"WASHINGTON -- U.S. prosecutors accused two men in Chicago of plotting with a Pakistani terror group to carry out an attack on a Danish newspaper that in 2005 printed controversial cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed.
Criminal complaints filed by federal prosecutors against David Coleman Headley, a 49-year-old U.S. citizen, and Tahawwur Hussain Rana, 48, a Pakistani native with Canadian citizenship, alleged that the men plotted with members of the Lashkar-e-Taiba terror group in Pakistan to carry out unspecified attacks on the offices of Jyllands-Posten in Denmark.
Mr. Headley was arrested Oct. 3 as he prepared to board a flight on a planned trip to Pakistan, and Mr. Rana was arrested Oct. 18 at his Chicago home, according to the complaints. The complaints against the men, made public Tuesday, were sealed by a federal judge after the arrests while investigators continued their probe. Each faces up to 15 years in prison if convicted of charges of providing material support to terrorism.
"The public should be reassured that there was no imminent danger in the Chicago area. However, law enforcement has the duty to be vigilant to guard against not just those who would carry out attacks here on our soil but those who plot on our soil to help carry out violent attacks overseas," said Patrick Fitzgerald, U.S. attorney in Chicago.
According to the criminal complaints, Mr. Headley allegedly identified and conducted surveillance of potential targets on two separate trips to Denmark in January and July 2009, and reported and attempted to report on his efforts to others involved in the plot in Pakistan. Mr. Rana's helped arrange Mr. Headley's travels overseas and discussed potential attack targets with Mr. Headley, according to the allegations in the complaint. "
WSJThat settles it. Chicago is a training ground for terrorists. Like we didn't know that already.
