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Posted by: kwflatbed

By BRUCE SMITH, Associated Press Writer

GOOSE CREEK, S.C. - Two men were detained after police found a suspicious item in their car during a routine traffic stop for speeding near Charleston, authorities said Sunday.
Berkeley County sheriff's Lt. Vince Lombard said the men were being held pending a charge of unlawful possession of an explosive device.
Lombard would not say what the device was or what it was that bomb technicians from neighboring Charleston County exploded at about 2:45 a.m. Sunday.
The item made a loud bang, similar to a firecracker, when it was demolished, authorities said.
U.S. Highway 176 was closed at about 7 p.m. Saturday and federal officials later said there was "no immediate threat."
Goose Creek is home to the Naval Weapons Station, which houses the U.S. Naval Consolidated Brig, a military prison where enemy combatants have been held. The traffic stop took place about 7 miles from the sprawling Navy facility.
The car was heading west, away from Goose Creek, when it was pulled over about 7 miles from the sprawling Navy facility, Lombard said.
Goose Creek, with a population of about 30,000, is located about 20 miles north of Charleston.

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Posted by: kwflatbed

Ahmed Abda Sherf Mohamed, 24, smiles at the cameras during a bond hearing with co-defendent Yousef Samir Megahed Monday Aug. 6, 2007, at the Berkeley County Court house in Moncks Corner, S.C. The two Middle Eastern men arrested near a Navy base after police found a suspicious item in their car were charged Monday with possession of an incendiary device. (AP Photo/Mary Ann Chastain)

Two S.C. men arrested with incendiary device


By Bruce Smith
The Associated Press
MONCKS CORNER, S.C. — Two Middle Eastern men arrested near a Navy base after police found a suspicious item in their car were charged Monday with possession of an incendiary device, authorities said.

A joint state-federal investigation was under way to see if there was any terrorism connection but no link had been found yet, said FBI spokeswoman Denise Taiste. The Navy base is the site of a brig where enemy combatants have been held.
Ahmed Abda Sherf Mohamed, 24, and Yousef Samir Megahed, 21, both students at the University of South Florida in Tampa, were being held Monday pending a bail hearing, Berkeley County Sheriff Wayne DeWitt said.
Mohamed is a native of Kuwait and Megahed is Egyptian, the sheriff said. Both are in the country legally, DeWitt said.
"They admitted to having what they said were fireworks. Based on the officer's judgment at hand, based on what he had seen, we judged it to be other than fireworks," DeWitt said.
The sheriff refused to say what was found in the car but said some items were being analyzed by the FBI. Taiste would not give any details on what was in the vehicle.
Ahmed Bedier, the executive director of a civil rights organization for Muslims in Tampa, criticized the arrest as racial profiling, an accusation South Carolina police refuted.
"Definitely this is not related to terrorism," said Bedier, of the Council on American-Islamic Relations.
"Had these been two good ol' boys from South Carolina driving through and speeding — and even if they did have some fireworks — nobody would have been arrested," Bedier said.
The two men were stopped for speeding Saturday night near Goose Creek on U.S. Highway 176.
Goose Creek is the site of the Naval Weapons Station, which houses the U.S. Naval Consolidated Brig, a military prison where enemy combatants have been held. They were heading west, away from Goose Creek, when they were pulled over about seven miles from the sprawling Navy facility, police said.
Officers became suspicious because the men quickly put away a laptop computer and couldn't immediately say what they were doing in the area or where they were going, DeWitt said.
One item found in the car was destroyed by bomb technicians, making a loud bang when it was detonated.
"I would not know how to describe that item," the sheriff said. "We merely know it was an explosive device. There were several items built in that same fashion which were retrieved from the vehicle."
Authorities closed a mile-long stretch of the highway Saturday night and didn't reopen it until about 4 a.m. Sunday.
University spokesman Ken Gullette said Mohamed is a civil engineering graduate student who came to the school in January. He earned his undergraduate degree in Cairo and was in the country on a student visa.
Megahed, an Egyptian who has permanent resident status in the United States, is an undergraduate and has been at the university since 2004, but has not declared a major, Gullette said.
Neither has ever been arrested by campus police or disciplined by the university, Gullette said. Both were enrolled in classes this summer. Gullette said the university is cooperating with authorities.
If convicted of the felony charge, the men would face from two to 15 years in prison.
Goose Creek, with a population of about 30,000, is about 20 miles north of Charleston.

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Posted by: Inspector

COLUMBIA, SC (AP/WIS) - Homeland Security Department Director Michael Chertoff praised Berkeley County officers Tuesday for arresting two Middle Eastern men accused of having an explosive device.
Chertoff says that even if the men turn out to be innocent, their arrests show the importance of people being alert.
He says such alertness by officers is vital for keeping the country safe.
Two University of South Florida students were charged Monday after being stopped for speeding near a Naval base in Berkeley County. Authorities accuse the men of having pipe bombs. The men say they had fireworks and were on their way to celebrate a birthday.
One is a native of Kuwait, while the other is Egyptian. Both are in the country legally.
Chertoff says Homeland Security is working with the FBI and local authorities on the case. He would not speculate on possible terrorism links.
Tuesday, FBI agents searched the Tampa home of Yousef Samir Megahed. Investigators would not say what they were looking for. We do know they removed a computer. A neighbor says the FBI has been monitoring the home since Sunday night.
University of South Florida officials have said neither of the two was ever in any trouble at the school.
Currently, even if the two suspects are able to afford bond, Immigrations and Customs Enforcement have a retainer on the two, so they would still remain in custody.

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