Two Iraqi Nationals Indicted on Terrorism Charges in KY

| Tuesday, June 7, 2011 | 0 comments |
by U.S. Department of Justice

WASHINGTON—An Iraqi citizen who allegedly carried out numerous improvised explosive device (IED) attacks against U.S. troops in Iraq and another Iraqi national alleged to have participated in the insurgency in Iraq have been arrested and indicted on federal terrorism charges in the Western District of Kentucky.

Waad Ramadan Alwan, 30, and Mohanad Shareef Hammadi, 23, both former residents of Iraq who currently reside in Bowling Green, were charged in a 23-count indictment returned by a federal grand jury in Bowling Green on May 26, 2011. Alwan is charged with conspiracy to kill U.S. nationals abroad; conspiracy to use a weapon of mass destruction (explosives) against U.S. nationals abroad; distributing information on the manufacture and use of IEDs; attempting to provide material support to terrorists and to al Qaeda in Iraq; as well as conspiracy to transfer, possess, and export Stinger missiles. Hammadi is charged with attempting to provide material support to terrorists and to al Qaeda in Iraq, as well as conspiracy to transfer, possess, and export Stinger missiles.

“Over the course of roughly eight years, Waad Ramadan Alwan allegedly supported efforts to kill U.S. troops in Iraq, first by participating in the construction and placement of improvised explosive devices in Iraq and, more recently, by attempting to ship money and weapons from the United States to insurgents in Iraq. His co-defendant, Mohanad Shareef Hammadi, is accused of many of the same activities. With these arrests, which are the culmination of extraordinary investigative work by law enforcement and intelligence officials, the support provided by these individuals comes to an end and they will face justice,” said Todd Hinnen, Acting Assistant Attorney General for National Security.

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US designates Army of Islam as a terrorist organization

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Members of Army of Islam in the Gaza Strip. Credit: ISA/IDF
by Jim Kouri

A spokesman for Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton reported that the Army of Islam has been designated as a terrorist organization by the United States as of May 20.

An intelligence source told the Law Enforcement Examiner that the Army of Islam, while relatively unknown in the U.S., is a Palestinian terrorist organization affiliated with the global jihad whose operatives, among other things, fired rockets at Israel from Egyptian territory, carried out terrorist activities in Egypt, and abducted two Fox News correspondents and a British journalist.

In addition, the source said, the organization integrates global jihad Salafist ideology with the traditional model of the armed Palestinian campaign. The organization collaborates with Hamas and is currently attempting to develop closer contacts with Al-Qaeda. In Gaza, Salafist jihadists such as the Army of Islam consider Hamas too moderate in spite of Hamas' terrorist tactics.

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