A Boston-area man was arrested Wednesday and charged with conspiracy to provide material support to terrorists as part of a long-running plot to 'kill, kidnap, maim or injure' people -- including U.S. officials -- overseas and in the United States. Prosecutors and FBI agents said that from 2001 to 2008, Tarek Mehanna, 27, of Sudbury, Mass., conspired with at least two other men to carry out an Islamist holy war, or jihad. Their plans included discussions about killing two prominent, unidentified U.S. government officials overseas, attacking American troops in Iraq, and shooting at shoppers in U.S. malls and emergency personnel who come to their rescue, according to authorities and FBI affidavits unsealed in connection with the case. The case against Mehanna, a U.S. citizen, was described in detail by the acting U.S. attorney for Massachusetts, Michael K. Loucks, at a news conference and by prosecutors in court. One law-enforcement official described the alleged conspiracy as less serious than some other recent cases. Mehanna, a graduate of a pharmacy college, was arrested at his parents' home in Sudbury, an upscale Boston suburb. A federal judge ordered him held until an Oct. 30 hearing. The three men allegedly discussed their desire to participate in 'violent jihad against American interests' and 'to die on the battlefield.' Mehanna had 'multiple conversations about obtaining automatic weapons and randomly shooting people in shopping malls,' Loucks said, adding that their plan was thwarted when they believed they could only get handguns, not the kind of automatic weapons they thought necessary for a mall attack. One senior federal law-enforcement official said the alleged conspiracy was not nearly as far along, or as 'operational,' as one allegedly headed by a Denver-area Afghan native, Najibullah Zazi. Zazi, 24, was arrested last month and charged with training with al-Qaida in Pakistan and conspiring with others to detonate homemade explosive devices on U.S. soil, possibly at New York-area transit hubs. Loucks said authorities were 'satisfied' they had identified all participants in the latest alleged plot. Mehanna's arrest followed several other cases in which the FBI arrested men in Texas and Illinois after lengthy investigations that closely monitored the suspects' activities. Two senior Bush administration counterterrorism officials said Mehanna's case showed that the FBI has learned in the years since the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks not to rush counterterrorism investigations when there is no imminent threat of danger. 'It shows that the FBI is becoming more patient and investing long-term resources into these investigations, which is what is required,' said Frances Fragos Townsend, President George W. Bush's senior counterterrorism and homeland-security adviser. 'This is the sort of long-term investigation that shows that the FBI has changed its mind-set and culture, and that it sees itself not just as a law-enforcement agency but as an intelligence and counterterrorism agency that has the mandate to prevent the next attack and not simply investigate it after it occurred.' (Begin optional trim) Juan Zarate, Bush's deputy national security adviser for counterterrorism, said Mehanna's arrest underscored the troubling trend in recent years of U.S. citizens and nationals seeking to travel overseas and receive training in jihad. Zarate said he has not seen a sharp uptick in such cases, but 'enough for authorities to be worried across the board about the problem of homegrown or self-actualized violent extremism.' 'The good news,' he said, 'is the FBI has done a good job of using the tools and resources at its command to help uncover and infiltrate most of these plots.' (End optional trim) Federal authorities said the Mehanna investigation was part of a hunt for individuals going to Somalia to fight with al-Qaida-linked militants trying to overthrow the U.S.-backed government there. Dozens of men, mostly Somali nationals in the United States, are suspected of supporting that effort, either through funding and recruitment or by actually traveling to Somalia to engage in combat and guerrilla activities, several senior FBI and Justice Department officials have said. If convicted on the material support charge, Mehanna faces up to 15 years in prison. His attorney, J.W. Carney Jr., did not return calls seeking comment. Neighbors told TV camera crews outside Mehanna's home that he was a quiet and friendly man who did nothing to raise suspicion. Authorities allege that Mehanna and two associates traveled to the Middle East in February 2004 seeking military-type training at a terrorist camp that would prepare them for armed jihad against U.S. interests, including U.S. and allied forces in Iraq. They said one of Mehanna's alleged co-conspirators, Ahman Abousamra, made two similar trips to Pakistan in 2002. Loucks said the men sought but never received training in terrorist camps on their trips overseas. Authorities did not identify a third alleged conspirator; court documents suggest he is cooperating in the investigation. Mehanna previously was arrested as he was about to board a flight for the Middle East at Logan International Airport in Boston last November, Loucks said. He was charged with lying to the FBI in its 2006 investigation of Daniel Maldonado, an American arrested in Somalia for fighting alongside al-Qaida militants. 