Wannabe Suicide Bomber Nabbed on Way to Capitol

FBI had given him a fake suicide vest in sting operation
By Kevin Spak,  Newser Staff
Posted Feb 17, 2012 2:07 PM CST
Wannabe Suicide Bomber Nabbed on Way to Capitol
A Capitol Police officer and K-9 patrol outside the Senate on Capitol Hill in Washington, Friday, Feb. 17, 2012.   (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

The FBI today arrested a man who allegedly thought he was on his way to blow himself up on Capitol Hill—but who was actually wearing a harmless vest provided to him by undercover FBI agents. The suspect, a man about 30 of Moroccan descent, thought he was working with al-Qaeda, but in reality the men helping him plot his attack were undercover feds, Fox News reports. The AP identified him as Amine El Khalifi of Alexandria, Virginia.

"At no time was the public or congressional community in any danger," the US Capitol Police said. It's unclear how the man caught the FBI's attention, but authorities said they'd begun investigating him when he expressed interest in terrorism. They said they'd been monitoring him for "not more than a year." (More FBI stories.)

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