US citizen faces terrorism charges News
US citizen faces terrorism charges

[JURIST] The US District Court for the Eastern District of New York [official website] on Friday charged [press release] Muhanad Mahmoud Al Farekh, a US citizen, with conspiring to provide material support to terrorists. The court issued a complaint and arrest warrant, alleging that Farekh “conspired with others to provide material support to terrorists and specifically to provide personnel to be used in support of efforts to kill American citizens and members of the [US] military abroad.” The charges arose out of an event in 2007, when he and two others, all students at the University of Manitoba in Canada, left school to travel across Pakistan’s border with Afghanistan and train with al-Qaeda. Farekh, originally detained in Pakistan, will face his charges in an initial appearance today before a federal magistrate judge for the Eastern District of New York. If convicted, he faces a maximum prison sentence of fifteen years.

Farekh conspired with two other individuals, Ferid Imam and another unnamed individual. According to the Department of Justice (DOJ) [official website], Imam trained Najibullah Zazi and two other men in al-Qaeda who were later convicted of plotting a suicide bombing [JURIST report] of the New York City subway system. The complaint against Farekh indicates [Reuters report] that two of the individuals involved in the suicide bombing provided evidence against Farekh. In 2013 Farekh was assigned [Washington Post article] to the Pentagon’s “kill list” of suspected terrorists, but officials were not authorized to kill him due to his US citizenship and uncertain involvement in al-Qaeda.

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