Police say wannabe fashion model and former cosmetic salesman behind NYC terror plot
source: http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2011/05/13/article-1386221-0C085CDE00000578-323_634x425.jpg
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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.
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 has emerged.
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.
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.
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'.
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.
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 has emerged.
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.
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.
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'.
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