BOMB SCARE

Pentagon Suspect a Marine Reservist

Told authorities he had explosive material.

The 22-year-old man detained this morning after a suspicious-looking vehicle was found outside the Pentagon is a lance corporal in the U.S. Marine Corps. Reserve. Lance Cpl. Yonathan Melaku told authorities that he was carrying explosive materials, but there seems to be some disagreement on whether he was telling the truth. An FBI agent told reporters that a non-explosive material was found in a backpack Melaku was carrying, while an anonymous law enforcement official said they found ammonium nitrate, a chemical compound used in fertilizers. Another law enforcement source said Melaku was carrying a notebook containing the phrases, “al Qaeda,” “Taliban rules,” and “Mujahid defeated croation forces.” Nevertheless, officials say Melaku does not seem to have been involved in a terrorist act. He has not been charged for this morning's event, but he was arrested for a spree of car vandalism in the Northern Virginia town of Leesburg.