Nashville: Federal agents arrest Iraqi native buying machine guns, grenades

Hmmm...given all the rhetoric from John Kerry and the gun ban lobby about the recently-expired Clinton Gun Ban, we thought terrorists could just go to a local gun show to buy "weapons of war..."

October 8, 2004
WKRN.com

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) - Federal authorities said Friday they arrested an Iraqi-born Nashville resident on illegal weapons charges during a sting operation set up after he made threats about "going Jihad."

Ahmed Hassan Al-Uqaily, 33, was arrested Thursday afternoon as he was putting weapons he had purchased from an undercover agent into his car, according to an affidavit from FBI agent Greg Franklin.

Authorities said the suspect paid $1,000 to buy two disassembled machine guns, four disassembled hand grenades and hundreds of rounds of ammunition from the agent, who was working with the FBI's Joint Terrorism Task Force.

"This arrest demonstrates our ability to thwart potential threats to our communities before an attack can be carried out," U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft said in a statement.

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According to the affidavit, the investigation began in August after federal authorities were tipped by an acquaintance of Al-Uqaily that he was seeking to buy weapons.

According to the affidavit, Al-Uqaily told the acquaintance that he was angry about the state of affairs in Iraq, that he was "going Jihad," and that he was going to blow up something.

In conversations over the next few weeks, Al-Uqaily pursued efforts with the informant to purchase machine guns, grenades, handguns and missiles. The informant set up a meeting with Al-Uqaily and the undercover agent, authorities said.

"This case underscores the significance of information and assistance provided to law enforcement by the good people of the United States," Assistant Attorney General Christopher Wray said in a statement.

The affidavit says that during the later conversations with the informant, Al-Uqaily "expressed animosity towards the Jewish community" and discussed "two Jewish facilities in the Nashville area," but made no specific threats, according to a release from the U.S. Justice Department. Authorities declined to say at a news conference on Friday what two Jewish facilities Al-Uqaily mentioned.

"This was a wake-up call to the fact that the system we're been trying to build ... works," said U.S. Attorney Jim Vines. "We're very dependent on the public coming to us to tell us what they know."

Al-Uqaily had his initial appearance before Magistrate Judge E. Clifton Knowles on Friday.

According to Nashville police, Al-Uqaily was arrested for assault in 1997.