NEW YORK (AP) -- An ``al-Qaida sympathizer'' who plotted to bomb police and post offices in New York City as well as U.S. troops returning home has been arrested on numerous terrorism-related charges, city officials said Sunday.
Mayor Michael Bloomberg announced at a news conference the Saturday arrest of Jose Pimentel of Manhattan, ``a 27-year-old al-Qaida sympathizer'' who the mayor said was motivated by terrorist propaganda and resentment of U.S. troops in Afghanistan and Iraq.
The mayor said Pimentel, a U.S. citizen originally from the Dominican Republic, was ``plotting to bomb police patrol cars and also postal facilities as well as targeted members of our armed services returning from abroad.''
Authorities have no evidence that Pimentel was working with anyone else, the mayor added.
``He appears to be a total lone wolf,'' the mayor said. ``He was not part of a larger conspiracy emanating from abroad.''
Instead, Bloomberg said, Pimentel represents the type of threat FBI Director Robert Mueller has warned about as U.S. forces erode the ability of terrorists to carry out large scale attacks.
Pimentel, also known as Muhammad Yusuf, is accused of having an explosive substance Saturday when he was arrested that he planned to use against others and property to terrorize the public.
The charges accuse him of conspiracy going back at least to October 2010, and include first-degree criminal possession of a weapon as a crime of terrorism, and soliciting support for a terrorist act. He was to be arraigned later Sunday.
``This is just another example of New York City because we are an iconic city ... this is a city that people would want to take away our freedoms gravitate to and focus on,'' Bloomberg said.
Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly said a confidential informant had numerous conversations with Pimentel on Sept. 7 in which he expressed interest in building small bombs and targeting banks, government and police buildings.
Pimentel also posted on his website trueislam1.com and on blogs his support of al-Qaida and belief in jihad, and promoted an online magazine article that described in detail how to make a bomb, Kelly said.
Among his Internet postings, the commissioner said, was an article that states: ``People have to understand that America and its allies are all legitimate targets in warfare.''
The New York Police Department's Intelligence Division was involved in the arrest. Kelly said Pimentel spent most of his years in Manhattan and lived about five years in Schenectady.
Asked why federal authorities were not involved in the case, Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus R. Vance Jr. said there was communication with them but his office felt that given the timeline ``it was appropriate to proceed under state charges.''
<한글기사>
'외로운 늑대' 테러범 뉴욕 폭파 기도 적발
국제 테러단체 알 카에다를 추종하는 20대의 라 틴계 미국인이 뉴욕에서 폭탄테러를 계획하다 적발됐다.
마이클 블룸버그 뉴욕시장은 20일(현지시간) 기자회견에서 경찰, 우체국 등을 대상으로 한 폭탄 테러를 기도한 혐의로 지난 19일 27세의 도미니카공화국 출신 미 국인 호세 피멘텔을 체포했다고 밝혔다.
회견에 배석한 레이몬드 켈리 뉴욕 시경국장은 피멘텔이 이라크와 아프가니스탄 에서 복귀한 미국 육군과 해병, 라틴계가 많이 사는 뉴욕 북부의 `워싱턴하이츠' 안 팎의 우체국, 뉴저지주(州)의 경찰서, 뉴욕 시내 경찰차 등을 공격 대상으로 거론했 다고 소개했다.
켈리 국장은 또 피멘텔이 외부 세력과의 연계는 없지만 미국이 지난 9월 예멘에 서 무인기 공격으로 사살한 미국 태생의 급진적 이슬람 성직자 안와르 알 올라키를 극단적으로 추종하는 인물이라고 부연했다.
피멘텔은 올라키가 생전에 만든 인터넷 잡지(웹진)에 실린 글을 훈령으로 삼는 한편 `엄마의 부엌에서 폭탄을 만드는 법' 등과 같은 웹진 게재물을 통해 테러 방법 을 익혔다고 켈리 국장은 소개했다.
또 미국이 제거한 알 카에다 지도자 오사마 빈 라덴과 사담 후세인 전 이라크 대통령을 추모하기 위해 자기 이름을 `오사마 후세인'으로 개명할 생각이었다고 켈 리 국장은 전했다.
이어 블룸버그 시장은 피멘텔이 외국 테러세력과의 연계가 없는 자생적 테러리 스트를 의미하는 이른 바 `외로운 늑대' 중 하나라고 소개했다.
피멘텔은 뉴욕주(州) 중부의 스케넥터디시(市)에서 살았던 5년을 제외하고는 대 부분 뉴욕 맨해튼에 거주해온 것으로 파악됐다.
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