New Jersey suspect in army attack plot denied bail
17 May 2007 22:35:09 GMT Source: Reuters
By Jon Hurdle CAMDEN, N.J., May 17 (Reuters) - One of six New Jersey men charged with plotting an attack on Fort Dix army base was denied bail on Thursday because he was judged a danger to the community and a flight risk. Agron Abdullahu, a native of the former Yugoslavia, applied for bail on the grounds that he was the main money-earner for his family and had no grudge against the United States that might lead him to plan an attack. But U.S. Magistrate Judge Joel Schneider said Abdullahu "poses a significant danger to the community" because he is trained to use firearms and came into close contact with others accused of planning to kill soldiers at Fort Dix, even if Abdullahu himself wasn't involved in the alleged assault plan. Schneider also argued that Abdullahu faces a possible 10 years in jail on charges of supplying firearms to the group and so has a strong incentive to flee, perhaps to Macedonia where he has ties and from which extradition to the United States would not be possible. Abdullahu, 24, made his first public comments since being arrested on May 7 with the rest of the accused plotters. He assured the court that if given bail he would not flee and said he had no ill feelings toward the United States, where his family moved in 1999 to escape the war in Kosovo. "I would never do no harm to this country because they saved my life," he said. The other five suspects are all in custody awaiting trial. Prosecutors allege the suspects conducted surveillance of Fort Dix and other U.S. military installations in New Jersey, Delaware and Pennsylvania, plotting attacks inspired by an international call for holy war against the West. They chose Fort Dix as a target because one suspect knew it well from delivering pizza to the base, officials said. Fort Dix, about 40 miles (60 km) east of Philadelphia, is used to train reservists from all branches of the military, many of whom are preparing for deployment to Iraq and Afghanistan.
