US Drops Terrorist Charges Linked to Cell Phone Purchase

U.S. prosecutors have dropped terrorist charges against two men arrested after they purchased 600 cellular phones.

Officials in the midwestern state of Ohio said they had no evidence of terrorist activity by the men, Osama Abulhassan and Ali Houssaiky.

They say the men still face a charge of lying to police.

The two men were stopped by police for a traffic violation earlier this month, and later told officers about the cell phone purchases.

In a separate case, an FBI official said authorities have found no terrorist links to three other men jailed for buying a large number of cell phones.

Police say the Palestinian-American men were found with 1,000 cell phones in their vehicle and pictures of a major bridge in the northern state of Michigan.

Authorities say the men remain in custody in Michigan.

Federal law enforcement officials have asked police to watch for people buying large numbers of cell phones, saying the devices can be used in terrorist attacks.

Some information for this report was provided by AP.