Metro riders exit the Farragut West station in Washington, Thursday, Dec. 14, 2006. Metro board members on Thursday will begin debating a hefty and complex fare increase of as much as $2.10 for certain trips. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)
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A Virginia man has been arrested for conspiring with al-Qaeda to stage terror attacks mainly targeting Washington, D.C. metro stations.
Farooque Ahmed, 34, of Ashburn, VA, was arrested today by the FBI and charged with providing material support to terrorists and collecting information for a terrorist attack, Fox News reports.
An indictment has officially been filed in the U.S. Court for the Eastern District of Virginia detailing activity between April 2010 and Oct. 25.
That indictment says Ahmed met several times with people he thought were al-Qaeda officials to plan the attacks. He even completed multiple surveillance missions given to him by what ended up being under cover terrorism agents.
During one of those meetings at a Virginia hotel in September, he suggested using rolling suitcases instead of backpacks to stage the attacks, and said he wanted to kill as many military personnel as possible.
Ahmed will make his first court appearance Wednesday afternoon in Alexandria, VA.
The arrest comes on the heels of Rep. Betty McCollum's (D-MN) claim last week that al-Qaeda is no longer a threat in the U.S.
UPDATE:
MSNBC has a detailed timeline of Ahmed's meetings, which started on April 18, 2010. The article also notes that Ahmed, a Pakistani-born U.S. citizen, sketched out DC metro stations and suggested where bombs should be placed.
He completed his initial court appearance Wednesday and could appear again on Friday.
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