Two Egyptian students face US explosives charges

MIAMI, Aug 31 (Reuters) Two Egyptian students studying engineering in Florida have been charged with transporting explosive materials across state lines without permits, according to an indictment unsealed today.

Ahmed Abdellatif Sherif Mohamed and Youssef Samir Megahed were arrested on Aug. 4 after being stopped for speeding in Goose Creek, South Carolina, a few miles from a US naval weapons station.

Mohamed also was charged in the indictment, issued in Tampa, Florida, with distributing information on how to build and use an explosive device.

Authorities said at the time of their arrest that the men were carrying what appeared to be pipe bombs and other paraphernalia in the trunk of their car. Mohamed said at a bail hearing that they were transporting fireworks.

''The indictment alleges that Mohamed taught and demonstrated the making and use of an explosive and destructive device with the intent that such information be used for ... an activity that constitutes a federal crime of violence,'' federal prosecutors said in a written statement.

Mohamed is a graduate student in civil engineering and a teaching assistant at the University of South Florida, where Megahed is an engineering student, prosecutors said.

Both men were being held at the Berkeley County Jail in South Carolina. Bond for Mohamed was set at 500,000 dollars and for Megahed at 300,000 dollars.

The charge of distributing information about explosive devices carries a maximum of 20 years in prison, federal officials said, while the transporting charge carries a possible 10 year sentence.

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