20101127
reuters

PORTLAND, Oregon (Reuters) - A Somali-born teenager was arrested on Friday for attempting to detonate what he thought was a car bomb at a Christmas Tree lighting ceremony in Oregon, officials said.

Mohamed Osman Mohamud, 19, was charged with attempting to use a weapon of mass destruction in connection with an alleged plot to bomb the annual event in downtown Portland, the Justice Department said late on Friday.

The bomb was a fake and had been provided to Mohamud as part of a long-term sting by the FBI and other law enforcement agencies, federal officials said in a statement.

Officials said Mohamud had been in contact with an unnamed individual believed to be in northwest Pakistan and involved in terrorist activities.

"The threat was very real," said Arthur Balizan, a senior FBI agent in Oregon. "Our investigation shows that Mohamud was absolutely committed to carrying out an attack on a very grand scale."

Thousands of people attended the tree lighting in a popular Portland square lined with shops and offices. Officials said the public had never been in danger at any time during the sting operation, which lasted months.

Mohamud, a naturalized U.S. citizen and student at Oregon State University, was taken into custody near the square after he attempted to use a cellphone to trigger what he believed was a car bomb, according to a U.S. government complaint.