New York Fed bomb plot: how Quazi Ahsan Nafis became radicalised - Telegraph
New York Fed bomb plot: how Quazi Ahsan Nafis became radicalised
The Facebook pages of the US Federal Reserve bomb plot suspect have revealed how a happy, fun-loving man was apparently transformed into a terrorist bent on the destruction of America.
Quazi Mohammad Rezwanul Ahsan Nafis was arrested in an undercover operation by the FBI after he parked a van containing what he believed to be explosives outside New York's Federal Reserve.
The 'explosives' had already been made safe by undercover agents who had supplied them to him.
In his conversations with the undercover agent he had spoken of how he had wanted to "destroy America" by attacking its economy and of his "beloved Sheikh Osama bin Laden".
He had travelled to the United States in January this year to study cybersecurity at Missouri State University but his real purpose was to carry out jihad against the United States.
But a Facebook page he created in 2009 under the name Quazi Ahsan reveals a more playful young man focused on his education and the company of 'caring' friends.
Between March 26 and October 15 2011 he answered a series of questions about himself in which he revealed his love of the children's cartoon series Swat Cats, his passion for Monopoly and admiration for M.A Mohit, the mountaineer who became Bangladesh's first to scale Mount Everest in 2011. He confesses prawns are his favourite dish, enjoys listening to the American rapper Eminem, and proclaims his former university North South as Bangladesh's best private college.
The first signs of rebellions emerge in early July last year when he answers a question on how he feels about an opposition-led strike in the capital Dhaka:"------- excellent," he replies.
Between January 24 and October 3rd this year, however, after his arrival in the United States and as he set out to make contact with fellow Muslim jihadis in New York, he answered another series of questions in which he hailed the prophet Mohammed as "the greatest man ever" and predicted that the "future of Bangladesh" would be in a "Khalifa" – an Islamic caliphate under Sharia law. By that time, he did still, however, have a favourite Star Wars character – the Sith lord.
From August 2nd to September, as his terror plan took shape, he posted a series of Islamic photographs and slogans proclaiming "Islam is not just a word, Islam is a way of life" and that the "Quran breaks hard hearts and heals broken hearts." On September 20th, he updated his cover photograph to a picture of Muslims performing their Haj rituals at the Kabaa at Mecca with the prayer:"Oh my Lord, I am here at Your service, here I am."
By then he had also changed his personal information to include his motto: "Dis world worth nothing. tryin to save everything for da hereafter" and his favourite quote: "It is You (Allah) we worship and You (Allah) we ask for help. (Lord), guide us to the right path."
Relatives at his family home in northern Dhaka on Thursday said they could not account for his apparently sudden radicalisation and that they had discussed potential brides for him only this week.
"We heard the news this morning. Everyone is crying here," his brother-in-law, who gave only his first name, Arik, told the news agency AFP.
"Nafis never showed any form of radicalisation when he was in Bangladesh.
"He said prayers five times a day and used to read the holy Koran every day," he added.
One possible clue lies in his expulsion from North South University in Bangladesh earlier this year after he performed poorly in examinations. A spokesman for the university told The Daily Telegraph he had studied in the electronic and telecommunications department but had been absent since December 2011.
He had come from a good family, his father was a banker, Kazi Ahsa Nullah, and he had studied at Dhaka's respected Ideal school.
"In his exams then he got 1.95 CBA [out of a possible 5]. If any student got 2 or below CBA he is not allowed to study here, due to poor result, we have dismissed him. The minimum requirement was 2.5. He completed seven to eight semesters so that means he was here for almost 2 and half years," he said.
The university gave him three months to improve but did not hear from him again and expelled him last month. The university did not know he had moved to an American university.
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