He could help with the planning aspect, really anything but planting the bomb, but he needed to feel comfortable with every single detail. He had already given the Brothers the idea, he said. Growing annoyed, Eldawoody reminded him that the Brothers were counting on him. It would be too dangerous for him to be in the area now. arresting two Muslims during a Pakistan Day parade near Herald Square. Siraj explained that it would be noticeable, then tried a different approach, telling an invented story about the F.B.I. Siraj used to lift heavy bags of produce when he worked at a deli. It was underneath a shopping mall maybe they could place bombs here.Įldawoody handed a backpack to each of his companions, which were to be used to carry the bombs. In August, Siraj had another idea: What about the Herald Square subway station in Midtown Manhattan? He transferred there on his commute between Brooklyn and Queens, and, eager to impress his companions, he mapped out the station. Wall Street came up, but Siraj wasn’t sure why it was so famous and asked Eldawoody to explain. Soon the friends were discussing more feasible possibilities. ![]() Elshafay was also angry about the American treatment of Muslims and had even drawn a map of Staten Island bridges and police precincts to target, which Siraj shared with Eldawoody. In July 2004, Siraj introduced Eldawoody to James Elshafay, a portly 19-year-old who was a regular at the store. But what should they target? Siraj suggested the bridges they drove past, or major subway stations and train lines. They agreed that an attack that would hurt the United States economically would help save Muslim lives. Something had to be done, something that would get the world to pay attention. Eldawoody seemed to share his friend’s anger. When Siraj saw a picture of a girl who was raped, he broke down and cried. They discussed the Abu Ghraib prison scandal and online images of Muslims being tortured and killed in the wars overseas. was harassing him, maybe because he was a Muslim who knew about nuclear engineering. Eldawoody complained to Siraj that the F.B.I. Slowly, their conversations took on a darker edge. His world consisted of a cramped one-bedroom apartment in Queens that he shared with his parents and sister, and the equally cramped emporium filled with Islamic books and phone cards that was a 90-minute subway ride away in Bay Ridge. He was a teenager when they arrived in the United States, but he did not attend high school and was still struggling to earn his equivalency diploma. Siraj’s family fled Pakistan several years earlier, seeking to escape the violence against their Shiite minority sect. Never before had someone this sophisticated, an adult more than twice his age, taken him so seriously. To Siraj’s delight, Eldawoody took an interest in him, encouraging him to pursue his interest in computers. He was knowledgeable about the world and had a flair about him, gesticulating excitedly as he spoke. Eldawoody was the son of an Egyptian religious scholar and said he studied nuclear engineering. ![]() He had difficulty grasping new ideas and would need them explained multiple times, but in front of his friends, he pretended to know more than he did. He usually lingered around the store with friends from the neighborhood, talking about Islam and the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Siraj, at 21, had a hulking build and a tendency to ramble when he spoke. He said his name was Osama Eldawoody, and the two men struck up an unlikely friendship. But when the man entered the bookstore nearby, where Siraj worked, he was warm and easygoing. He would see him at the mosque in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn, sobbing loudly during prayers and hovering near the imam. Shahawar Matin Siraj first met the older man late in the summer of 2003. To hear more audio stories from publishers like The New York Times, download Audm for iPhone or Android.
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