More charges made in explosives case

TAMPA, Fla. --- A federal grand jury added more charges Wednesday against two Egyptian college students accused of carrying illegal explosives in their car in South Carolina last year.

Less than two weeks before their scheduled trial, federal prosecutors sought a new grand jury indictment charging former University of South Florida students Ahmed Abdellatif Sherif Mohamed, 26, and Youssef Samir Megahed, 21. The charges include illegal possession of a destructive device and a count accusing Mr. Mohamed of supporting terrorism. Deputies in South Carolina who stopped their car Aug. 4 said they found items to build pipe bombs in the trunk. The men contend those items -- PVC pipe containing a mixture of sugar, potassium nitrate and cat litter, plus fuses-- were ingredients for homemade, low-grade fireworks.

But also in the car, prosecutors say, was a laptop computer containing a video Mr. Mohamed made to demonstrate how to turn a remote-control toy into a detonator for a bomb.

According to an FBI affidavit, Mr. Mohamed told authorities he made the video "to assist those persons in Arabic countries to defend themselves against the infidels invading their countries."

In the new indictment, Mr. Mohamed is charged with providing material support to terrorism, carrying a destructive device relating to that support of terrorism and two counts of possessing a firearm in violation of his visa rules. Those are in addition to the original charge of making the video to demonstrate the use of explosives.

The firearms charges relate to visits prosecutors say Mr. Mohamed made to a Tampa shooting range. Under the terms of his student visa, he was not allowed to have guns.

Both men were already charged with illegally transporting explosive materials.