesday.
