Real Crime/Paranormal/Conspiracy Theories Book III

Operation Arabian Knight

On June 5, 2010, in a covert Americananti-terrorism operation named "Operation Arabian Knight",two American citizens Mohamed Mahmood Alessa and Carlos"Omar" Eduardo Almonte, New Jersey residents, werearrested at Kennedy International Airport in New York City. The menwere in the process of boarding booked, separate flights to Egypt.According to the affidavit filed in support of the federal criminalcomplaint, they planned to travel to Somalia to join Al-Shabab, an AlQaeda-linked terrorist group recruiting foreigners for its civil war. They intended to join them in killing American troops in Somalia,although few Americans are stationed there. The two men were chargedwith conspiring to kill, maim, and kidnap people outside the U.S.

The arrests followed that of theAmerican Faisal Shahzad, characterized as a home-grown terrorist andcharged in the failed Times Square bombing.

The two men were denied bail, and apreliminary hearing was set for June 21 on the federal charges. OnOctober 18, 2010, a federal judge gave their lawyers time to "attemptto finalize a plea agreement."

Investigation

The covert investigation of the two,known as "Operation Arabian Knight", had begun inOctober 2006 as two separate probes after the FBI and New JerseyState Homeland Security detectives received separate tips about thetwo men. The agents named the operation after a reference in Alessa'scomputer records, in which he had said he and Almonte were "Arabianknights." The U.S. Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Courtapproved physical surveillance of the two men.

Arrests

The two men checked in at John F.Kennedy International Airport and were preparing to board separateconnecting flights to Cairo, Egypt, one the 6:30 p.m. Boeing 777flight on Egyptair Flight 986 out of Terminal 4, the other a 9:55p.m. Boeing 767 flight on Delta Air Lines Flight 84 out of Terminal3. From there they planned to travel to Somalia by boat, to joinAl-Shabab. The terminals, however, had a number of FBI agents andother members of the Joint Terrorism Task Force dressed as travelers.

Law enforcement officers allowed themen to get into the jetway boarding ramps before arresting them. Federal prosecutors had insisted that the men be allowed to go to theairport, and begin the boarding process, to limit the chance theycould later say they had abandoned their plans. This also enabled theFBI agents to hear any last-minute phone calls the men might makebefore boarding their flights.

Authorities arranged the arrests totake place out of sight of other passengers, to avoid panic. Authorities decided that the best place for each arrest would be atthe end of the jetway, by the emergency door, and that cars wouldawait the agents and suspects below.

As each suspect walked down thepassageway from the gate to the plane, passengers behind him wereheld up. Out of sight of those on the plane and those waiting toboard, each was confronted by federal agents. Alessa put up a fight,was pushed into a jetway wall, and suffered a red welt on his lefttemple and cuts on his face before he was handcuffed. Agents tookhim down the outside stairs to a waiting security car, andtransported him to their facility. The 220-pound Almonte alsoreportedly resisted arrest, but was similarly apprehended.