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United States authorities on Saturday claimed to have foiled a conspiracy to blow up Muslim sites with the arrest of a Florida doctor in New York.
Robert J Goldstein, arrested in Seminole, allegedly had a list of about 50 mosques in Tampa-St Petersburg and other locations in the state apart from 15 homemade explosive devices, officials said.
The Washington-based Council for American-Islamic Relations said that Goldstein's plan for 'terrorist attacks' on mosques was the result of anti-Muslim rhetoric by 'right-wing commentators and religious leaders'.
Goldstein was held after his wife called the police on Thursday, alleging that he had threatened to kill her.
A search of the premises by the police led to the discovery of homemade bombs. He was later charged with possessing explosive devices and attempting to damage and destroy buildings with it.
CNN reported that a three-page 'mission template' was attached to the criminal complaint against him for an attack on an unidentified 'Islamic education centre', which included a map of the centre showing where the bombs would be placed.
CAIR said the American public was being subjected to a daily barrage of right-wing anti-Muslim rhetoric that went largely unchallenged by mainstream religious and political leaders.
"The incessant defamatory portrayal of Islam as an evil and violent faith inevitably leads a small minority of bigoted individuals to turn hate-filled words into violent actions," said CAIR Communications Director Ibrahim Hooper.
PTI
The War on Terror: The Complete Coverage
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