Prosecutor: Terror Plot Caught on Tape

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From 'Associated Press': TOLEDO, OH - A government informant spent about three years secretly recording three men as they plotted to recruit and train terrorists to attack U.S. and allied troops overseas, a federal prosecutor said Tuesday. The government began laying out its case against the three, who prosecutors said were recorded having conversations about making explosives, recruiting others to help in the plot and raising money to fund their intent to harm American troops. "These defendants are going to tell you what was in their mind and in their hearts" in the recordings, prosecutor Thomas Getz told jurors in his opening statement. "You're going to hear them on more than one occasion celebrating the deaths of American soldiers."

Mohammad Zaki Amawi, Marwan Othman El-Hindi and Wassim I. Mazloum are accused of conspiring to kill or maim people outside the United States, including military personnel in Iraq. They face a maximum penalty of life in prison if convicted. Prosecutors said the informant who foiled the plot is Darren Griffin, who spent 14 years in the military before a knee injury ended his career. Authorities previously identified him only as the "trainer." Griffin spent time in the Middle East in the military and while there gained knowledge of Islam. He began working with the FBI and later befriended the three men at a Toledo mosque, Getz said. Two Chicago-area cousins who also are accused of taking part are scheduled to face trial next year. The five are U.S. citizens except Mazloum, who came to the U.S. legally from Lebanon.