Two Iraqis charged with providing support and weapons to terrorists
Two Iraqi men were arrested and charged in Kentucky with trying to help Al Qaeda militants in their home country, and one of the suspects was also charged for attacks on US troops there, the Justice Department said late Tuesday.
Waad Ramadan Alwan, 30, was accused of taking part in roadside bomb attacks on US troops between 2003 and 2006, linked in one such instance by fingerprints obtained by US forces from a device that did not detonate, according to Reuters.
He and a second Iraqi, Mohamad Shareef Hammadi, were also charged in a 23-count indictment for allegedly trying to provide support and weapons to an Al Qaeda affiliate in Iraq, in a sting operation subsequently run by US authorities.
The charges included seeking to supply inert Stinger missiles, rocket propelled grenades and other weapons for insurgent operations in Iraq, according to Agence-France Presse.
If convicted on all charges, the two could face life imprisonment.
"I still don’t understand how (Alwan) was able to get into the country," said Frank Cillufo, who was White House domestic security adviser to President George W. Bush and is now the director of homeland security studies at George Washington University.
The FBI "may have done a good job preventing an incident. But it should have never gotten to that status," Mr. Cillufo told AFP.
The two men entered the United States in 2009 after receiving refugee status. They were arrested last week in their current hometown of Bowling Green, Kentucky, and if convicted, could face life in prison, US prosecutors said.
They both pleaded not guilty during a hearing in federal court in Kentucky and had lawyers appointed for them, according to court records. A detention hearing is scheduled for June 8.
A Department of Homeland Security official said there were gaps in the refugee screening process at the time that Alwan and Hammadi were allowed into the United States. The official said the gap had since been addressed, according to Reuters.
"Today our vetting process considers a far broader range of information than it did in past years," the official said on the condition of not being further identified.
"Information being provided by applicants is now rigorously compared with a broader set of data, including additional intelligence information, to identify individuals who may have previously been unknown," the official said.
At the height of the US war in Iraq, the Bush Administration was under pressure to allow more refugees into the United States as they fled violence in their home country but security concerns were one reason for the slow pace.
The FBI started investigating Mr. Alwan in September 2009 and nearly a year later began using a confidential source to talk with him about his activities in Iraq, which allegedly included using improvised explosive devices, known as IEDs, and sniper rifles to target US troops.
During conversations with the source, Mr. Alwan said he worked at a power plant but often hid roadside bombs, according to court papers. He also allegedly boasted of attacking Hummers and Bradley fighting vehicles.
In one conversation, Mr. Alwan said he "didn’t come here for America. I came here to get a passport and go back to Turkey, Saudi or wherever I want," according to court papers.
The FBI was able to identify two fingerprints that belonged to Mr. Alwan that were obtained from a part of an unexploded IED recovered in 2005 on a roadway near Bayji, Iraq, according to court papers unsealed on Tuesday.
Mr. Alwan, 30, was charged with conspiracy to kill Americans overseas, distributing information about how to build and detonate IEDs and attempting to provide support to Al Qaeda in Iraq, a loose affiliate of the late Osama Bin Laden’s group, among other charges.
The Justice Department declined to say what prompted the investigation. Iraqi authorities detained both men in 2006 but the court papers did not describe why or how they were released.
As part of the investigation, US authorities conducted a sting operation in which the two Iraqis believed they were helping provide weapons and money to Al Qaeda militants in Iraq.
Mr. Alwan recruited Mr. Hammadi, 23, whom he described as a relative, to help provide support to the militants, according to court papers. The charges against Mr. Hammadi, focused on the sting only, are for attempting to provide material support and conspiracy to send weapons overseas.
Court papers said he described to the same confidential source that he had been arrested in Iraq after getting a flat tire shortly after he and others placed IEDs. No charges have been filed for his alleged role in such attacks.
US authorities said the money and weapons never left the country.
The arrests were the "culmination of extremely well-coordinated, diligent and tireless efforts by the FBI and our law enforcement partners," the FBI’s special agent in charge of the region, Elizabeth Fries, told AFP.