Azerbaijan: Muslims Terror Attack Thwarted

Azerbaijan said Monday it had foiled a radical Islamic group's plot to carry out a "large-scale horrifying terror attack" near the U.S. Embassy.

The United States and Britain temporarily closed their embassies in Baku, capital of the former Soviet republic.

"Several people belonging to a Wahhabi group have been detained. They were planning terrorist attacks near the U.S. Embassy in Baku," said Arif Babayev, a spokesman for the National Security Ministry.

Wahhabism, which originated in Saudi Arabia in the 18th century, is rooted in the idea of restoring Islam's purity by purging it of its foreign and corrupting influences.

Nydailynews.com