Bomb plot at US Christmas lighting ceremony foiled

Nov 27, 2010 |

Washington

Tags:

bomb plot

A Somalia-born US citizen was arrested as a plot to bomb a Christmas tree-lighting ceremony was foiled in Oregon, news reports from the northwestern US state said.

Mohamed Osman Mohamud, 19, was arrested moments before the ceremony took place Friday night in Portland, the US Attorney's Office in Oregon said.

US judicial officials said Mohamud drove a van to the square where the lighting took place, believing he was going to detonate a bomb, but the explosives were dummies provided by Federal Bureau of Investigation agents.

Mohamud was accused of trying to use a weapon of mass destruction. If convicted, he faces a maximum sentence of life in prison. The US Attorney's Office said the public was never in danger.

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