Three arrested, charged in US mosque bombing

WASHINGTON (AA)

Three men were arrested Tuesday and charged in the bombing last year of a mosque in a Minneapolis suburb.

In a written statement, the U.S. attorney's office in Springfield said the men -- identified as Michael B. Hari, 47, Joe Morris, 22, and Michael McWhorter, 29 -- also face charges of possession of assault rifles, which are classified as machine guns, and attempting to bomb an Illinois abortion clinic in November.

A fourth man, Ellis Mack, 18, was arrested for possession of an assault rifle but was not identified as a suspect in the bombing or attempted bombing.

Last August, the Dar al-Farooq Islamic Center in Bloomington, Minnesota was bombed while Muslims gathered inside for morning prayers.

Bloomington police said the bomb only damaged the imam's office at the center and worshippers extinguished the blaze before firefighters arrived.

"A witness saw something being thrown at the imam's office window from a van or truck before the blast," Asad Zaman, director of the Muslim American Society of Minnesota, said at a news conference. The mosque’s executive director, Mohamed Omar, said the vehicle immediately sped away.

The predominantly Somali mosque, like many other mosques around the country, were receiving threatening calls and emails, Omar told the Star Tribune.

The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) announced a $10,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the attackers.

Its national office also urged mosques and Islamic centers nationwide to increase security.