Student held in Texas suspected of planning attack on former President

The agency says his possible targets included the Dallas home of former President George W Bush.

They fear he also planned to target nuclear power stations, and reservoirs.

Khalid Aldawsari, attending college near Lubbock, Texas, was charged with attempted use of a weapon of mass destruction.

An affidavit also alleges he conducted research that could indicate his consideration of the use of dolls to conceal explosives and the possible targeting of a nightclub with an explosive concealed in a backpack

Federal prosecutors say he had been researching online how to construct an IED using several chemicals as ingredients.

Officials say his diary indicated he had been plotting an attack for years and obtained a scholarship so he could come directly to the United States on a legitimate student visa to carry out jihad.

Aldawsari is expected to appear in court in Lubbock this morning. If tried and convicted, he faces a maximum sentence of life in prison and a $250,000 fine.

The arrest follows a report from a chemical supplier of a suspicious attempted purchase of a concentrated form of the chemical phenol by a man identifying himself as Khalid Aldawsari.

When quizzed by the firm about the order, it was subsequently cancelled.

He also allegedly purchased a gas mask, a Hazmat suit, a soldering iron kit, glass flasks, wiring and a stun gun.

The arrest came as a US college dropout and Muslim convert who threatened the creators of the South Park cartoon series and then tried to join an al-Qaida-linked terror group in Somalia was sentenced to 25 years in prison.

Zachary Chesser of Bristow in Virginia, was jailed by the US District Court having pleaded guilty last year to supporting the al-Shabab terrorist group in Somalia and posting online threats against the South Park creators for an episode that he perceived as insulting to the prophet Muhammad.