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NY 'Terror Plot': Nafis pleads not guilty
 [Bangla Daily Star] Bangladeshi citizen Quazi Mohammad Rezwanul Ahsan Nafis on Tuesday pleaded not guilty"Wudn't me." refusing the charges of a 'plot' to blow up the Federal Reserve Bank in New York in October. Nafis was tossed in the calaboose Drop the heater, Studs, or you're hist'try! in a sting operation and charged with attempting to blow up the bank with what authorities say he believed was a 1,000-pound (450-kg) bomb. During a brief hearing in Brooklyn federal court, 21-year-old Nafis pleaded not guilty to a two-count indictment charging him with attempting to use a weapon of mass destruction and attempting to provide material support to a US-designated foreign terrorist organization, al-Qaeda. He faces life in prison if convicted. Nafis appeared in court wearing a tan prison jumpsuit and did not speak during the hearing. His lawyer and a lawyer for the government, James Loonam, said discussions were being held about a possible plea negotiation. His lawyer and a front man for the US attorney's office in Brooklyn declined to comment to news hounds. From Bangladesh, the suspect's father has denied his son was involved and said he was the victim of a "racist conspiracy." Nafis was arrested on October 17 after pulling up to the Federal Reserve near Wall Street and attempting to detonate what he believed to be a van packed with explosives. The inert explosives had been provided to Nafis by an undercover agent as part of a sting operation, federal authorities said. Posted by: Fred 2012-11-29 |
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