Two Iraqis Indicted In Kentucky For Supporting Al Qaeda In Iraq

A grand jury indicted two Iraqi nationals living in Bowling Green, Kentucky, for supporting Al Qaeda in Iraq, in a case unsealed today by the U.S. Attorney's office of Western Kentucky.

Waad Ramadan Alwan, 30, is an Iraqi citizen who successfully applied for and received refugee status to live in the United States, according to an affidavit. According to an affidavit, he was also allegedly a member of the Iraq insurgency since 2003 and took part in attacks on U.S. troops in Iraq.

Mohanad Shareef Hammadi, 23, is described as a former Iraqi insurgent. He was also in the U.S. under refugee status. Both men entered the United States in 2009.

Alwan recruited Hammadi in a scheme to provide machine guns, RPGs and Stinger missiles to Al Qaeda in Iraq. However, their supposed point of contact with the group was in reality an undercover FBI agent.

Alwan is described in the indictment as a designer of IEDs who also created instructional materials teaching others to build them. He was matched by his fingerprints to an unexploded IED found in Iraq in 2005, according to the U.S. Attorney's press release.

The FBI began investigating Awlan in September 2009, just five months after he entered the country. Under surveillance, Alwan boasted of being involved in IED and sniper attacks on U.S. troops, according to an affidavit.

Alwan told the FBI's source that he was wanted for being a "mujahid" in Iraq and so could not return.

Hammadi was recruited by Alwan to assist in the plot in early 2011. Alwan told an informant he had known Hammadi in Iraq. The men obtained weapons and explosives and helped prepare them for shipment to Iraq. The explosives and eventually two Stinger missiles handled by the men had been rendered inert by the FBI.

The men were arrested Wednesday.

For much more about the history of jihadist terrorism on U.S. soil, including the sole American citizen known to have traveled to join Al Qaeda in Iraq, buy J.M. Berger's new book, Jihad Joe: Americans Who Go to War in the Name of Islam, out now!

Indictment

Criminal Complaint, Alwan

Criminal Complaint, Hammadi

Labels: Al-Qaeda-In-Iraq, Mohanad-Shareef-Hammadi, Waad-Ramadan-Alwan

Posted by J.M. Berger | Permalink